THE MALAY PENINSULA 217 



modation for two persons can be built at a cost of 

 from 5,000 to 6,000 dollars, and these fulfil all require- 

 ments on a young estate. 



On estates the standard of discipline depends on 

 the tact and common-sense of the manager and his 

 assistants. Tamils are tractable and give little trouble 

 when justly treated ; Chinese are more difficult, and 

 are best handled through their own headmen ; the 

 same remark applies to Javanese. As a general rule 

 there is very little serious trouble with estate labourers ; 

 but recently the Chinese have been unsettled by the 

 events taking place in their own country; they have 

 shown a turbulent spirit on several estates and in 

 various towns in the Malay Peninsula, and on several 

 occasions the assistance of the military and the police 

 has been necessary to quell disturbances. 



Rice forms the principal food of all classes of coolies 

 working on estates in Malaya. In addition, the diet 

 comprises dried fish, cocoanut-oil, curry stuffs, fruit, 

 and vegetables. Meat of any kind is a luxury, and 

 never an article of everyday use. Rice is supplied at 

 cost price to all estate coolies, and below cost when 

 prices are unduly high. 



There is no obligation on the part of the planter, and 

 no efforts are made, to provide any sort of schools for 

 the children of estate coolies. In the villages public 

 schools have been established for native children taught 

 in the vernacular, but none for those of Chinese or 

 Indian parentage. 



It has been no easy task to obtain accurate returns 

 of the yield per acre of rubber plantations, for the 

 reason that on every estate the ages of trees vary, and 



