chai\ xil] TAKING A CENSUS. 277 



good deal less than it should have been. And all the 

 "Waidonos" had of course to take care of themselves, 

 for they were all in debt and it was so easy to take a 

 little of the Government rice, and there would still be 

 plenty for the Eajah. And the " Gustis " or princes 

 who received the rice from the Waidonos helped them- 

 selves likewise, and so when the harvest was all over and 

 the rice tribute was all brought in, the quantity was found 

 to be less each year than the one before. Sickness in one 

 district, and fevers in another, and failure of the crops in 

 a third, were of course alleged as the cause of this falling 

 off; but when the Rajah went to hunt at the foot of the 

 great mountain, or went to visit a " Gusti " on the other 

 side of the island, he always saw the villages full of people, 

 all looking well-fed and happy. And he noticed that the 

 krisses of his chiefs and officers were getting handsomer 

 and handsomer ; and the handles that were of yellow wood 

 were changed for ivory, and those of ivory were changed 

 for gold, and diamonds and emeralds sparkled on many 

 of them ; and he knew very well which way the tribute- 

 rice went. But as he could not prove it he kept silence, 

 and resolved in his own heart some day to have a census 

 taken, so that he might know the number of his people, 

 and not be cheated out of more rice than was just and 

 reasonable. 



But the difficulty was how to get this census. He 



