176 NATURE OF LAND TAX. 



in these courts, except in serious cases, for which 

 there is a European circuit judge. Appeal from 

 these courts, in important matters, lies to the High 

 Court of Justice at Batavia. 



All the land is the property of Government, no 

 native, whatever his rank, having any property in 

 the soil. Each kampong, or community, has a cer- 

 tain cultivatable district assigned to it in common, 

 on which to raise the rice and other produce neces - 

 sary for its support. For this it pays a land-tax, or 

 rent, adjusted in the following manner. The pro- 

 duce is divided into five equal parts, one of which 

 is supposed to pay the cost of cultivation and reap- 

 ing, the remainder is equally divided between the 

 tenants and the Government. Instead, however, of 

 receiving the two-fifths in produce, the Government 

 usually commute it for a money payment. Rice 

 land is taken as the general standard ; a measure of 

 land called a bouw, equal to 1 J English acres, is sup- 

 posed to produce five amats of paddy, or rice in the 

 ear, each amat containing one hundred bundles. Each 

 amat yields ten piculs of paddy, or five piculs of 

 bras or white rice cleaned and husked ready for. 

 cooking. The amat of bras is considered to be 

 worth six copper rupees on an average, therefore 

 the rent or land-tax for a bouw is twelve copper 

 rupees.* In case of a bad crop a reduction is gene- 

 rally made till the rent is brought down to the 



* This would be nearly \4s. English money, which would 

 make about 10s. 6d. per English acre. 



