DUTCH POLICY IN JAVA. 179 



tions, collected on the day of the Javanese new year, 

 and by fees on marriages and divorces, which are 

 commonly from one and a half rupees to three rupees 

 each. It appears that divorce is almost as frequent 

 as marriage ; divorce by mutual consent is perfectly 

 easy, as also is the divorce of a wife by the husband, 

 but for a woman to divorce her husband against his 

 will it is requisite she should assign some adequate 

 reason. 



I did not hear that the Dutch had used any en- 

 deavours for the conversion of the Javanese to 

 Christianity, or for their education in other matters, 

 at all events no widely-spread, or earnestly enforced 

 system had ever been adopted for such purposes. 

 Their policy seems to have been simply to put their 

 own Government in the place of the native one, as 

 far as regards the receipt of the revenue, leaving 

 the natives as much as possible in their original 

 condition, to enjoy their own manners and customs, 

 to be governed by their own chiefs in almost the 

 same despotic manner as formerly, but under the 

 superintendence of the Hollanders, in order that the 

 productions and consequent revenues of the island 

 might be increased as much as possible. 



The native population of Java was stated by the 

 last census to have amounted to nearly nine millions. 

 In this case it has doubled since 1815, when under 

 Sir S. Raffles, it was found to be 4,615,270, includ- 

 ing Madura. It must be observed that the natives 

 have always a direct interest in keeping the census 



n 2 



