THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



A LITTLE GOSSIP NOW AND THEN IS RELISHED EVEN BY PRIMITIVE WOMEN : AT A 



KARO-BATAK MARKET 



coolie, new sarong, and month's wages 

 unaccounted for. 



LURING THE JAVANESE COOLIE EROM THE 

 CONTRACTOR 



Even when safely gathered on board 

 ship and the coast of Java has been sunk, 

 there remains still to be cleared the inter- 

 vening port of Singapore. There, in dis- 

 guise, wily touts for the Malayan coolie 

 brokers smuggle themselves aboard, no 

 matter how vigilant the ship's officers 

 may be, for labor is everywhere in de- 

 mand. With much astuteness they pro- 

 ceed to poison the minds of the already- 

 frightened Sumatra-bound Javanese. 



"Sumatra? A country of tigers and 

 ferocious savages who eat nothing but 

 coolies : a cold land, where there is no 

 sun, no rice ; where laborers are unpaid, 

 cruelly treated, and whence they rarely 

 return !" 



So the tout whispers on, adding terror 

 to their own premonitions, refuting all 

 that the contractor had said, and in the 

 end offering to aid in their immediate 

 escape from the horrible fate in store, to 



the tempting security of fortune and hap- 

 piness in the Malay States. 



Strict watch is kept over the ship while 

 in Singapore, but scarcely a trip is taken 

 that a few of those under contract are 

 not among the missing when the final 

 count is made. For every one lost the 

 first mate is personally fined, I think 

 about fifty gulden ; but if he brings a cer- 

 tain percentage safely to their destination 

 he receives a liberal bonus. Consequently 

 the final checking off is fraught with deep 

 anxiety for all concerned. 



STRIKING COLOR EFFECTS IN WOMEN'S 

 ADORNMENTS 



Single file, as I watched, the ship-load 

 of coolies passed before me and down the 

 gangway between two officers and a con- 

 tractor's agent, who checked them as they 

 went — men, women, boys, and girls, with 

 folded mats under their arms and their 

 possessions tied up in long cloths slung 

 around their necks and resting on their 

 hips. Only those with babies were kept 

 apart and counted last, lest one tiny head 

 should be overlooked. 



