0 



ffOlL AND LAROH. 



which, unless in limes of scarcity, supply all their 

 wants, liut such is lite character of the Malay lhat, 

 with occasional Exceptions, lie will, rather than take a 

 spade in hand fur hire, content himself with a hare 

 pittance not exceeding half of the sunt he might gain 

 by lahor in the plantation of a planter. These re- 

 marks apply perhaps more strongly to the Province 

 than to Penarig, because rice is there more abundant, 

 and a livelihood may be obtained in various ways not 

 requiring* constant application. The same disinclina- 

 tion to exertion, not imperiously called for by necessity, 

 preveuts the native luud-owners t not being Chinese, 

 embarking to a useful extent in anv sort of cultivation 

 requiring considerable capital : and it is observable 

 that the most unenterprising part of the community 

 consists of those native proprietors who pay but a no- 

 minal quit-rent, and can a fiord to live in frugal indol- 

 ence, which, with their simple habits, is luxury to them; 

 so — reverting to the old adage — necessity — which, in 

 these days, originate* in artificial wants and refine- 

 ments as well as in natural impulses — is the parent of 

 invention, or in other words, prosperity in its ful- 

 lest sense. In 1828, 1 imported si Ik- worms from 

 Calcutta and offered them gratis to the natives, but 

 not one was accepted, although the mulberry thrives 

 there, requiring only a very small degree of care to be 

 bestowed on it. The same fate had nearly attended 

 my ofier of seed coffee, and other plants and grains; 

 some of the Malays have, however, cultivated the for- 

 eign tobacco-sect Is obtained from Calcutta. The 

 settled habits which the people arc now gradually 

 adopting will bring artificial wants in their train and 

 induce innovations on the confined agricultural s}stem 

 hitherto pursued. The Chinese are the only native 

 class who are really deserving of the name of spirited 

 cultivators. But they are prejudiced too, and the v 



