B A T A V I A. 225 
uncontrolled sway. When a man, ^ for instance, dies and 
leaves behind him children that are eitiier under age or un- 
married, his wives, his children and property fall to the 
* Prince, and arc considered to be taken by him in lieu of the 
military service of the deceased^ to which he had a claim. 
This right is not, however, generally exercised. The chief 
being considered as the sole proprietary of the soil, all lands 
are held of him under the tenure of military service, and a pro- 
portion of their produce ; but since the settlement of the Dutch 
on Java, the several Princes not only oblige the peasantry to 
cultivate particular articles suitable for exportation, but take 
from them such proportion of the produce as will meet the 
terms on which they may have concluded their agreement 
with the Dutch. Formerly thc}^ exacted one half of the pro- 
duce by way of rent, but they are now said to demand at 
least two thirds of the crop. Pepper and coffee are the two 
principal articles that are required to be cultivated, as best 
suiting the purpose of the Dutch, to whom they are delivered 
by the Javanese Princes at the low rate of about one penny 
a pound. 
The Javanese are, in general, about the middle size of 
Europeans, straight and well made ; all their joints, their 
hands and their feet, remarkably small ; the colour of their 
skin a deep brown, ap^proaching to black ; their eyes are 
black and prominent ; the nose rather broad and somewhat 
flattened ; the upper lip a little projecting, not much thick- 
ened, but highl}^ arched. They have a firm steady gait, and 
seem to feel, or at least to atfect, a superiority over the other 
inhabitants of the island. They rub the head, the face and 
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