TOUR FROM SOURABAYA, THROUGH KEDIRF, &c. 405 
the way, and considering that one has now nearly crossed the 
island, is very trifling. Junghuhn states that the town of Ke- 
diri is not more than 107 feet above the level of the sea; at 
Blitar this elevation has increased to 505 feet and Welingi 
may be 100 feet higher again. The soil is every where light 
and good, and with the aid of irrigation would be sure to 
produce abundant crops. For want of population, however, 
vast tracts of fine land, particularly in Kediri, are lying waste 
and useless, and even under the most favourable circumstances, 
some generations must pass away before all the good land is 
likely to be occupied. This, however, would be the country 
for Government to convert into a rice granary, to supply the 
want of food which has arisen since the old rice lands near 
the coast have been so extensively appropriated for the culti¬ 
vation of sugar cane. But improvement in, or even a careful 
surveillance of, the rice cultivation appears to occupy little of 
the serious consideration of the government authorities, whose 
exertions are mainly devoted to the production of Sugar, In¬ 
digo, or Coffee, articles more immediately suited for export to 
Europe and forming the objects of a cherished monopoly. 
Bice, like all other articles, to succeed well, ought to be 
planted at a suitable season and properly taken care of. It 
is a cultivation to which the Javanese is attached and wil¬ 
lingly devotes much time and troble, if not dragged away to 
other work. A little matter, however, easily disarranges him, 
and this is a reason the more that the government ought to be 
careful in watching that the interests of the rice crop do not 
suffer by their interfering with the disposal of the natives’ la¬ 
bour. Paddy to do well and yield a luxuriant crop ought to enjoy 
the benefit of the natural force of vegetation which is experien¬ 
ced in the early months of the year. Irrigation, however potent, 
can never produce the same happy results when the atmos¬ 
phere above is scorching and withering, as when combined with 
showery and alternately sunny weather; and there ought there¬ 
fore to be some system adopted, varying with local circum¬ 
stances, to compel the people to plant their rice lands at a 
season when the greatest benefit might be reasonably expected. 
On the low lands in the neighbourhood of the sea coast, the 
excuse for the late planting is the fear of inundation during 
the prevalence of the North West monsoon, but this argument 
cannot hold in the interior where an easy drainage is generally 
found, and here, by neglecting to plant sufficiently early, the 
best of the growing season is mi ssed, and at a later period, 
when most wanted, the sources of irrigation fail. I will now 
give a view of the state in which I found the paddy crops 
