134 tkmmixck's general view of tiie dutch 
parcel. When the prince wished to specify the resources of a 
province, lie mentioned the number of tjatjah which it con¬ 
tained. 
In the course of time the tenants of the registered parcels, or as 
they are termed, the chiefs of the tjatjak , seeing their small domain 
extend itself insensibly and to augment the number of individuals 
placed in dependence upon them, the reciprocal relations and rights 
assumed fixed and legal forms, modified according to local circum¬ 
stances. These individuals who depended on a tjatjah into which 
they were admitted assisted in cultivating the lands belonging to the 
family, and they were bound to render to the chief a portion, often 
the half, of the produce; finally they performed the corve'es with which 
the chief of the family was charged. 
Notwithstanding the modifications which the progress of agricul¬ 
tural industry has been able to bring to these primitive institutions, 
and in spite of the very natural tendency of the dependants to free 
themselves from the ties to which they are subjected, and to aim 
themselves at becoming chiefs of tjatjah, this organization of the Ja¬ 
vanese society is generally maintained and exercises even at the pre¬ 
scot time a preponderating influence upon the relations which exist 
between individuals. 
These details, which we could not properly lengthen without de¬ 
parting from the design adopted for this work, serve to make appa¬ 
rent that it would be very impolitic, and even dangerous for the king’s 
government in India to put itself in direct connection with each of its 
officers. 
The individuality of communes is found to he the only efficacious 
method of counteracting this inconvenience, and the sole means which 
we are permitted to take not to shock the national prejudices, so 
firmly rooted in the mind of this numerous population. It is also the 
great motive which has served as the fundamental basis of the system 
at present adopted, and which is found actually in vigour. 
The amount of the land tax is consequently fixed by the communes. 
The amount is not the result of an operation founded on an exact register 
of lands, but rather of an agreement voluntarily concluded between the 
agent of the treasury and the elders of the commune. This manner of 
assessing the tax is without doubt prejudicial to the king’s treasury, but 
he is prudently satisfied with that which he can obtain without too 
much affecting the independence of the village administration, persua¬ 
ded that this is the national institution to which the entire popula- 
