CELEBES 
297 
brought about by a system which most Englishmen 
would condemn untried—that of enforced labour. Any 
person of the peasant class not having a trade is com¬ 
pelled by law to plant coffee. Each must, if required, 
plant 2 5 trees every year, but the number depends upon his 
last year’s production, and is regulated by the Controleur. 
There are Government plantations in every village, and 
both the land and the seedlings are supplied by the 
State. The success of the industry is in great measure 
due to the equable rainfall, the north of Celebes herein 
differing greatly from Java, which is exposed to a long- 
continued drought during the easterly monsoon and 
excessive rains in the wet season. The berry is of par¬ 
ticularly good flavour, and finds its market chiefly in 
Russia, bringing a far higher price than that produced in 
Java. All the coffee thus grown by the natives has to 
be sold to Government at a fixed price. It is divided 
into two qualities, for which fourteen and seven guilders 
are respectively paid per picul of 133 lbs. This price 
is, however, not the actual cost to the Government, since 
presents have to be given to the head-men and “ Majors,” 
and as the crop is bought on the plantation, the cost of 
conveyance to the coast is considerable. Should a 
Dutchman wish to plant coffee, he is permitted to do so, 
the system being only a Government monopoly so far as 
the natives are concerned. He is allowed to take up 
land at a rental of one guilder per bouw (1|- acre), and 
pays a head-tax of a dollar on his coolies. The wages of 
the latter are six guilders, or rather less than ten shillings, 
a month, and a catty (1-J lb.) of rice per diem. Every 
adult male is, however, compelled to give thirty-six days 
in the year to the service of the Government for road 
repair and work of a like nature, or else to provide a 
substitute. 
