Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 3.djvu/70

 58 PUBLIC REVENUE. of good land ; or, to speak in general terms, the progi'essive state of the society towards improve- ment, to render the condition of the Javanese cul- tivator more comfortable than that of the Hindu one, notwithstanding the admitted inferiority of the Javanese to the Hindus in the scale of civilization. That the habitation of the Javanese peasant is neat- er, his clothing and food better, and his modes of husbandry more perfect, is admitted by all who have had an opportunity of instituting a fair comparison between the Hindus and Javanese. Another circumstance which contributes materi- ally to the comfort or ease of the husbandman in all the countries of the Indian islands, is the almost universal exemption of all lands from taxation, ex- cept those employed in raising bread corn, substi- tutes for it, or the materials of clothing. In Java, it is roughly estimated by the natives themselves, that one-third of the area of all the arable land is oc- cupied by the sites of villages, including the gardens and orchards interspersed with the buildings. It matters little whether this proportion be accurate or not ; the belief that it is so may, at least, be ad- mitted as proof that a very large proportion is so oc- cupied. A Javanese village, and the same observa- tion applies to the villages of the other agricultural tribes, may be described as the mixture of a garden, orchard, and plantation of useful woods, in the grove, formed by which are interspersed the dwellings of