A MODEL ESTATE
X. was informed that the proper journey from Buitenzorg was by carriage
_via_ Poentjuk to Sindanglaya, where a stay should be made at
Gezondleid's establishment after securing an upstairs room. The next
stage in the traveller's journey is to Tjandjoer and thence to Garvet.
And after a week at Garvet on again to Djoedja, Solo, Semarang, etc.,
but the traveller had already had sufficient of hotel life in Java, and
so determined to at once avail himself of a kind invitation he had
received to stay on an estate, not many miles from Soekaboemi. After a
few hours' rail in a first-class carriage (this fact is worth recording
as it was very seldom that such accommodation could be had, even if a
first-class ticket had been issued), he duly reached the station where
he had been instructed to alight. Here his host had sent two ponies to
meet him, one for himself and one for his servant, as well as several
coolies to carry his luggage. So, Abu being left at the house of the
stationmaster in care of the rest of the luggage (a terrible quantity,
the cost of its transport almost equalled the first-class fare of its
owner), X., followed by Usoof, started on the ten mile ride which led to
their destination. The path was a very rough one, and for the first
portion of the distance the way was through an open country planted with
padi as far as the eye could reach. The little ponies cared nothing for
the stony path, and went gamely along as though accustomed to canter on
a hard high road. After crossing the valley the route began to ascend
the range of hills, at the summit of which, 2,000 feet high, the estate
was situated. For almost the entire length of this ascent the view was
so glorious that the traveller continued to exclaim in wonder to his
companion to stop and look. Usoof who, as has been related, was a native
of the country, affected to gaze at it with the unconcern of a
proprietor, merely reminding his master that he had always said, that
his was a very fine country. For miles below the padi fields stretched
away narrowing in the distance, and here and there amidst this expanse
of emerald green were dotted little clumps of green of a darker shade,
these being the trees surrounding the clusters of houses inhabited by
the fortunate owners of the land. And every now and again athwart the
green carpet, stretched out below, glittered belts of water sparkling
like silver in the sun. The hills, which were also all planted with
padi, looked like grassy slopes with a back-ground formed by terraces of
hill-tops. One above the other they lay in ranges, until, in the
furthest distance, mountains of noble height towered like giants above
them all. It surely was a view worth going far to see, a wealth of green
such as an untravelled eye could not even dimly realise. No troubles of
travel, no greasy cookery or breadless meals could matter one jot if
this was the reward. The view repaid the enterprise even if the path by
which it were approached led only to a wayside inn of the most
unpretentious type, but its joys were enhanced by the anticipation of a
visit to a couple well known for their hospitality to strangers. The
host being a fellow-countryman who had had the good fortune to marry a
Dutch lady of most distinguished family. Almost at the summit of the
hill, about eight miles from the station, stood a little halting house
bearing the English-looking signboard with the legend of the "Pig and
Whistle." Here refreshments awaited the travellers, and then the journey
was continued along a jungle path which shortly emerged on to the
cultivated slopes of the estate. These slopes were covered with cinchona
trees, which X. afterwards learnt were in process of being rapidly
replaced by tea-plants. Presently at a dip in the road the first glimpse
was caught of the house below. A little English cottage, it appeared,
nestling cosily in a hollow, close beside a mountain stream. A nearer
approach revealed that the cottage was covered with blue convolvulus and
other creepers, and that the verandahs were enclosed with glass. It all
reminded him somehow of a well-known cottage by Boulter's Lock, and
there came a curious thrill of home memories at the sight of a typical
English home. On the further side of the stream stood a little detached
pavilion, kept exclusively for guests, after the fashion of all Dutch
houses in the East. This annexe is generally considered the house of the
elder son, but it is more usually built and used for the accommodation
of guests; an excellent arrangement in a country where both entertainers
and entertained wish occasionally to repose in attire, whose lightness
is best suited to the climate. A rustic bridge connected the two
buildings, and just above it was the bath room, into which a portion of
the stream had been diverted, so as to form a natural shower bath. The
stream and bridge and cottage, with their back-ground of hills and
fore-ground of roses, combined to make such a picture that X. longed to
be able to sketch it and take it away and keep it. The interior of this
cottage was as cosy and home-like as the outside promised it would be,
and, wonder of wonders! it had real wall paper on the walls. This almost
unheard of luxury in the East was a triumph of the skill of the hostess,
and had so far successfully defied the ravages of mildew and damp. The
chief characteristic of the house was that it looked like a home, its
tasteful decoration and contents indicating that the inhabitants had
come to stay. Most houses in the East have an unmistakeable air of being
mere temporary shelters, where the owners are lodging till they can get
away to their household goods now warehoused "at home."
This was only the second house X. had seen in this part of the world,
where the owners looked as if they lived in it (the other was in
Selangor). In this ideal spot it was the good fortune of the traveller
to spend some days--days pleasantly spent in riding about the
estate--which he soon grew to covet, and in watching the planting of the
tea, which, it was hoped, would eventually enable the kind host and
hostess to return with wealth to their native land. The climate at this
elevation was delightful, cool, and invigorating, and it was possible to
follow English hours and habits. Instead of getting up at 5 a.m. to go
for a ride, as was the custom in Pura Pura, X. found himself starting
for a ride after breakfast, about ten o'clock, without fear of the sun,
and this total change lifted his spirits, and he recorded silent thanks
to The Community who had suggested Java for his jaunt.
As may be imagined, during his stay in the hills the visitor was able to
learn much about the country, and hear many things that not only
interested him, but excited his admiration for the administration of the
precise and order-loving race who owned this beautiful island. Contrary
to what he had been led to believe, chiefly, perhaps, by a book which
had given currency to the impression, he found that the planters were
greatly assisted by the Government officials, who endeavour to work with
them, and, whenever possible, to meet their wishes. The coolies
certainly all appeared happy, when X. got accustomed to seeing them
crouch servilely in the ditches when he or his host passed by. English
officials in the native states of the Peninsula are accustomed to pass
their lives amongst the Malays, to listen to and help them in their
troubles, and to be constantly surrounded by them as followers or
companions, and the inmates and affairs of each household are known,
much as those of the cottagers on his estate would be to a home-staying
country squire in England. It can then be understood how strange it
seemed to X. to ride amongst people of the same race and see them crouch
down as he passed, not even daring to lift their eyes, as it is counted
an offence should they meet the gaze of one of the ruling race. What
could the latter really know of these people, he wondered, when
knowledge had to be obtained from across such a social gulf as this. He
could not conceal the disagreeable impression made upon him, but many
reasons were afterwards given to him as to why this state of things
should exist, and some of them were, he was compelled to admit, good
ones. The chief and foremost was, perhaps, that all Javanese customs and
manners are full of exaggerated formality and etiquette. These the Dutch
adopted as they found them, including all outward tokens of respect for
those of superior rank, deeming that all Europeans should be treated
with the same ceremony as the native headman.
One of the other reasons given was that the Dutch, being a small nation
and unable to keep a large force in the country, must rely upon keeping
the natives down in their proper place--under foot--for the continuance
of the supremacy they had achieved. X., as others would do, can only
hope that this view, though heard from several sources, was given to him
"sarcastic like," and that it was expected he would duly appreciate the
irony. And perhaps he did, seeing that he came from a country where,
without the presence of a single soldier, the widely scattered, and in
many cases isolated, officials can act as the friends and advisers of a
native race without the least fear of any loss of dignity or position,
both accepted as so much a matter of course as to make any question
regarding them impossible.
Java is, perhaps, the most governed country in the world. This phrase is
not the writer's; he merely quotes an opinion to be found in books on
Java, written by men entitled to judge, and frequently expressed by
people our traveller met in that island. The people are united by what
might be described as chains of officials, and each link in each chain
submits periodically precise reports on everything and everybody within
his charge. The system sounds flawless, and the head of all, the chief
official in the country, has thus pigeon-holed in front of him more
detailed and readily-found information about his subjects than is,
perhaps, possessed by any other ruler in the world. This is a matter
which might excite admiration, and there is no doubt that it in some
respects merits it, and the contrast presented to our own system of
government in the adjacent mainland is worthy of examination. But it
would be out of place in a book which professes to do no more than
describe a pleasant tour, and X.'s opinion upon a question of such
gravity, even though formed after a lengthy sojourn amongst the Malays,
and no little personal experience of the life and manners of an Eastern
people, may be omitted. It may be recorded, however, that the question
made him ponder, and he wondered if the officials who knew everybody
also knew everything, and whether many matters worthy of record did not
find themselves washed on one side as the stream of reports wound its
way from one native official to another, then to the subordinate
European officials (sometimes married to native women), and then once
more on to the pigeon-holes of the central authority. As I write I have
before me a list of fifteen titles of native officials given to X. by
one of themselves. There is no need to enumerate them here, though
allusion to them may suggest the possibilities of the various stages of
the journey to the final pigeon-holes.
Natives themselves have evidently formed opinions on these matters,
since in some of the native states of the Peninsula it was always the
custom of the people to invite a raja from another country to come and
rule over them, experience having taught them that a man with interest
and relations in the country might not always be sufficiently impartial;
in the same manner the native Mahommedan priest is always selected from
another nationality. However, to return to the place where we left X.
riding along amongst the young tea plants. When the coolies were not
running away from him or crouching to avoid the shock of meeting his
imperial glance, he was bound to admit that they were apparently happy
and contented, and, seeing the circumstances under which they lived, it
would have been strange had they not been so. These people were provided
with ample work within easy reach of their homes, which lay among the
surrounding hills. It seemed an earthly labour paradise to an official,
accustomed to hear the complaints of planters lamenting losses due to
their labourers, imported coolies from India, China or Java, running
away. Not only is the lot of the coolies in Java more conducive to
content than those in the Peninsula, but the planter is also happier in
the current rate of wages; 20 to 25 cents a day (Java cents) and for
women 15 cents. On this estate, as on most others, there was a festival
fund for the coolies, that is a certain sum of money is spent annually
on their recreation, providing for musical instruments and paying for
travelling shows, etc. X. felt that he had had the best of shows
provided for him, a show estate, where the supply of labour was cheap
and unlimited, and the people well cared for without any elaborate
legislation being required for their protection. Here at any rate was a
positive result of the administration of the Dutch, and a confutation of
the stories of down-trodden peasants in Java; and the traveller made up
his mind that if possible he would one day be a planter and that his
plantation should be in Java.