CHAPTER XII. LOMBOCK: HOW THE
RAJAH TOOK THE CENSUS.
The Rajah of Lombock was a very wise man and he showed his wisdom
greatly in the way he took the census. For my readers must know that the chief
revenues of the Rajah were derived from a head-tax of rice, a small measure
being paid annually by every man, woman, and child in the island, There was no
doubt that every one paid this tax, for it was a very light one, and the land was
fertile and the people well off; but it had to pass through many hands before it
reached the Government storehouses. When the harvest was over the villagers
brought their rice to the Kapala kampong, or head of the village; and no doubt he
sometimes had compassion for the poor or sick and passed over their short
measure, and sometimes was obliged to grant a favour to those who had
complaints against him; and then he must keep up his own dignity by having his
granaries better filled than his neighbours, and so the rice that he took to the
"Waidono" that was over his district was generally good deal less than it should
have been. And all the "Waidonos" had of course to take care of themselves, for
they were all in debt and it was so easy to take a little of the Government rice,
and there would still be plenty for the Rajah. And the "Gustis" or princes who
received the rice from the Waidonos helped themselves likewise, and so when
the harvest was all over and the rice tribute was all brought in, the quantity was
found to be less each year than the one before. Sickness in one district, and
fevers in another, and failure of the crops in a third, were of course alleged as the
cause of this falling off; but when the Rajah went to hunt at the foot of the great
mountain, or went to visit a "Gusti" on the other side of the island, he always
saw the villages full of people, all looking well-fed and happy. And he noticed
that the krisses of his chiefs and officers were getting handsomer and
handsomer; and the handles that were of yellow wood were changed for ivory,
and those of ivory were changed for gold, and diamonds and emeralds sparkled
on many of them; and he knew very well which way the tribute-rice went. But as
he could not prove it he kept silence, and resolved in his own heart someday to
have a census taken, so that he might know the number of his people, and not be
cheated out of more rice than was just and reasonable.
But the difficulty was how to get this census. He could not go himself into