, 1875-02-07

we'll have lived in the moon.
Capt. Adam found the Srimats, as they wer
called. much moro civilized than no had e1
pected- They were mild. gentle. and very cour
teous 10 strangers; thoy lived in houses neatly
aud carefully built they were completely AM
simply dreased they spoke in q kind Of pat07
Of Dutch aud Malay, iu Which Dutch took th
chief part and they had an organized system
With great pride and venoration. This Govorn
| nent was very curious. Il consisted Of {
hind Of Council or Parliament which possesset
/ absolute power over tho life and property O
| every mcmber OF tho tribe. There was nothing
| 80 very strange in this; but tho thing that aa
| tonished Capt. Adam was that no one but the
hereditary members Of this Council were allowed
] to own the palm trees which ielded the palm
| oil; and, in order to mako their monopoly ths
more valuable. the Council had ordained that M
! Srimat should allow the light OF the sun to en-
| ter his dwelling. There WAS not window to be
] seen throughout tho place. The doors were
hung with heavy double mating, through which
| not chink of light could pass. The Srlmatt
would certainly hare died OF suffocatlon bad ths1
| not been gracously permitted ty their chiefs te
take down the mating at night, aud thus le'
somo fresh mir into the darkened coils in which
| they were condemned to l1Se.
! The object OF the Council in making this e1-
traordinary rule MAS to secuTe good 1aarAet for
their palm oil, by making 1t necessary tAat II
! should be burnt NIL through tho dnv. II they
| had heard as much about FREQ trade as We have
| In England, thes would hnyo bpen abie to prove
most atfectually that to exclude the light of the
sun from Srimato dwellings was aimply TO protect
! nativo industry. the Council ON ned the palm
trees; palm oil was made, by their rules about
tho windows. o first necessary OF lie. Two-
thirds OF tho Srimata found their constant occu-
pztion in tending the trees and preparing tho
oil. In return for the oil which they necessarily
best Of everything that thoy p ssessed. The oil
sometimes. ran short; then what competition
and strife there was among tire different families
of the tribe to zee which could give the most
costly presents to the chiefs in exchange for the
Capt. Adam soon found that the question OF
the oil stood in tho way Of his being ablo to
effect his object Of setting mp : communication
for the exchange Of merchandise and agricul-
tural produce between tn" srlnats ana an,
Cd Cd ehe1ss to sas rho@ 9I he '' proaohed
the subject, pointed out, With much
gravity, that his project WIS impracticablc.
''Two-thrds Of our people, y he said, arc occu-
pied in our most important industry. the making
Of palm oil; the other third work hard to provide
enough food and rai1nent for It's al. We can
only Just produce enough to maintain the tribe
in dcccncy aud comfort ne have no surplus
,that NO could exchange for the products Of other
lands"
aYoar soil must be very FERTILE replied Capt,
Adam, j" and your peorlo very Industrious and
very akilllu1 work.nen II onethird of the tribe is
able to produce all that is required BY the whole
Srimat pooulation."
Eyes. yes; il is true" said the old man.
s"We have much to be thankful for" And he
gazed upwards to the bad-smclling palm-on
lamp, the emblem to him Of all that was sacred.
II haye been thinking" said. the Captain,
'sthat you have much more to be thankful for
than you know OF. Two-thirds Of your people
me lesve to put out al tho lamps, and let my
mon knock holes in tho wallis Of evory house in
the place and you will have two-thirds of your
people free to turn to tho cultivation OF
spices, rice and Coffee which you could send
away. ana receive in return agricultural lmple-
ments, English cutlery, calico. and other things
which you never will be able to make. but which
we in England can make any 14Atity of."
The old chief frowned and said very sternly,
'sknock holes in the walls of our houses
Allow the Sun to flood our mArkes "lth MS light!
Our island would be ruined; our most impor-
tnut induAtry would bo destroy ed in . day. We
should haye 400 people who ow work in the
palm plantation and in the oil presses, reduced
to beggary at one blow"
s'But consider for ono. moment" urged Capt,
Adam. "thcse 400 people work hard all sler lives
to produce light. very inferior to that which
you could al set for nothing If only you would
hayo windows" -
'.The Government is intrusted to owners Of
the palm plantations" said the chief. Put
yourself ID OUR place and tell me if you would
throw 400 men out of employment fo- the sake
of sentimental preference for the light Of the
sun over the light Of tho 'oil-iampa Call our
people together. Describe your scheme ct
knocking holes in, their walls and abandoning
tic plantationa, and they would tear you to
pieces, gentle as they are. It is easy Tor you to
come here and advise rs to ruin our industry !;
il we were 80 foolish aa to take your advice We
should have to bear the punishment Of our folly
while you, when yon sa the misery and desola,
ton you had caused, would be able to hoist sail
and leave us.": ..... .,...>
Capt. Adam saw that the old man was too an
CRY to listen to him any moro, 30 he went away,
fret having obtained leaveto como back in two
or threo days with scheme which he said would
prevent ali the disasters which tho chief had
predicted as sure to follow the abandonment Of
the palm plantations -
Capt. Adam set to work to get this plan into
shape: the maiu feature OF it was not to aban-
don the plantations suddenly, but gradually to
transfer the labor they now absorbed to more
profitable occupations. In two years he cafcn-
lated that the whole 400 people now employed in
the palm plantations might be growing spices
and cofeo enough to form valuable export
trade, and that At no time during the process OF
employnent. They were to be removed from the !
palm plantations in companies Of fifty At once;
IN eighth of the entire population Wns at the
same time to be permitted the privilege OF hav-
ng windows; and in return for this favor the |
,on-oil growers were to provide the ex-ol grow
ITS with necessary food and clothing till the |
iret crops Of coffee .and spices could be sold, |
yIen tEo o1-oi! grower9 Wou1d be quite |
independent OF the help Of their neighbors.
Capt. Adam was very pleased With his scheme;
: was clear az daylight, be thought. that it
would make everybody in the island better of,
nd that, owing 10 the great fertility Of tho land
he transition from the palm to the coffee PLAN
at,one could be carried out with TerT little diff
rllty. - 80. -, .~..;
4 time WAS appointed for him to explain his
an to the council OF the Chiefs. They listened
o him patiently till l,e came to the part where
20 tired to make it clear that in two years the
a!sn Plantations might ba entirely abandoned
nd then they roso in great wrnth, and shouted
in down. 4 comparative calm followed in q
ew minutes, when the old chief. to whom he
ad first broached the subject, rose and said
Your scheme would ruin US the palm planta-
ions are our own property you propose to us
nat they should be abandoned, and that We
hould submit to ruin and degTadation- Leave
ur calm and peaceful island forever it Was IN
I'll day that you ever set foot on it. ," - ;:~
Capt. Adam blamed himself very much for not
aying found out that the palm plantations we're
10 private property of the council, for he knew
len too veil to think they would ever pass laws