Regarding the second class of obligation imposed upon the soebak members, that is the maintenance of the princes' poeris, this is performed by rendering gratuitous services and generally consists in carrying materials, such as atap, bamboo, fire-wood, straw, etc. In the greater number of soebaks these services can be dispensed with on payment of a fee; exceptions are of course made in cases of illness, still this plea may not be put forward more than three times a year and here again we see the soebak members exercising control over one another. Should a man, who has excused himself on the score of sickness, be seen working elsewhere, or walking about with his kris, or wearing a flower behind his ear or in his hair-a sign that a Balinese is feeling unusually well and happy-it is the duty of whoever sees him, to report him to the klian and a fine is imposed.

The amount of the fee to be paid for exemption from work for the prince, is fixed according to the supply and demand and varies in different soebaks from a half to three and a half rijks dollars (4/6). The request must be made to the klian at the meeting which takes place when the rice is being cut, for the great harvest or Oesaba-festival takes place shortly after that; and owing to the great importance of this festival people make preparations for it and think about it a considerable length of time beforehand. Still this great festival of all is not the first one of a similar kind, though on a smaller scale, that has been celebrated by the members of the soebak guild.

The first festivities are held as soon as the labours connected with the dams are completed; the spot chosen for this celebration is the bank of the river which supplies the irrigation water; a bamboo structure is erected and on it are placed the offerings for the gods, which always include a sucking-pig, a white hen and a white duck. When, says Liefrinck, the gods have been allowed sufficient time to regale themselves with the sight of these dainties and the pamangkoe has mumbled a few invocations, then the whole construction, white duck, white hen, sucking-pig and everything else are hurled into the river! but these good things must not be wasted . ... oh no! this last act of sacrifice is the signal for a regular scrimmage and all those who can, follow the hen and the duck and the sucking-pig, each man trying to secure for himself the most he can!

At the time of the new moon a second festival is held, that is when all the water-pipes have been cleared; and in this case the celebrations and offerings are to obtain the favor of the gods against all bad and secret influences detrimental to the fertility of the Sawahs.

At the time of the first full moon after the second festival a third is held to beg of the gods to keep the crops free from disease and to send them a plentiful harvest.

Twenty-five days before the harvest and for three consecutive days there are further celebrations in the temple to offer up praise and prayer to the deities, to obtain from them the favour that the still growing crops may be full of sap and nourishment.

A couple of days before the harvest begins, a few of the finest ears.

of rice are cut, one leaf being left on the stem: these are tied together in a bunch called "nini," and are destined for Sri, the goddess of Fertility. When the harvest is over and the rice has been gathered into the barns by the women, this little "nini" is placed right on the very top of the padi, in order to drawn down a blessing on it!

According to circumstances the Oesaba takes place either a few days before or a few days after the harvest.

The day previous to the actual feast, all the members of the soebak dressed in their best clothes, go to the shore carrying with them little wooden caskets, supposed to contain the gods, and other properties belonging to the temples, besides flowers and offerings. They spend some little time near the water-this is to propitiate the gods by taking them to enjoy a refreshing morning bath-and then accompanied by the "gamelang " they return home and deposit once more all the paraphernalia in the temple. The next morning early every one goes to the temple, and instead of their krisses, all the men carry "goloks," i.e. large knives in handsome sheaths wherewith to cut up the meat for the sacrificial repast, preparations for which have been made by the women on the same lines as those made for New Year's day. In some localities they play the "gamelang" and dance in the temples; and not infrequently each division of a sawah sends one young girl to represent it. Sometimes fifty or a hundred of these girls, prettily dressed and adorned with flowers, perform picturesque dances and the jingling of their anklets intermingles harmoniously with the music of the "gamelangs."

Towards the middle of the day every one goes home, but only to return to the temple later on. This time it is to take the offerings, which the women carry on wooden platters on their heads and the whole family, husband, wife and children, go together to place these before the goddess of agriculture inside the temple enclosure. The pamangkoes, garbed in white, mutter a few prayers, after which the offerings are said to be acceptable by the goddess.

From the temple they all proceed to the sawah, as there are further solemnities to be performed here; at sunset there is a grand procession to the river, accompanied by music and every pomp, so that by the time the people reach their homes it is already dusk.

There is however not much interval for rest, for the real feast is only about to begin, and this of course is in the temple. Here, says Liefrinck, there are little girls, called "sangiangs," who execute a sort of religious dance.

Numbers of people lie down and fall asleep from sheer fatigue and are anxious to recuperate their strength for the coming night; meanwhile groups of women quite overcome by the burning incense and the monotony of the chanting, have reached that stage of spiritual rapture, which we have described in an earlier part of the work.

In the meantime, distinguishable above the singing is the sound of the "gamelang" playing a melody, which is only heard when the socalled "goerek" is about to take place:

"By degrees-thus does Liefrinck describe the performance-the people become more and more excited; they unsheath their krisses or seize hold of a spear and then begin those wild fantastic dances, which continue all night long and which take place in the enclosure of the temple, with no other light than that of the moon, the rays of which cannot pierce those high surrounding walls and the dense mass of shrubs and trees. If the participation in the revelry is large it is not long before about a hundred of half-naked figures with loose-hanging hair are seen to be rushing about excitedly, pretending either to stab themselves or others. The dance is led by the klian and at intervals he is surrounded by a crowd of these howling creatures; they kneel down and he sprinkles their throats with toja-tirta or arrack, in order to give them fresh strength and vigour.

"Little by little the women begin to join the dancing community; even young girls, dressed in men's clothes, wearing tight-fitting jackets and carrying krisses in their belts, execute elegant dances. It is however women of a certain age who appear to be most susceptible to this furious religious intoxication; they too fly around with krisses and spears and their behaviour towards the men present is certainly somewhat forward.

"This Saturnalia is kept up until the morning, but as dawn appears the uproar subsides and the scene proves less attractive; it is impossible for these ecstasies to continue in the face of day!”

Let us at least hope so! But the Balinese is not a man to be easily satisfied and the whole of the next day is devoted to dancing and feasting and consuming the delicacies which had been prepared for the gods-these only having abstracted the immaterial portion,-while, last but not least, there are the cock-fights which continue for several days within the temple enclosure.

It is compulsory for every member of the soebak to take part in all the dancing, feasting, etc., these rites are considered necessary to obtain a good harvest!....

Surely after having carried out punctiliously all the ordained formulas and not having failed to utter certain "mantras" while planting the seed, a plentiful crop may be expected. But supposing the desired results be not obtained; well, then there is no doubt that one has been guilty of some sort of negligence in the matter of sacrifices and there is no one to blame but one's self!

From the little we have said, it is clear that the significance of the soebak regulations can be in no way underrated; it is most remarkable to find such an institution amongst a native tribe. The rules of the society are based on the principle of equality, only laying down laws exclusively for the good of its members, at the same time allowing to each member a large measure of autonomy, thus, says Liefrinck, verifying the words of Montesquieu: "that the produce of the earth is less dependent on its own fertility, than on the freedom of its inhabitants!"

In view of the immense importance of the wet rice culture all other agricultural pursuits have fallen into the background.

After the paddy has been gathered in, the sawahs are utilized for various other more or less valuable crops. First of all there is maize which is grown very extensively-not as a second crop-but on certain high-lying lands in the North of Lombock, called tegal-districts, where it would be impossible to carry the water necessary for flooding a sawah. Although enormous quantities are cultivated, it is all required for home consumption.

This is not the case with the "kadjang," (Pandanus odoratissimus) which is widely planted in the "tegal" districts and which, though used as a vegetable by the islanders themselves and as fodder for their animals, is chiefly looked upon as an article of export. This is more particularly the case with the "kadjang idjo," which is sent chiefly to China where they distil a very excellent kind of arrack from it. The demand must naturally be very large, when it is known to cost one third less than rice in Lombock, whilst it produces one-third more arrack.

Although cocoa-nut trees are very abundant in Lombock, still the oil derived from them does not suffice for the inhabitants and large supplies are obtained from Bali; the kampongs are all very plentifully provided with all sorts of fruit-trees.

Cotton is grown very extensively, especially in the mountainous districts on the N. E. coast. It is said to be of exceptional quality, even superior to that of Macassar, which is noted all over the Archipelago. There are also sugar and tobacco plantations, but only producing enough for the island itself; the sugar cane is excellent.

"As I have never seen such fine sugar-canes as in Lombock, says Zollinger, it is my opinion that this island is as well if not better adapted for plantations than Java and large sugar factories might be built on the island. I have heard it said that attempts to carry out this plan have been suggested, but the Rajah is adverse to the idea and refuses the necessary assistance. The princes even object to large coffee plantations, assigning for their reason that they do not wish to attract European attention to their island."

That is why they have always strenuously opposed them and made them almost prohibitory by heavy taxation:

"We also had coffee plantations-say the Sassak chiefs in the letter at the beginning of the book-but after the harvest the prince sent his men to seize it, so that we had not even enough coffee for our own use. Whenever even two or three katis (one kati= lb.) were found in any one's house, it was immediately confiscated, in addition to which the owner was fined, etc.'

Possibly the princes from their own point of view saw no particular injustice in this conduct, but it is to be hoped that henceforward these plantations as well as the rice culture will be encouraged and that in the freedom of extension they may develop as widely as possible, for certainly there are few places where the combination of soil and climate is so conducive to their growth.

What we have further to say regarding the administration of the country is borrowed from Liefrinck's "Contribution to the knowledge of the Island of Bali:"

The causes which actuated the organizing of "soebak-guilds" were the same as those which led to the formation of "dessas" and "dessaguilds," at a much earlier period, probably even before the Hindu religion had supplanted the old one.

The increase of the population made it apparent that the near-lying fields and farms were not numerous enough to supply the requirements of the people; so the young men used to go to more distant ones, leaving their homes early in the morning and returning late at night. By degrees however the distances became greater and greater and during the busy seasons it would have incurred too great a loss of time