them possessed sufficient authority or knowledge to be placed over the others; such a course would have paved the way for endless intrigues like those we had had to settle at Bali and furthermore it would have been opposed to our promises to the princes-and to the instructions of the Commander-in-chief. The second alternative was not feasible under the existing circumstances for the same reasons, that is to say because it was opposed to the instructions. It is an elementary principle of statesmanship to hold the native princes and chiefs in honour, to support their authority and not to extend our direct control at their expense. In the abstract nothing can be simpler or more just than to govern the people through their princes and where it has been practicable, so as on the East coast of Sumatra, or Borneo or Celebes, we have adhered to the principle with very satisfactory results.

Circumstances have forced us sometimes to introduce direct administration, in cases where there are no chiefs of sufficient influence or men whom we could rely upon and in every instance the inhabitants have gained advantages never enjoyed under their own princes.

There are people who contend that this course entails too great a strain upon our finances and upon our administrative forces; statistics entirely disprove this statement.

Take Java; although there are fewer European officials employed there, comparatively speaking, still the revenues are no larger in proportion than those of the Government residencies.

Do we not reap more advantages from Palembang, under our direct administration, than we do from the West coast and Borneo? and what could be more satisfactory than the financial results of Boeléleng and Djembrana? *

The proportion of officials employed in Palembang is the same as on the West coast of Borneo; in the former-exclusive of Djambi-we have 24 officials to a population of 588.000 souls and in the latter 16 officials to 383.000 inhabitants. In the Residency on the East coast of Sumatra with 230.000 inhabitants, or two-fifths of Palembang, there are 18 officials, where as according to the proportion of the population 10 ought to suffice.

We may conclude, therefore by saying that had we not been bound by our contract to the princes there was no valid reason why we should have abstained from placing the Sassak territory under our direct

administration.

Those terrible occurrences of 25-26 August relieved us of this last obligation and put an end to what would have proved an untenable position in the long run.

Furnished with the authorization of the Governor General the Com

* In an article bij Heer Kilstra in Bataviaasch Nieuwsblad" of 3 Nov. 1894 we find the following the sum total of the taxes in Boeléleng and Djembrana amounted to fls. 291.000 and the expenditure to fls. 112.000;

The revenue of the Western division of Borneo was fls. 433.000 and tho expenditure fls. 890.000;

In Palembang the revenue was fls. 1.503.000 and the expenditure fls. 1.314.000.

mander-in-chief determined to meet the chiefs of the East coast in their own territory, being fully persuaded that no definite settlement could be arrived at without very tangible guarantees. On the 4th August the Commander-in-chief, accompanied by the Resident, the chief of his staff, controller Liefrinck and his aide-de-camp Lieutenant Kolting, reached the seaboard town Labuan Hadji, where all the principal Sassak' chiefs had assembled. The same day a conference was begun, which lasted for three days; on the one hand there was a detailed recapitulation of all the grievances with which we are acquainted, on the other the decisions of the Government were stated regarding the future administration of Lombock.

The Commander-in-chief promised to propose to the Governor-General that a European representative should be established at Mataram and on the East coast of Lombock to check any usurpation of power on the part of the Balinese princes. The Balinese and the Sassaks alike were to remain under Balinese rule, which was to be administered by their respective chiefs, who were to be approved of by the Government and not to be dismissed at the will of the princes.

Finally all the mutual duties of prince and people were to be minutely regulated, "the mandjing and tjampoet" were to be abolished and provision should be made to insure respect for the religious laws and institutions of the people. The chiefs were perfectly satisfied with all the proposals, but objected, that they were bound by their oath never to submit to Balinese rule; accordingly at the second meeting one hadji and one panghoeloe were present, with the result that the chiefs were released from their oaths, which were no longer binding under the altered circumstances. At the last meeting this resolution was ratified in a written document and three of the chiefs were appointed to accompany the Commander-in-chief to Tjakra Nagara to assist at the final councils.

He returned to Ampenam on the 8th August, having successfully accomplished his mission. The Sassaks were quite satisfied with what was to be the new order of things..... their days of oppression were over and no Balinese would interfere with them in future. Events will show whether the Balinese were equally satisfied, but meanwhile we will return to our troops.

It is difficult to describe life in an Indian bivouac, where the monotonous daily life is a repetition of the day before. The place of the bivouac, which we have shown in the sketch, reminds one of an oldfashioned town where all the principal buildings form the centre and the least important houses and people are kept at a respectable distance. Here we have the square with the quarters of the Commander-in-chief, as in the old town there was the market-place with its town-hall; then there are the narrow passages and streets with the police patrols, corresponding to the old night watchmen and at the entries and exits there are the sentries on duty carefully scrutinizing all who come and go.

But how vastly different is the life of the camp to that of the old provincial town!

While the darkness of night still overspreads the camp dark black figures move stealthily along between the sheds and wend their way towards the kitchens: they are the convicts, whose duty it is to prepare breakfast for the troops; at this point the comparison between camp and town ceases, for nowhere have we seen it related that the burgomaster provided meals for his fellow-citizens!

In the bivouac space is very limited; we see the officers of a company lodged in small sheds, no larger than a horse-box, and literally sharing

bed and board; even the quarters of the Commander-in-chief are barely the size of his bath-room in Batavia, and they are shared by his aidede-camp.

Sometimes during the night there is a little extra room, when some of the troops are sent off on unexpected marches, orders being kept secret until the last moment; they dress in the dark, grope about for their guns and are ready to start in half an hour's time: they are ready to go when and where they are told without any questions, prepared to obey and to follow their leaders blindly and confidently even to death. As yet however, they are allowed to rest; when they do get up they

all go and bathe in the cool refreshing stream close by... if they are so fortunately situated.

After the early swim all are ready for their breakfast of soup or rice; the sun rises slowly and the scorching heat soon compels all who are not on duty to retreat into the shadiest nook they can find and there is little or no movement in the camp during the middle of the day. Towards sunset the cool evening breeze restores life in the bivouac, the soldiers sing merrily and the natives play sad melancholy music; the twilight is full of mysteries, sounds of men and animals mingle with the sweet fragrance of the trees and plants and the Europeans abandon themselves to the enjoyment of the delicious tropical evening allowing their thoughts to wander away from the scene, whilst the natives are happy playing cards round a little oil-lamp!

Preparations are already being made for the morrow in some quarters; the chief is making out his daily report and some are busy writing home. Soon the 'last post' is sounded and all turn in to rest, excepting those on whom the watch devolves.

In order to prevent the great evil of "boredom" penetrating amongst the troops not engaged in actual combat, also to add to our topographical acquaintance with the country and to keep the soldiers well exercised, marches were made daily along the numerous roads or to one of the many country seats belonging to the prince's family. We will follow van Alting von Geusau on one or two of these excursions; in his diary he describes the expedition to "Narmada", the palace which was not completed at the time of controller Heijliger's visit in 1884:

"The natives are seated on either side of the road staring with all their might and main at the wonderful appearance of properly drilled troops, they are filled with awe at the sounds of the lusty Western music, contrasting so strikingly with the apathy that breathes from their island "gamelangs" and there is no doubt but that we shall survive in the imagination of these good people as titans and giants who came with great fire-ships to punish Anak Agong Madé for all his misdeeds. One cannot help noticing that, though in the aggregate the Balinese seem strangely afraid to fight us, taken singly they do not evince very much fear of the soldiers, who have come to conquer!-Yesterday a man passed so close to me in the open road that he actually trod on my foot; I did not hesitate to send him rolling with a kick, nevertheless he had been guilty of an act of marked disrespect!"

There is no doubt about it, at this stage of the business, the Balinese had got over their first fears!

"Well then, it was settled that we were to start early yesterday morning for "Narmada", the country residence of the old Rajah of Lombock. The son of Agong k'Toet, recently recognized by the Commander-in-chief as successor to the throne, was supposed to be residing here, but he was absent.

"Outside Tjakra Nagara the scenery is very similar to most Indian landscapes; sawahs, cocoa-nut-trees, bamboo plantations, small woods

just like at Java; the only noticeable difference is that the kampongs are more extensive, small dessas are unknown and no one would venture to establish himself beyond the kampong boundary line.

"We reached Narmada at 8.30 a.m. after a two and a half hour's march, and, as we remained there four hours, I had ample time to look round the neighbourhood, beginning, naturally, with the palace. It is situated on the South side of the road; as is customary, the entrance is through a very narrow doorway, only admitting of one person passing at a time and leading to a large open square, dotted over with numerous dirty little sheds or huts. On the right hand side of the square is a pond plentifully supplied with "goramek" and "bandeng", some of which we caught by means of hook and line and a couple of "ketans" (little rice sweetmeats). On the opposite side of the square, near the door we had to go through, was a small house, where ten soldiers of the prince's body-guard were stationed; their spears, the only weapons they then had, were all placed neatly in a row on a rack. I was surprised to see some cannons and some muskets bearing the same mark as their coins. (Alg. Oost-Ind. Comp.) and evidently made at Enkhuizen and I am at a loss to understand their presence there.

"To the left of the second square are a few sheds said to contain the prince's kepéngs and to the right is the harem. In addition to the servant's quarters, standing out in squalid contrast, there were only three buildings of any importance, two of which were provided with galleries a couple of mètres from the ground and profusely hung with European and Chinese prints! The doors were all symetrically designed and wonderfully carved, besides being prettily decorated with variegated flowers. The third building contained a couple of sleeping apartments leading off from a large centre gallery, which is reached by ascending about ten to twelve steps; the view obtainable from the gallery is such as to make one marvel at the native architecture and industry and will ever recur to my memory should I feel inclined to labour under the delusion that the people possess no real energy or determination. The attention is immediately arrested by a projecting right angle of seven large terraces, on the highest of which stands a dewa-temple dedicated to the Hindu gods; the terraces are used for the services and ceremonies in honour of Madjapahit. Advantage has been taken of a spring close by to lay out most magnificent waterworks, principally for baths, thus the prince's private bath is supplied by fifteen jets of everflowing crystallike water and a lower terrace has a bath supplied by eight jets from the same source. At the foot of the terraces is a pond 100 mètres long, but unlike the generality of them it is not square; where there

no terraces grass mounds have been raised to the height of 20 mètres, all having arbours on the tops; on the North was a fine rockery and on the South a lovely richly-planted table-land."

"The sides of the pond are of stonework and the water runs into it from two different points; there is a waterfall two mètres high on the East providing a perpetual supply of water so clear and transparent that