circumference, and the population was reckoned by my great-uncle at about 100,000. The gazetteers describe the climate as temperate, and the soil as fertile. My great-uncle says little of the business which he carried on in Mumin, but I gather from things I have heard in the family that he occupied himself as a general merchant, and I know that he rented a large and profitable nutmeg plantation which surrounded the house in which he lived. R. D.]

That I may make this part of my narrative intelligible, it will be necessary that I should sketch, as briefly as may be, the political constitution of Polo Mumin, as it was when I was first borne to its shores in the year 1775. The supreme government of the Happy Island was vested in the Rajah, whose province it was to decide on all matters relating to peace and war, the formation and dissolution of alliances, the enactment of laws, and sentences of death, exile, or confiscation. The executive consisted, in the first case, of an adviser or Prime Minister, subordinate to whom were four Pungulu negri, or governors, one of whom presided over each of the four provinces into which the island was parcelled out; and under these dignitaries were a number of local magistrates, customs officers, and a host of minor officials. The Prime Minister, governors, and magistrates were without exception chosen from the richer classes, it being considered that as they were the most highly educated members of the community, they were best fitted to govern; and that, being in possession of those things for which crimes were commonly committed, they were less likely to be guilty of any deed of violence or injustice than those who were not so well provided. Experience certainly proved the wisdom of these considerations. When I first knew the island, no State could have been better ordered than it was. The Rajah, Budaman by name, had inherited the love of justice, the lofty courage, and the sound common-sense which seemed to have belonged to the reigning sovereign for many generations. In Kraling, his Minister, he had a sapient counsellor and a true patriot; and without exception the governors were men who

had been chosen as being persons well versed in affairs and upright in conduct. In these happy conditions, justice was firmly and wisely administered, and the rights of all were respected. The industrious felt sure of having the fruits of their labor secured to them; and those who were already possessed of riches, being free from all the cares which beset the wealthy in less settled communities, were able to devote their time and energies to the protection of the island from foreign foes, and to the furtherance of the good of the commonwealth.

By an easy and well-ordered system of compulsory military service, every man in the island had to pass through the ranks, with the result that, small as was the kingdom, the Rajah's power was held in respect not only by the princes of the neighboring islands, but also by the monarchs on the mainland. For more than a generation this system of avoiding war by being prepared for war had preserved the State in absolute quietude, and the result of this rest from their enemies was on all sides observable in the prosperous condition of the island. The nutmeg plantations were the most valuable possessions; but in addition, sugar-canes, wheat, barley, rice, and other kinds of grain, were much grown. The seats of the governorships were four good-sized seaport cities, where a considerable trade was carried on in native produce and foreign. imports; and besides these centres of commerce there were numerous villages scattered about, some of which came near the dignity of towns.

But to return to the narration of my adventures. When first washed on to the island I was more dead than alive, and owe my recovery to the kind offices of a customs official by whom I was found, who carried me to his house, and who, by the application of kindly warmth, restored consciousness to my mind and feeling to my limbs. Fortunately both Tingra, as my friend was called, and his wife spoke a little Hindustani, so that I was able to make known my wants and gratitude to them. The language of the island was, I found, a dialect of Malay, in which tongue I soon began to make progress under the tuition of Tingra nié (Mistress Tingra),

tress followed; and Governor Rakushak, who was perhaps more distinguished for his benevolence than his wisdom, wrote to the Rajah entreating him to supplement by all means in his power the relief furnished to the impoverished district by the wealthy inhabitants. After holding frequent councils with Kraling, the Rajah consented to bestow money and food, but accompanied the gift with a letter, in which he commanded the Governor to proclaim that the suddenness of the calamity had alone induced him to supply by charity what should have been earned by honest work. Nothing," he continued, "impoverishes people more than the reception of indiscriminate alms; and the greatest misfortune which could overtake a population would be the growth of the idea that, in any strait or difficulty, their wants would be supplied without any effort on their part. You will publish it abroad, therefore, that this is an unusual gift to meet an unusual emergency, and is not to be construed into a precedent for any future occasion."

In obedience to the Rajah's commands, this letter was publicly read in the market-place, but the wisdom it con. tained was lost on its hearers, who cared only for the loaves and fishes which accompanied it. It would have been well if they had lent a more ready ear to the weighty words of their sovereign, for before long there were not wanting signs that some of the evils which he had foreshadowed were already germinating. Two months of idleness produced a decided disinclination among many of the men to begin work again, when the ploughing season came round. The most part, it is true, were glad once again to earn an honest day's wage for an honest day's work, but there was a residuum of idle vagabonds who, having tasted the sweets of doing nothing in comfort, showed a manifest desire to continue in the same pleasant way. And not only did they decline work themselves, but strove, by every means in their power, to prevent the more honest men from hiring themselves out. Though at first confining their complaints to their pressing physical wants, they soon began to cry out for general and visionary improvements, and an in

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crease of democratic influence. absurd, they said, that the government of the country should be entirely vested in the hands of the wealthy class, who, from the nature of things, could not properly sympathize with the laborers in their toils and privations. There should be at least, they said, one magistrate in each province who should be chosen from the people, and who would understand their wants and lay their grievances before the throne.

By the exercise of constant agitation, the ringleaders in the movement succeeded in bringing a crowd to the Governor's palace, to press these views on his Excellency. Being entirely unused to demonstrations of such a kind, Rakushak, after some faint demurs, promised to forward the petition handed in by the mob to his Majesty the Rajah. Unfortunately the views put forward by the agitators had been adopted by Sakabatu, an able, restless, and unscrupulous man of wealth, who was devoured with a democratic ambition, and who thought he saw in the success of the popular demands the means of gaining for himself the exercise of uncontrolled power. Although disliked by the Rajah, and distrusted by Kraling, Sakabatu succeeded in urging his views on Budaman, who was so far persuaded by his specious arguments as to consult his faithful vizier on the proposal.

"May it please your Majesty," plied Kraling, I should meet the petition with a direct negative. What these men desire is not liberty to labor without molestation-that they already have-but it is a freedom from all legitimate restraint. They see, or at least their leaders do, that the quickest way to reach this conclusion is to gain political influence; and if their present request is granted, it will be but a first step in a long ladder of demands which will land us all in constant agitation, and possibly in revolutionary outbreaks.

There is, however," rejoined the Rajah, "something plausible in the argument advanced for the people by Sakabatu, that since they far outnumber the propertied class, they should be represented in the Government.

That is an argument, may it please

your Majesty, which, with all dutiful respect, I consider will not hold water. If the tests of wisdom, learning, experience, and honesty be applied to the qualitative and quantitative elements in the State, who will deny for an instant that the qualitative surpasses the quantitative element as surely as your Majesty's wisdom is superior to that of the coolie at the palace-gate ?"

"But you will admit that, as Sakabatu has been urging on me, the collective wisdom of the people is superior to the wisdom of individuals among the upper classes."

But it is not suggested that the people as a body should become magistrates, but only individual members of their body. And I would beseech your Majesty to remember what care has always been taken to prefer men of learning and political experience to the administrative posts, and how necessary it is that those who govern should first have learnt to govern. I make bold to say that if any one of these agitators who had not been brought up as a butcher were asked to kill a sheep, he would decline; and yet the same man would undertake to govern a commonwealth without any preparation, at a moment's notice. Can anything be more absurd? What man is there who, never having ridden, and wishing to learn the equestrian art, does not engage the services of a riding-master? And so, likewise, with all the arts with the exception of that of governing, which is the most difficult art of all.

"But although, as you say, the magistrates have been carefully chosen, I am told by Sakabatu that the people complain of their justice, or, as he says, injustice.'

To that I would reply, your Majesty, by asking, Are they in a position to decide on such a matter? When a question arises as to whether a suffering patient has been properly treated by his physician, to whom is the inquiry submitted? To the people in the street, or to a committee of experts? Surely to experts. And so it should be in this affair; for it is as ridiculous to suppose that these tillers of the soil are capable of deciding on questions of government, as it would be to imagine that they would be able to pronounce a

"I shall weigh well your words," rejoined his Majesty, and shall consider what course should be taken in this very difficult business."

Happening to call on Kraling on the evening after this interview, I found the good man anxious and disturbed. It was plain, he said, that Sakabatu was acquiring considerable influence over the Rajah, who, being as incapable of imputing unworthy motives to any one as he was of doing an unworthy thing himself, was imposed upon by the insidious and able arguments of his false counsellor.

"What is your opinion of Sakabatu ?" I asked. I hear that his personal influence is unbounded among those who are brought into contact with him; and I myself know that he is a most devout Buddhist. for he passes my house on his way to the temple more frequently than any other of the notables.'

"Well, it is possible that my judgment may be biassed by circumstances, but I look upon him as the most dangerous man in the island. He is a designing hypocrite, eaten up with ambition, and persistently vindictive toward all who thwart his schemes. It is plain to me that he has gained the ear of the Rajah, and I quite expect the promulgation of an edict granting the request of the agitators. The instant it ap

pears, I shall retire to my nutmeg groves for a time; for at such a juncture my presence at Court would only be mischievous, and would certainly be misunderstood."

Kraling was right. On the second day after our conversation the edict was issued, and there were great rejoicings among the agitators and their friends in consequence. For several days the island was en fête, and sleep at night was made impossible by the constant beating of tom-toms and the explosion of fireworks, by which means the people testified their joy at the victory gained over the classes above them.

At the suggestion of Sakabatu, whose influence had now become paramount, two mechanics and two agricultural laborers were appointed magistrates, one in each of the four provinces. Every effort was made by their friends to sup

port them in their new dignities. The eccentricities of their justice were concealed, and some doubts concerning their honesty, which before long were rumored abroad, were studiously repelled. In return for the cloak thus kindly cast over their failings, they devoted themselves heart and soul to the promotion of the ambitious designs of the men who had raised them to their present rank. One point time and experience clearly proved, and that was, that the appointment of these magistrates did not contain the secret for recovering the prosperity of the island. Partly, no doubt, the seasons were in fault, but the weather was not bad enough to have produced distress in ordinary circumstances. What with the growing idleness, however, of the working classes, and the feeling of uncertainty which was asserting itself in the minds of the employers, myself among the rest, the crops were allowed to fall very short on several succeeding seasons.

Although the Rajah had, in the first instance, publicly declared that his earliest donation for the relief of the distressed would be his last, he was yet persuaded by Sakabatu, who had become his vizier vice Kraling, to vouchsafe money in support of the funds raised by the wealthy for the succor of the destitute. If one could have been certain that the efforts of these philanthropists were wisely directed, nothing but admiration and praise would have been their due. Not only did they subscribe large sums to supply the wants of the poor, but they provided for their amusement by giving them theatrical and musical diversions free of cost. It was curious, however, to observe, that in spite of all that was done for the lower classes, the ill-will they bore their benefactors sensibly increased. It seemed to me, who, being a looker-on, perhaps saw most of the game, that they regarded every kindness as an admission of a previous wrong, much as a savage looks upon any act of mercy on the part of an enemy as a sign of weakness. Instead of diminishing in rancor, the speeches of the mob orators increased in virulence, until the people were led to believe that those who were so freely spending their time and money on their behalf were worthless tyrants. Under the

stimulant supplied by these mischievous blind leaders of the blind, the popular excitement reached a height at which all self-control was in danger of being lost. The police, formerly so admirably organized under Kraling, had sensibly declined in efficiency since events had suggested an uncertainty as to whether the people or the patricians were to be in the ascendant, and since the repugnance of the Rajah to violent measures, under Sakabatu's evil guidance, had reduced the local authorities to a state of vacillating impotence. Taking advantage of this circumstance, a mob, which had been regaled with sedition by a hireling lecturer at Klinga, marched into the wealthy quarter of the town, and plundered the shops and dwellings on their way. As no effort was made in the first instance to check these disorders, the mob swelled in proportions, and the whole city would probably have been sacked had not a body of troops been summoned to disperse the assemblage. At first the mob" showed fight'' and assailed the troops, who returned the fire and killed one of the rioters. this the people became enraged, and advanced to attack the soldiers, some of whom were killed, and the remainder beat a retreat to their barracks. exultant mob marched through the streets uttering loud cries in celebration of their triumph, and were only dispersed by the appearance on the scene of a mixed body of police and military, who showed a determined front to the rioters.

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Had it been possible for such an event to have occurred during the viziership of Kraling, we should have seen a swift measure of justice dealt out to the ringleaders of the mob, and to the local authorities who could have allowed such an indignity on the peace of the community to occur. But with culpable weakness the Rajah at Sakabatu's suggestion, declined to prosecute the authors of these disorders, and even went the length of placing the commander of the troops on his trial for the use of unnecessary violence. The result of these tamperings with sedition soon became apparent in the increased violence of the mob. The whole balance of the State was upset. Trade came to a standstill, as I found to my cost, and as