Volume 14 Australasia - dana ward's homepage

170 AUSTRALASIA.Javanese aborigines to Brahmanism. At the time of the visit of the Buddhistpilgrim, Fa-hian, early in the fifth century, the Brahman form of Hinduismprevailed throughout the island. Later, it was aliiiost everywhere replaced byBuddhist tenets, although the rites still practised round about a few inaccessiblevolcanoes recall the traditions of Siva'ism. Numerous Hindu states, whose namesare preserved in hi.story or legend, and whose splendour is reflected in the mightyruins of their cities and temples, were successively constituted, especially in thecentral and eastern parts of the island.During the period of Indian ascendancy, nearly the whole of Indonesia wastwice, in the thirteenth and fifteenth century, reduced under the power of a singlemaster. But the Arab Mohammedans were already contending with the Hindudynasties for the supremacy in Java. In 1478, they destroyed the capital of Mojo-Pahit's empire, which stood near the present city of Surabaya, and during the twoor three ensuing generations, they successively overthrew the petty Hindu principalitiesthat had hitherto held their ground.But these conquerors were iu their turn soon replaced by others. ThePortuguese, too weak to reduce the island, did little more than found a fewfactories on the seaboard, and take part as adventurers in the local civil wars.But the Dutch, who appeared on the scene in 1596, in a few years felt themselvesstrong enough to assume a dominant position in the coimtry. In 1619 they erectedthe fort of Batavia, centre of the sovereignty which gradually spread over the rest'of Java and the Eastern Archipelago. Notwithstanding some local insurrectionsand a war. of succession, which shook their power to its foundations, between theyears 1825 and 1830, they have, on the whole, found in the Javanese perhaps themost svibmissive and resigned nation known to history. Cases are mentioned ofunhajopy wretches who quietly submitted to take the place of their chiefs condemnedby the suzerain authority to imprisonment with hard labour. It is sur-I^rising that such a docile people, yielding so readily to bondage, should have neverthelesspreserved their gentleness, sense of justice, probity, and other good qualities.The rapid increase of the Javanese population is commonly appealed to in proofof their material and moral progress, and consequently of the beneficent results ofthe present administration. Assuredly, if the numerical growth of a people werean indication of prosperity, the Javanese would have to be regarded as amongstthe happiest of nations. AVithin a century, apart from the Chinese and otherimmigrants, their numbers have augmented tenfold by the excess of births overdeaths alone. In 1780, a series of exterminating wars had reduced them to littleover two millions ; in 1888, they were at least twenty-three millions, and the annualincrease now ranges from three hundred thousand or four hundred thousand fohalf a million. The density of the population is already far greater than that ofHolland and nearly equals that of Belgium ; and as two-thirds of the soil is stillunfilled, there appears to be no reason why this density should not be tripled,when the whole island is reclaimed.Nevertheless there has been an occasional ebb in this steady flow of humanvitality. In 1880, a famine, followed by a series of epidemics; reduced the popula-