The situation, however, of the cultivator in the Sunda districts, who is a proprietor, is not much more eligible than that of the tenant of the government: he may, it is true, alienate or transfer his lands, but while he retains them, he is liable to imposts almost as great as they can bear; and when he transfers them, he can therefore expect little for surrendering to another the privilege of reaping from his own soil, what is only the average recompense of labour expended on the estate of another. The Revenue Instructions, therefore, bearing date the 11th February 1814, and transmitted from the local government to the officers intrusted with the charge of the several provinces subject to its authority, lay down the following general position: "The nature of the landed tenure throughout the island is now thoroughly understood. Generally speaking, no proprietary right in the soil is vested in any between the actual cultivator and the sovereign; the intermediate classes, who may have at any time enjoyed the revenues of villages or districts, being deemed merely the executive officers of government, who received these revenues from the gift of their lord, and who depended on his will alone for their tenure. Of this actual proprietary right there can be no doubt that the investiture rested solely in the sovereign; but it is equally certain, that the first clearers of the land entitled themselves, as a just reward, to such a real property in the ground they thus in a manner created, that while a due tribute of a certain share of its produce was granted to the sovereign power for the protection it extended, the government, in return, was equally bound not to disturb them or their heirs in its possession. This disposal of the government share was thus, therefore, all that could justly depend on the will of the ruling authority; and consequently, the numerous gifts of land made in various periods by the several sovereigns, have in no way affected the rights of the actual cultivators. All that government could alienate was merely its own revenue or share of the produce. This subject has come fully under discussion, and the above result, as regarding this island, has been quite satisfactorily established." It is remarked, in a subsequent paragraph of the same instructions, "that there have been, it is known, in many parts of the country, grants from the sovereign of lands in perpetuity, which are regularly inheritable, and relative to which the original documents still exist. Of these, some have been made for religious purposes, others as rewards or provision for relatives or the higher nobility. These alienations, as far as it was justly in the power of the sovereign to make, must certainly be held sacred; but their extent should be clearly defined, that the rights of others be not compromised by them. The government share, when granted, will not be reclaimed; but the rights of the cultivator must not be affected by these grants. Such proprietors of revenue, as they may be termed, shall in short be allowed to act, with regard to the cultivators on their estates, as government acts towards those on its own lands, that is, they shall receive a fixed share of the produce, but whilst that is duly delivered, they shall neither exact more nor remove any individual from his land." It is remarked by Major Yule, the British resident, in his Report on Bantam, that there, "all property in the soil is vested exclusively in the hands of the sovereign power; but in consequence of its having been long customary to confer grants of land upon the different branches of the royal family, and other chiefs and favourites about court, a very small portion was left without some claimant or other. The _púsákas_ granted to the relations of the Sultan were considered as real property, and sometimes descended to the heirs of the family, and at others were alienated from it by private sale. To effect a transfer of this nature, the previous sanction of the Sultan was necessary, after which the party waited on the high priest, or _Mangku-bumi_, who made the necessary inquiries, and delivered the title deeds to the purchaser, in which were specified the situation, extent, boundaries, and price of the land sold. A register of sales was kept by the priests, the purchaser paying the fees; and it rarely occurred that lands sold in this manner were ever resumed by the crown, without some adequate compensation being made to the purchaser. _Púsákas_ given to chiefs for services performed, were recoverable again at pleasure, and always reverted to the crown on the demise of the chief to whom they had been granted: in all other respects, the same privileges were annexed to them as to the former.