“I will tell it you: They were false! For three times the number of labourers had to work for the Regent that the orders regulating such matters permit, and they did not dare put this in the reports——Is what I say true?”
Verbrugge was silent.
“The reports which I received to-day are likewise false,” continued Havelaar; “the Regent is poor; the Regents of Bandong and Tjanjor are members of the family of which he is the head. He is an Adhipatti, and the Regent of Tjanjor is only a Tommongong, and because Lebak is not fit for coffee-culture, and therefore gives him no emolument, his revenues do not allow him to vie in magnificence and pomp with a simple Demang of the [[146]]Preangan Regencies, whose duty it would be to hold his nephews’ horses——Is that true?”
“Yes, it is.”
“He has nothing but his salary, and from that a deduction is made to pay off an advance which the Government gave him, when he——do you know?”
“Yes, I do.”
“When he desired to build a new mosque, for which much money was required. Moreover, many members of his family——do you know?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Many members of his family (who do not properly belong to Lebak, and are therefore not much esteemed) range themselves as a troop of plunderers round him, and extort money from him——is that true?”
“Yes,” said Verbrugge.