Sumatra

“ Beside those articles of trade afforded by the vegetable kingdom Sumatra produces many others, the chief of which is gold. This valuable metal is found mostly in the central parts of the island; none (or with few exceptions) being observed to the southward of Limun, a branch of Jambi River, nor to the northward of Nalabu, from which port Achin is principally supplied. Menangkabau has always been esteemed the richest seat of it; and this consideration probably induced the Dutch to establish their head factory at Padang, in the immediate neighbourhood of that kingdom. ”

“ It is fair, however, to presume that Sumatra was the ancient seat of the race, and the wonderful valley of Menangkabau, surrounded by mountains ten thousand feet in height, that of its earliest civilization. The only Malay "colonial" kingdoms on the Peninsula which ever attained any importance were those of Malacca and Johore, and even their reliable history begins with the arrival of the Portuguese. The conversion of the Sumatra Malays to Mohammedanism arose mainly out of their commercial intercourse with Arabia ”

“ First comes Sumatra, embracing the neck of the ‘Malay Peninsula, which we have grabbed. It is 1062 miles long, 260 broad, and 162,000 square miles in area. A chain of mountains runs from north to south—many are volcanoes. At the south it is separated from Java by the Straits of Sunda, where was the terrible Krakatau. The centre of the great island is still unexplored. ”

“ The island of Sumatra is pleasant and fertile, abounding in many excellent fruits; but their only grain is rice, which serves them for bread. They plough the land with buffaloes, which they have in great numbers, but with small skill, and less industry. ”

“ Our Sumatra is one-fourth of a quarter-square league, and grows mainly pepper--the island of Java is still larger, but not yet completed--on Banda, which is three times as large as the concert-hall, nature furnishes nutmegs, on Amboyna cloves--on Teidore stands the pretty country-seat of a well-known Scheerauer (the resident Doctor himself) --the little Moluccas which are dotted into the lake I can, with their products, thrust into my waist-coat pocket, but they have their merit. ”

“ Attempts to ascertain from what quarter Sumatra was peopled must rest upon mere conjecture. The adjacent peninsula (called by Europeans or other foreigners the Malayan Peninsula) presents the most obvious source of population; and it has accordingly been presumed that emigrants from thence supplied it and the other islands of the eastern Archipelago with inhabitants. By this opinion, adopted without examination, I was likewise misled and, on a former occasion, spoke of the probability of a colony from the peninsula having settled upon the western coast of the island ”

“ Westernmost and by far the most important of the Outposts is Sumatra, an island four-fifths the size of France, as potentially rich in mineral and agricultural wealth as Java, but with a sparse and intractable population, certain of the tribes, notably the Achinese, who [84] inhabit the northern districts, still defying Dutch rule in spite of the long and costly series of wars which have resulted from Holland's attempt to subjugate them. The unmapped interior of Sumatra affords an almost virgin field for the explorer, the sportsman and the scientist. ”

“ There is little to be perceived among them of that passion for childish sports which marks the character of our boys from the seventh to the fourteenth year. In Sumatra you may observe infants, not exceeding the former age, full dressed and armed with a kris, seated in the circle of the old men of the dusun, and attending to their debates with a gravity of countenance not surpassed by their grandfathers. ”

“ Notwithstanding the serious demands on my time arising out of my public station, and the discussion I have naturally had with the Dutch Authorities, I have been able to advance very considerably in my collections in Natural History. Sumatra does not afford any of those interesting remains of former civilisation, and of the arts, which abound in Java. Here man is far behind-hand, perhaps a thousand years even behind his neighbour the Javanese; but we have more originality, and the great volume of Nature has hardly been opened. ”

“ Greenland, Borneo, New Guinea, and Madagascar are each larger. The equator crosses Sumatra at its central part.
Sumatra is also a possession of the Dutch East Indies,312 but it is not very important as compared with Java. Although it is three times as large as Java, it has scarcely one-tenth the population. There is a pretty good reason for this. In the first place, the mountainous region is very rugged and much of it is covered with jungle; therefore, it is neither habitable nor productive for mankind. ”

“ The island of Sumatra is governed by four kings, who with their people are all idolaters, and do not differ much in fashions, apparel, and manner of life from the inhabitants of Tanaserim. They are of a whitish colour with large foreheads, round eyes; and of brasyll? colour. They wear their hair long, have very broad and flat noses, and are of low mean stature. Their money is of gold, silver, and tin. On one side the gold coin has the head of a devil, and on the other a waggon or chariot drawn by elephants. ”

“ The maritime power of the kingdom of Siak has always been considerable, and in the history of the Malayan states we repeatedly read of expeditions fitted out from thence making attacks upon Johor, Malacca, and various other places on the two coasts of the peninsula. Most of the neighbouring states (or rivers) on the eastern coast of Sumatra, from Langat to Jambi, are said to have been brought in modern times under its subjection. ”

“ Sumatra, the island so called by Europeans. The island is not so known by any natives, either on the island itself or on Java, and yet Europeans appear to have learnt that name from natives, when they first visited the East. Natives do not appear to have any general name, now adays at least, for the whole country, but designate its various parts, as Lampung, Bangkahulu, Aché &c. &c. The natives of India called it of old Jawa, as well as the island which we call Java. At Singapore, to this day, they call the wind blowing from Sumatra, angin Jawa. ”

“ The necessary information is not to be procured from the people themselves, whose knowledge and inquiries are to the last degree confined, scarcely extending beyond the bounds of the district where they first drew breath; and but very rarely have the almost impervious woods of Sumatra been penetrated to any considerable distance from the sea coast by Europeans, whose observations have been then imperfect, trusted perhaps to memory only, or, if committed to paper, lost to the world by their deaths. ”

“ Sumatra is the first island of the immense pontoon bridge which extends south-eastwards from the Malay Peninsula. The next is Java, and then follows a row of medium-sized islands to the east.
THE SUNDA ISLANDS.
The animal and vegetable life of these islands is very abundant. In their woods live elephants, rhinoceroses, and tapirs; in the brushwood lurk tigers and panthers; and in the depths of their primeval forests dwell monkeys of various species. The largest is the orang-utang, which grows to a height of five feet, is very strong, savage and dangerous, and is almost always seen on trees. ”

“ The most productive and important, if not the largest of this chain of islands, is Pulo Nias. Its inhabitants are very numerous, and of a race distinct not only from those on the main (for such we must relatively consider Sumatra) , but also from the people of all the islands to the southward, with the exception of the last-mentioned. Their complexions, especially the women, are lighter than those of the Malays; they are smaller in their persons and shorter in stature ”

“ And hence Sumatra would denote — „ the Northerly one", the northerly Island. Or it may come from Su, C. 742, good, well. Matra C. 536, the whole, only, solely, exclusive and identical. Sumatra = entirely good, exclusively good, — from the rich luxuriant vegetation which the natives of India would every where find, and so very different from the parched up coasts of Coromandel, whence they probably came. ”

“ Certain it is that in point of external appearance they may challenge all others to comparison. In many parts of Sumatra, rarely trodden by human foot, scenes present themselves adapted to raise the sublimest sentiments in minds susceptible of the impression. ”

“ Winding walks, hanging woods, craggy rocks, falls of water, are all looked upon as improvements; and the stately avenues, the canals, and rectangular lawns of our ancestors, which afforded the beauty of contrast in ruder times are now exploded. This difference of taste is not merely the effect of caprice, nor entirely of refinement, but results from the change of circumstances. A man who should attempt to exhibit in Sumatra the modern or irregular style of laying out grounds would attract but little attention, as the unimproved scenes adjoining on every side would probably eclipse his labours. ”

“ It proved to be a small island off the coast of Sumatra. Sumatra itself was reached two days later, and on the eleventh of the same month the Sunda Archipelago, between Sumatra and Java, was reached. In this part of the Indies the white man had been before. The natives, therefore, knew the power of firearms, and they were accordingly cautious. One of them who was familiar with the straits between the islands offered to act as pilot on their further trip to Bantam. For eight reals in gold he promised to guide them safely to the [Pg 117] north shore of Java. ”

“ Products and Industry.—Forests and natural vegetation cover a much larger part of Sumatra than of Java. Whereas in Java tall timber on the mountains keeps to altitudes of not less than 3000 ft., the tall timber on the mountains of Sumatra commonly descends below 1000 ft., and in many cases right down to the coast. In Sumatra, as in Java, the vegetation of the lowlands up to nearly 1000 ft. is distinct from the vegetation of the mountain slopes and plateaus from that elevation up to 4000 ft. ”

“ Menezes dispatched the homeward trade from Cochin, and sent other ships to various parts of India, some of which went to Sumatra.
The island of Sumatra extends in length from the north-west to the south-east, for about 220 leagues, by 70 in its greatest breadth, and is cut nearly in two equal parts by the equinoctial line. It is separated from Malacca by a narrow strait, and its most southern point is parted from Java by one still narrower. Java is above 100 leagues long by twelve in breadth. ”

“ The southernmost longitudinal valley of Sumatra is that of the Semangka, which flows into the bay of the same name. Generally the lower valleys of the rivers lie at elevations of 600 to 1000 ft.; higher up they rise to 2500 or 3000 ft.; the mountain chains rise to 5500 ft.; the volcanoes tower up from 6500 to nearly 10,000 ft. (7) The section of south Sumatra between the eastern chain of old rocks and the east coast with its numerous river mouths is formed of the alluvium of sea and rivers. ”

“ Between these ridges of mountains are extensive plains, considerably elevated above the surface of the maritime lands, where the air is cool; and from this advantage they are esteemed the most eligible portion of the country, are consequently the best inhabited and the most cleared from woods, which elsewhere in general throughout Sumatra cover both hills and valleys with an eternal shade. ”

“ Preposterous however as this custom may appear, it is not confined to the Nias people. Some of the women of the inland parts of Sumatra, in the vicinity of the equinoctial line (especially those of the Rau tribes) increase the perforation of their ears until they admit ornaments of two or three inches diameter. There is no circumstance by which the natives of this island are more obviously distinguished than the prevalence of a leprous scurf with which the skins of a great proportion of both sexes are affected ”

“ But our conversation was not limited to this harrowing topic, but ranged over many features of Sumatra—its scenery and climate, soil and vegetation. It is indeed a magnificent island. Over a thousand miles long, and with more square miles than Great Britain and Ireland together, it is large enough for a kingdom. In some parts the scenery is as grand as that of Switzerland. Along the western coast is a range of mountains like the Alps (some peaks are 15,000 feet high) , among which is set many an Alpine valley, with its glistening lake. ”

“ Sumatra, were it under a European power, and peopled as well as Java is, would soon rival that island. Its soil is, for the most part, equally fertile, and yields coffee, pepper, nutmegs, &c. Only a small portion of the territory is subject to the Dutch: the remainder is inhabited by various tribes, who speak different languages, and mix but little together. They are mostly an indolent people, and require driving by their chiefs to make them work for a day or two now and then. ”

“ When we compare the fauna of the continent with that of Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, we find that Sumatra has the greatest number of species identical with those of the Peninsula of Malacca; that Borneo has a somewhat less proportion, and that Java has the largest number peculiar to itself. Thence we conclude that Java was the first of these islands that was separated from the continent, that Borneo was next detached, and Sumatra at the latest period. Bali was probably separated from Java at a yet more recent date. ”