The fruits are richer in flavor than those of 'Java. Among these are the guava, citron, oranges, lemon, durian, manen, bread-fruit. cocoa-nut, pomegranate, melons, pine-apples, and the highly-prized mangostecn, or berry of garcinia mangostana. Cacao, cotton, maize, indigo, tobacco, gambier, and more especially rice, millet, pepper, and coffee, are cultivated.
elephant, single and double horned rhinoceros, tiger, leopard, black bear, and tiger-cat, wild-swine, tapirs, antelopes, deer, monkeys (including the ourang outang), ant-eaters, many kinds of bat, etc., abound. Buffaloes, cows, goats, horses, sheep, and swine are kept by the natives. The peacock and the pheasants of Sumatra are of rare beauty. Hippopotami and crocodiles frequent the rivers, which have many kinds of fish, including a species of salmon.
Geographical and Political kingdom of Acheen extends from the n.w. point to 98° 16' e. long., and on the e. coast at Tamiang, to 4° 22' n. lat., on the w. to 2° 22' n. lat.; area, 18,900 sq.m.; pop. about 400,000. The Dutch troops now have a strong position in the country, and will probably subdue the whole. It is well culti vated, and produces much pepper. Singkcl, TapanOli, and Lower Padang, adminis tratively under the presidency of Padang, lie in succession to the s.e. of Acheen. Bencoolen stretches along the w. coast from 101° to 104° 40' e. long.; and the extreme s. and the e. coast, between 4° 4' and 5° 56' s. lat., form the Lampong districts. North of these is the residency of Palembang, with the kingdom of Djambi, ruled over by a native prince under Dutch control Further n. are Indragiri, Kampar, and Siak, governed as Djambi. Between Siak and Acheen are many petty states.
natives are chiefly Malays who profess Mohammedanism. In appear ance, manners, and customs, however, the inhabitants of Acheen and the Lampongs differ widely from those of other parts. The Acheenese are tall, well-made, active, and intelligent, but cunning, proud, treacherous, and blood-thirsty. They live simply, but are slaves to opium. The Lampongers are of middle stature, well-formed, of pleasant exterior, mild, but uncivilized and lazy. Caste prevails, and they follow the usages of their fathers, Mohammedanism being imperfectly known and practiced. Polygamy obtains, the wives being bought from their relatives. The houses are on posts of iron wood, several families living under the same roof. In other parts of Sumatra the usual Malay type is found. The MMus, in the n.w. of Palembang, are probably the remains of the aborigines, a harmless race who live chiefly by the chase and fishing. Theft and
murder are scarcely known among them. They believe in an after spirit-life.
Trade and imports and exports of the independent and half-inde pendent kingdoms cannot be ascertained. Acheen alone produces 8,000 tons of pepper annually, and also exports gold, precious stones, cotton, raw silk, sapan wood, benzoin, camphor, sulphur, betel, etc., to the w. of India by way of Mu, Penang, and Singa pore, receiving in return manufactured goods, salt, opium, etc. On the s.w. coast, Bencoolen, the Lampongs, and Palembang, the imports have an annual value of about £750,000; the exports to £850,000. Java has nearly half the trade, Europe and eastern countries the remainder. Imports—rice, cotton, and other textile fabrics, etc. ; exports —benzoin, gum elastic, resin, pepper, rattans, cotton, coffee, drugs, ivory, dye-stuffs, edible nests, wax, tobacco, bkhe-de-mer, etc. The rice-culture is extensive, the w. coast producing as much as 320,000 tons in a single year. The coffee yield varies from 5,500 tons to nearly twice as much. Upper Padang sends the largest quantity of coffee and rice, with much cocoa-nut oil, to market.
I:lista/v.—Marco Polo visited Sumatra in the 13th c., Alvaro Talezo in 1506, and S;quera in 1509, the Portuguese then entering into trading relations with the natives. About 90 years later the Dutch under Houtman reached the island, and on a second vssit he was treacherously murdered at Acheen. In 1601 two ships from Zealand, with the Netherlands commissioners, gen. De Roi and Laurens Bikker, arrived; were favorably received by the king, obtained a full cargo, and returned with two Acheenese ambassadors. Later, the Dutch drove the Portuguese from their factory at P010 Tjinko, to the s. of Padang; and in 1666 the latter place became the seat of the Netherlands power on the w. coast. In 1795 Padang was taken by the British, and retained till 1819. A few years after, Bencoolen was also given up to the Dutch, and the southern division of the island soon fell under the same rule. Various rebellions against the Netherlands dominion have since arisen, with the uniform result of extending the power of the Dutch toward the interior and the north. In 1865 an expedition was sent to force the king of Asalian, a small state on the n.e. coast, to submit to their authority, and since 1872 they have been waging war against Acheen.—See Flora van Neclerlandsch door F. A. W. Miguel (Amst. and Leip. 1855); Bijdragen tot de Geologische en _Mineral ogische kennis van Ned. Ine'lie, in het Nataarle. Tijdschr. v. N. I. passim.