Page:Scented isles and coral gardens- Torres Straits, German New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies, by C.D. Mackellar, 1912.pdf/318

246 of Krakatau is less than half of it, with a coned peak about 3000 feet high; 7 of it are now covered with green foliage and plants, there are even orchards at its base, though steam still rises from its riven bulk, and now that the imprisoned forces can find easy outlet there is not likely ever to again occur at this spot so terrific a catastrophe.

In Sumatra there are hugeforests of fourhundred different sorts of trees, and over it roam elephants, rhinoceroses, tigers, and many monkeys. We have a description of the King of Acheen by Queen Elizabeth’s envoy in 1613, as “a proper gallant man of warre, strong by sea and land, his country populous and his elephants many.” The Acheenese cannot be said to be conquered by the Dutch yet after thirty or forty years of warfare, but they are better in hand. Sumatrans are supposed to have a high and ancient descent, and to be now divided into forty tribes or clans, and the women are highly regarded. Though the hereditary chiefs have seats in the Dutch councils, they have no special privileges. There is much mineral and other wealth awaiting development. The Lake of Manindjoe, which has cliffs over tooo feet in height, may be reached from the garrison town of Fort de Kock, which is surrounded by good roads.

It is interesting to recall Marco Polo’s description of Sumatra in the thirteenth century. He tells us there are eight kingdoms in the island, each with a separate king and language. He describes six of them. Some of the inhabitants are followers of Mahomet, and some of them are idolaters and cannibals. He describes how the rhinoceros does not injure people with its horn, but tramples on them and lacerates them with its tongue, which was supposed to be armed with