Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/486

 466 SUMBAWA tants are forbidden to bear firearms. The entire number of Europeans in the country probably does not exceed 2,000. The chief towns are Acheen in the north, Palembang in the south- east, Bencoolen in the southwest, and Padang on the W. coast. The first historical notice of Sumatra occurs in Arab manuscripts narrating royages made thither in the 9th century. The island was visited in 1292 by Marco Polo, who described it very accurately under the name of Java the Less. It began to be known to for- eigners as Sumatra in the last half of the 14th century. Before the middle of the 15th cen- tury it was reached by the Venetian traveller Nicole- di Conti. The Portuguese first arrived there in 1509, visiting the Acheen coast, where they found a powerful king, who effectually opposed their efforts to obtain a footing. The hostilities thus begun between Portugal and Acheen continued with but little intermission till 1641, when the Portuguese lost Malacca. Sumatra was first visited by the Dutch in 1599 and by the English in 1602. The Dutch formed a settlement at Padang in 1649, got posses- sion of some districts in the S. part of the isl- and, and established several factories. In 1795 all their Sumatran territories fell into the hands of the English, who had established a station at Bencoolen in 1685. They were restored in 1815, but Bencoolen was retained till 1824, when all the British possessions in Sumatra were ceded to the Netherlands in exchange for Malacca and small settlements upon the coasts of India. The Dutch have since found means to annex a great extent of territory. At the time of the treaty of 1824, the Dutch govern- ment pledged itself not to assail Acheen, but for many years the prevalence of piracy and the ill treatment of foreign vessels on the N. coast have led to much complaint. All objec- tions on the part of Great Britain to the exten- sion of Dutch rule in Sumatra were removed "by a treaty made in 1871, and in consequence of repeated violations of faith on the part of the sultan of Acheen, a naval and military ex- pedition was despatched from the Netherlands to the N. coast of Sumatra in 1873. It was repulsed by the Acheenese with heavy loss, and the war has since been carried on with varying success. SUMBAWA, an island of the Indian archipel- ago, in the Sunda chain, lying between Flores on the east and Lombok on the west, the S. W. point in lat. 9 2' S., Ion. 116 42' E. ; length E. and W. about 170 m., extreme breadth 50 m. ; estimated area, 6,000 sq. m. ; pop. about 80,000. Wallace classifies it zoologically in the Timor group. A deep bay penetrates the N. coast, and it is separated from Flores by Sapi and Mangerai straits, between which lies the island of Comodo. Sumbawa is divided into six native states, each governed by a ra- jah who acknowledges the supremacy of the Dutch. They are Tomboro and Sumbawa on the N. coast, Bima on the E. coast, where the Dutch have a resident, and Dompo, Sangar, SUMMERFIELD and Papakat. The island is mountainous, and lies within the volcanic belt of the Indian archipelago, containing Mt. Tomboro, a vol- cano near the N. coast, 8,940 ft. high, the eruption of which in 1815 caused a subsidence of the surface, and was characterized by tre- mendous explosions which were heard over an area having a radius of more than 800 m. Nearly 12,000 persons were killed ; the ashes fell in Java and Flores to the depth of several inches, and even in Sumatra, 840 m. from the volcano. In Lombok immense damage was done and many lives were lost. In 1836 a less destructive eruption occurred. Gold, sulphur, and saltpetre are found. Sumbawa is not well wooded, but sandal and sapan wood and teak occur to a limited extent. It has one of the best breeds of horses in the Indian archipel- ago, and they are extensively exported. The pearl oyster is found. The manners and lan- guage of the natives strongly resemble those of the inhabitants of Celebes. The island has been subject to the Dutch since 1676, SUMMER, the warm season of the year, in- cluding astronomically the time between the vernal and autumnal equinoxes, or from about the 21st of June till about the 22d of Septem- ber. The calendar summer comprises in the United States the months of June, July, and August ; in England, May, June, and July. In the southern hemisphere the summer months are December, January, and February accord- ing to the American method of regarding the seasons, or November, December, and January according to the English method. Between the tropics there is no summer properly so called, the hottest times being those when the sun passes to the zenith at noon, which at the equator will correspond to the vernal and au- tumnal equinoxes, the two dates being on our summer side of the equinoxes for places N. of the equator, and on our winter side in places S. of the equator. The Indian summer is a period of warm, pleasant weather, which usu- ally occurs every year over the northern por- tion of the United States after the autumnal storms, and continues often without inter- ruption two or three weeks. It appears to be a more decided season in the interior than near the coast, and in the region of the great lakes is especially noticeable, the waters du- ring its continuance remaining placid, and the atmosphere filled with a peculiar haziness. The Indians regarded it as the gift of their most honored deity, the god of the southwest, who sends the-S. W. winds, and to whom they believed their souls to go after their decease. SUMMERFIELD, John, an American clergy- man, born in Preston, England, Jan. 31, 1798, died in New York, June 13, 1825. He was educated at a Moravian school, removed to Dublin in 1813, joined the Wesleyan society at the age of 19, and became a preacher. In 1821 he removed to New York, where his elo- quence drew crowds to hear him. In 1822 he visited Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Wash-