Logging Rasak and Lagan 



J.lv '['. \\. ]1i;l.ms 



TlvW IXC, Singapore, one of the coastwise steamers ot 

 I the KoningHjke Paketwiart, which calls at Singa- 



* ^ pure e\ery two weeks, proceeds up the Straits of 

 Malacca, anil stops at Penang. where she takes on the 

 mail hrouglit hy European steamers, for the west coast 

 of Sumatra. The steamers of the Paketvaart, l)eing of 

 light draught, enter the harlior of Penang hy the South 

 Chamiel, just as the German cruiser Eutdcn did, when 

 she destroyed a Russian and a French warship early in 

 the war. All steamers of hea\y draught enter the harbor 

 ijy the North Chamiel and leave the same way. Lea\ing 

 Penang, the steamer goes west ti> Sabang, an important 

 coaling station on the Island, Palo Way, which is situated 

 off the extreme northern end of the Island of Sumatra. 

 The harbor of Sabang is \ery much uj) to date ; it has a 

 good wharf and very modern coal sheds, and traveling 

 electric cranes for unloading coal from vessels into the 

 sheds, or vice versa. 



From Sabang the steamer goes to Oleh Leh, which is 

 the ])ort of Kota Radja, the capital of Acheen, which lies 

 rd;out four miles inland, .\fter leaving ( )leh !,eh and 

 cdling at Aleulabnh and Tanijiat Toeon, the steamer 



strikes out west for the Island of Si Maloe, before reach- 

 ing which the captain of the steamer is apt to remark 

 that it rains all the time on Si Maloe, and that this great 

 rainfall is caused by the dense and heavy growth of tim- 

 ber with which the island is covered. 



It appears that the people on the other side of the earth 

 also connect forests and rainfall, on which subject so 

 much has been written in this country. 



After leaving (Jleh Leh and \iewing the shores of Su- 

 matra and outlying small islands, there are to be seen 

 numerous rocky, ])arren little islands. In the drv season 

 the extreme northwest coast of Sumatra looks in most 

 places barren and uninviting, but wdieu after a seven 

 days' trip from Singapore, the steamer arrives at the 

 Island of Si Alaloe. everything is green, no bare, barren 

 land is to I)e seen, every little coral bank or island, no mat- 

 ter how small, is covered with vegetation. It is one of 

 tb.e greenest spots on the face of the earth. It is not 

 su])ject to wet and dry seasons in the sense that some 

 other tro])ical or semi-tro[)ical parts of the earth's surface 

 are, but has a hea\y rainfall most of the time. (Jn the 

 main Island nf Si .Maloe are three gO(.id land-locked l)avs. 



KASAK I^OGS 



Tliest were cm nil the island nf Si Mali)e, calleil by the Dutcli Inland Si ualncr, whicli is oft the iKjrtherii coast of Sumatra in the Indian Ocean. 

 A i)ecnliarity of the Kasak trees is that nearU all the matvne ones a.-e rotted in the center, Init tlie wooil ctn from the sound jtortion is 

 valuable and in demand. .Si Maloe is said to be the greenest spot on earth. 



1050 



