STORY OF CYPRIPEDIUM CURTISII 185 



lost their lives. Ten years ago that stubborn and fearless 

 people not only defended their own soil but also made 

 forays into the Dutch territory. Desperate patriots allied 

 themselves with the Battas, a cannibal race dwelling between 

 their country and the province of Tapanuli ; and hatred to 

 the white man — or rather to the Dutch — carried the 

 Achinese so far, though strict Moslems, that they tempted 

 these savages to move by a promise of surrendering all 

 captives — to be devoured. Thus the northern parts of 

 Dutch Sumatra were very unsafe. When Ericsson desired 

 to explore there he was refused permission. At Padang, 

 the capital, however, in 1887, he made acquaintance with 

 the Controleur — Magistrate, as we should say — of Lubu 

 Sikeping, a district which lies along the Batta country. 

 This gentleman spoke Swedish — an accomplishment grateful 

 beyond expression to Ericsson, who had not heard his native 

 tongue for years. Promptly they made friends. 



The Controleur had been summoned to report upon the 

 state of things in his Residency, He presented a long list 

 of outrages and murders. Scores, if not hundreds, of peace- 

 ful subjects had been not only plundered and killed, but 

 eaten, on Dutch soil, in the last few months. He repre- 

 sented that active measures must be taken forthwith. The 

 Battas, inhabiting a high tableland beyond the mountains, 

 crept through the defile, ravaged, burnt, massacred, and 

 trooped back, carrying their prisoners away for leisurely 

 consumption. Before news of the inroad reached the nearest 

 outpost they were half-way home. Smaller parties lay in 

 wait along the roads, stopping all communication. They 

 had not yet ventured to assail a post, or even a large village, 

 but the Achin desperadoes urged them to bolder feats, and 

 they grew continually more aggressive. An expedition must 

 be sent. It need not be large, for the cannibals are not 

 fighting men. The Governor was persuaded. He ordered 



