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NETHERLANDS, THE. 



The commander of the second Dutch expe- 

 dition against the Sultan of Acheen,* Gen- 

 eral Van Swieten, completed the landing of his 

 army about December llth. It was effected 

 under the protection of his marine guns, which 

 without difficulty demolished the enemy's in- 

 trenchments on the coast. The second expe- 

 dition consisted of about 9,500 European troops 

 and 3,000 coolies. The artillery numbered 

 nearly 700 men and about 75 cannon, exclusive 

 of a number of smaller pieces of ordnance and 

 two mitrailleurs. The vessels carried 58 pieces 

 of ordnance, and were manned by about 1,800 

 men. As the best place for landing, a point 

 east of the Acheen River had been chosen, a 

 selection which was subsequently proved to be 

 very fortunate. The cholera and other epi- 

 demics began to decimate the troops, and it 

 was principally the coolies who fearfully suf- 

 fered from the Beriberi disease, which is only 

 found among the natives of Sumatra. Soon 

 after his landing, Van Swieten issued a procla- 

 mation to the Sultan and the people of Acheen. 

 To the latter the free exercise of the Moham- 

 medan religion, the security of their property, 

 and freedom of trade, were guaranteed. To 

 the Sultan the integrity of his territory was 

 promised, in case he was willing to conclude a 

 treaty of peace ; in case he should refuse this, 

 General Van Swieten threatened that he had 

 enough cannon to destroy the Kraton, and 

 that he would not leave Acheen before a treaty 

 should be concluded. The Sultan was at the 

 same time admonished to treat Dutch pris- 

 oners humanely, Van Swieten promising in re- 

 turn that all Achinese who might fall into his 

 hands would be treated in the same way. A 

 Malay, by the name of Wedikyo, who was found 

 willing to take the letter to the Sultan, was 

 put to death by the Achinese ; his two compan- 

 ions succeeded in making their escape. Four 

 Achinese captives, who had been set free by 

 Van Swieten, were likewise put to death by 

 order of the most fanatical Achinese com- 

 mander, Panglima Polim, because they had not 

 tried, while brought before the Dutch general, 

 to murder him. The first object of the Dutch 

 was the occupation of the Misigit, a fortified 

 mosque, which formed an advance work of the 

 chief fortress of the Achinese, the Kraton. 

 A reconnoissance which was begun on De- 

 cember 25, 1873, led to a severe engagement, 

 which ended in the successful storming of the 

 Misigit. The Achinese made a most desperate 

 and determined resistance, and the Dutch troops 

 suffered a loss of seventeen killed and 197 

 wounded. The newly-organized ambulances, 

 which on this occasion were used for the first 

 time, proved to be excellent. The Misigit 

 was at once strongly fortified, to serve as a base 

 of operations against the Kraton. In view of 

 this desperate resistance and the dauntless 

 bravery of the Achinese, General Van Swieten 

 abandoned the hope of a speedy termination 

 of the war, and sent for the reserve which he 



* See ANNUAL CYCLOPAEDIA for 1873, article Acheen. 



had left at Padang. The Sultan of Acheen, 

 however, did not regard the Kraton as suffi- 

 ciently safe, and left it for the interior of the 

 kingdom. The fire of the Kraton became from 

 day to day fainter, and on January 24th the 

 Dutch found out that the Achinese had secret- 

 ly left their great fortress, which was at once 

 occupied by the Dutch. The closing scene is 

 thus described by a correspondent, who says : 



During the night the enemy for many hours 

 kept up an incessant fire on the Dutch encamp- 

 ment, which was scattered along more than half the 

 circumference of the Kraton a fire heavier than 

 usual, which seemed to presage a night-attack. Tow- 

 ard the morning the fire gradually died off. Early 

 on the next morning, the Second Battalion made a 

 reconnoitring expedition south of the Kraton, and 

 also the Fourteenth, which latter kept nearer to the 

 place. A German gentleman, agent of the Red Cross 

 (society, accompanied by a corporal of the Fourteenth 

 Battalion and a medical officer, approached close to 

 the outer defenses of the fortress, and, to their sur- 

 prise, noticed that all was silent within. Managing, 

 after some delay, to effect an entrance, they found 

 themselves the sole living human beings within the 

 Kraton. Speedily they were followed by two Com- 

 panies of the corporal's (or Fourteenth^ Battalion, and 

 the Dutch flag soon replaced that of Acheen. The 

 German gentleman's name is Bulstenslowen a con- 

 nection of Prince Bismarck's and to him must be 

 conceded the venturesome but successful idea of 

 penetrating within the Kraton almost alone and un- 

 aided. During the night the enemy, under cover of 

 darkness and the din of their cannonade, success- 

 fully managed to defy the observation of the troops, 

 and, fearing to become totally surrounded, marched 

 off toward the interior with bag and baggage unmo- 

 lested. Their baggage cannot have been much ; but, 

 at any rate, they left very little, almost nothing, be- 

 hind them, the personal effects of natives being any 

 thing but bulky, and their few valuables readily 

 disposable on their persons. In the Kraton were 

 found hundreds of dead Achinese, many emaciated, 

 and their faces blue and distorted, showing that 

 they, as well as the Dutch, had suffered fearfully 

 from that still raging plague at Acheen cholera. 

 Some eighty cannon, mostly old, and of the carron- 

 ade class, were found within its walls. 



The same officer gives the following de- 

 scription of the Kraton : 



It is not one building, or series of buildings, as 

 imagined by many, but consists of a camp of scat- 

 tered houses, placed here and there in the midst of 

 an almost uncultivated jungle, the whole surrounded 

 by a ditch, double wall, and three rows of " bamboo- 

 douri," which consists of the piled-up and interlaced 

 thorny branches and stems of a "prickly bamboo" 

 and giant cactus. The outermost row of " bamboo- 

 douri" was nearest to us so high that it overtopped 

 the walls of the Kraton, and hid them from our 

 sight. Small gaps or holes were left here and there, 

 to enable the enemy to fire through. Next to this 

 was a broad ditch full of water, then a wall, next an- 

 other line of prickly bamboo, the second wall within 

 this again being backed up by an innermost lining 

 of this almost impermeable brushwood defense. The 

 walls are twenty feet high in places, and six to ten feet 

 thick. They are made of hard-baked mud, and are 

 of very recent construction the defenses having been 

 made since the April expedition. Traverses, case- 

 mates, etc., are properly provided, and show much 

 skill in their construction. The houses within the 

 walls, not excepting the King's Palace so called 

 are very poor, and were quite empty. Many were 

 riddled by our shells, the palace not having escaped 

 indeed, one grenade is said to have passed through 

 the Sultan's bed and bedroom-floor. 



