558 



NETHERLANDS, THE. 



their accomplished Hindoo leader, Habib Ab- 

 doe'r Rahman, attacked the chain of posts and 

 menaced Kraton. Gen. Van der Heyden pursued 

 and destroyed this force and purchased the 

 submission of the leader, who had guided the 

 diplomatic and strategic affairs of the Achee- 

 nese from the beginning, with an annual pen- 

 sion of 30,000 guilders. In the spring of 1879 

 the Dutch commander resumed the campaign. 

 Instead of inclosing a district by a chain of out- 

 posts, he determined to occupy the important 

 strategic points, and guard only his lines of 

 communication. The men that had garrisoned 

 the line of posts were set free to form flying 

 columns to patrol the country, and prevent 

 hostile outbreaks. In 1879 he had a force of 

 10,400 men. In 1880, believing his purpose 

 accomplished, he reduced it to 6,600 men. The 

 Governor-General was not satisfied with the 

 pacification of the country secured by the mili- 

 tary occupation, but wished to affirm the ex- 

 istence of a state of peace, and thus diminish 

 the complaints in Holland at the cost of the 

 occupation. He resolved to replace the mili- 

 tary with a civil administration. As Gen. Van 

 der Heyden refused to countenance the change, 

 pressure was brought upon him that caused 

 him to resign the command. Civil officials 

 were installed and, in order to reduce military 

 expenses, the flying columns were withdrawn, 

 and the small posts along the routes of com- 

 munication called in. The Acheenese, who 

 had armed themselves with Beaumont rifles, 

 renewed their attacks and depredations, while 

 the military, restricted in their powers by the 

 official proclamation of a state of peace, were 

 restrained from quelling the hostile outbreak. 

 The situation soon became so unbearable that 

 the civil governor was superseded by one who 

 had been trained to military life. A more 

 energetic course of action was taken, and dur- 

 ing the year 1884 sanguinary conflicts with 

 the Acheenese guerrillas frequently took place. 

 The official hand-book of Netherlandish India 

 for 1883 gives the extent of the district of 

 Acheen and its dependencies as 3,712 square 

 miles and the population as 474,300 natives, 

 3,310 Chinese, 479 Arabs, 1,129 of other Ori- 

 ental races, and 928 Europeans. Great Acheen, 

 the ancient seat of the sultans, which is the 

 proper object of the conflict, has an area of 

 only 100 square miles. Before the war it pos- 

 sessed a population of from 300,000 to 400,- 

 000, but in 1880 tho number was already 

 reduced to about 50,000 souls. The territory 

 occupied by the Dutch had a length between 

 the farthest outposts from north to south of 

 twenty -three miles and an extreme breadth of 

 sixteen miles. The unsatisfactory results of 

 the efforts of the Dutch to subjugate the coun- 

 try are explained by the frequent changes of 

 commanders and systems, which allowed none 

 of the systems to be fairly tested, and by the 

 action against the vassal states before Acheen 

 itself was reduced to order. The losses in the 

 field were very small, but the effects of the 



unhealthful climate necessitated the constant 

 withdrawal of troops to fill the hospitals and 

 be replaced by fresh forces. Although re- 

 cruiting was extended on account of the war, 

 there were times when almost the whole fight- 

 ing force of the East Indian army was in 

 Acheen. The cost of the war has exceeded 

 300,000,000 guilders. 



The Nisero Affair. The English merchant-ship 

 Nisero, bound with a cargo of sugar from 

 Soerabaya to England, was stranded on the 

 coast of Acheen, Nov. 16, 1883. The crew, 

 twenty-five in number, succeeded in reaching 

 land in safety. They were plundered by the 

 Malays of the coast, and then delivered by the 

 Chief of Pangah, in whose territory they found 

 themselves, to his sovereign, the Rajah of Te- 

 nom, who is himself a vassal of the Sultan of 

 Acheen. A Netherlands ship of war appeared 

 upon the scene, and its captain paid 80,000 

 guilders to the Rajah, who thereupon released 

 the captain, Wodehouse, with the Chinese 

 cook, who speaks Malay, on parole, to explain 

 his terms. The British ship of war Pegasus 

 was sent from Singapore with Consul Kennedy, 

 and further offers of money were made through 

 trusty agents. There were formal complaints 

 to the Netherlands Government, which had al- 

 ready offered a large sum for the release of the 

 captives. A Dutch naval force blockaded the 

 ports of Tenom, and an infantry force of 1,200 

 men destroyed the Rajah's capital and a num- 

 ber of villages, January 7. At their approach 

 the Rajah escaped with his captives two days' 

 journey up the country. An English officer 

 had an interview with the Rajah's adviser, 

 February 24. It was made apparent that the 

 Rajah's object was to embroil England and 

 Holland in order to secure better political con- 

 ditions for himself. His ports of Tenom and 

 Bubun were formerly the centers of a flourish- 

 ing trade, and the Rajah enjoyed a lucrative 

 monopoly of the pepper and betel-nut trade. 

 His territories were included in the part of 

 Acheen that was annexed to the Nether- 

 lands. The Rajah made submission volunta- 

 rily to the Dutch authorities. Soon after, he 

 was accused of conniving in an attack on a 

 Dutch garrison. As a punishment Bubun was 

 sacked and the ports of Tenom closed to trade. 

 In May, 1883, a final blow was struck at the 

 trade of Tenom, by a decree that confined gen- 

 eral trade to seven ports in Acheen two only 

 on the west coast and limited the coast-trade 

 to vessels of fifty-six tons. The Rajah pro- 

 fessed friendship for England, and expressed 

 a desire to embrace a British protectorate. The 

 conditions on which he offered to release the 

 crew of the Nisero were the restoration of the 

 freedom of trade, an indemnity of $400,000 

 for the destruction of Bubun and Tenom, the 

 banishment of certain Malay enemies of the 

 Rajah, and a quantity of arms and goods. 

 The English negotiators were favorably im- 

 pressed with the terms of the Rajah, which 

 would open the pepper ports to English trade. 



