206 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGKAPHY AND TRAVEL 



careful farming, Sumatra still labours under the dis- 

 advantages of non-development, and a very large portion 

 of her exports are forest products. The rice — although 

 in certain districts almost as carefully cultivated as in 

 Java — is for the most part grown by the ladang, or dry 

 system, instead of by the carefully terraced and irrigated 

 saioahs, or wet-field culture, which is the rule in the sister 

 island. The same may be said of the less important 

 food stuffs, though the IMenangkabo valleys form a marked 

 exception, and show most careful farming. Almost all 

 the fruits, cereals, and farinaceous roots belonging to Java 

 and Malacca are found in the island, and some other 

 commodities, such as benzoin, are only obtained here 

 and in Borneo. The vast extent of lowland in the 

 eastern part of the island, together with the large delta 

 islands lying off' the mouths of the rivers in this part, 

 produce sago in great abundance. But the product for 

 which Sumatra is chiefly renowned is black pepper. For 

 nearly two centuries the Dutch endeavoured to retain the 

 monopoly of its culture, and the efforts of the British in 

 Benkulen were directed to the same end. The western 

 portion of the island was the chief seat of the trade, and 

 this part was, and is still, known to mariners as the 

 " Pepper Coast." The spice at the present time is 

 most grown at the north and at the south extremities 

 of the island — in the Ache and Lampong districts — 

 and in a good year the export reaches the amount 

 of nearly 18,000 tons, which is said to be two-thirds of 

 the world's consumption. About eight years are needed 

 for a pepper garden to reach maturity, but once in full 

 bearing, the annual yield in value of each shrub should be 

 about 10s. The only other products of great importance 

 are coffee and tobacco. The returns have of late decreased 

 considerably, but a few years since coffee was exported to 



