CHAPTER IX 

 JIN ABU FINDS AN ELEPHANT 



AS the crow flies, it is about two hundred and 

 jfX, fifty miles from the mouth of the Siak River, 

 on the east coast of Sumatra, to the low mountain 

 range which runs along the extreme western shore 

 from northwest to southeast. But in Sumatra you 

 do not journey as the crow flies. Until you reach 

 the foothills trans-inland travel is impossible; 

 therefore you follow the rivers, of which there are 

 many, and tortuous. By the time I got to the 

 higher ground where I hunted, I had gone over 

 four hundred miles, and just about boxed the com- 

 pass en route. 



Inland fifty miles on the river of the same name 

 is Siak, metropolis of the middle east coast and 

 military headquarters of the Dutch, in whose 

 hands rests the future of this potentially rich, 

 though untravelled and undeveloped East India 

 island. Officially, Siak for one mile covers both 

 banks of the river, but literally there are no more 

 residents than could find easy elbow room in a 

 few acres. Politically, the left bank is Holland, 

 the right Sumatra. On one side are the house of 



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