THE NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES 229 



tions were established at various points on the east 

 coast, and extending as far as the valley of the River 

 Bila. Liberian coffee has now given place to rubber, 

 cultivated in many cases in conjunction with Robusta 

 coffee ; but this latter product as a general rule is only 

 grown as a catch crop, and it will disappear as the 

 rubber-trees approach maturity. From Belawa, the 

 port for the city of Medan, to Penang is only a journey 

 of some eight hours by coasting steamer, and constant 

 communication is maintained between the two places. 

 Belawa is connected with Medan by railway, the dis- 

 tance of twenty miles occupying less than an hour in 

 transit. 



The principal rubber-growing districts of Sumatra 

 lie on the east coast of the island, and include the dis- 

 tricts of Lankat, Deli, Serdang, Padang, Batoe-Bahra, 

 Asahan, and Bila. A few estates have been opened in 

 other sections of the country, but difficulties of trans- 

 port have prevented any extensive cultivation outside 

 the districts mentioned. Roads and railways are in 

 course of construction, or projected, to link up the 

 existing planted areas and to give access to forest lands 

 hitherto lying idle ; but some years must elapse before 

 these undertakings materialize, for the Dutch Colonial 

 Government is slow to move in such matters, and re- 

 quires very substantial proof of the necessity and 

 financial value of such enterprises before becoming in 

 any way responsible for them. It is for this reason 

 that the rubber-planting industry has been practically 

 confined hitherto within the districts where coffee and 

 tobacco estates were established many years ago and 

 transport already existed, or to certain sections along 



