ADMINISTRATION OF SUMATRA. 115 



across the numerous kampongs and plantations belonging to the company. At 

 Medan, central village and administrative capital of the Oostkust or "East Coast" 

 province, a branch from this line penetrates westwards into the Upper Langkat 

 valley. 



Administration of Sumatra. 



A uniform administration has not yet been introduced into the island. The 

 inland district of Atjeh, as well as the more inaccessible regions of Battaland, still 

 enjoy complete political independence ; while other provinces, such as Padang, 

 Benkulen, and Palembang, are entirely reduced. Intermediate between these two 

 extremes are several other territories governed indirectly through vassal princes, 

 who pay to Holland the hassi/, or fixed portion of the produce, but who still retain 

 great personal privileges, as well as a considerable portion of the local revenue. 

 Every degree of transition thus exists between the old régime of the Malay 

 potentates and total subjection to the laws promulgated by the Dutch governor of 

 Batavia. 



The petty states situated east of the Padang plateau still follow the adaf, or 

 "customs," of the ancient kingdom of Menangkabau. Nearly all the kingdoms 

 on the east slope have their more or less autonomous sultans and council of not- 

 ables. The snkiis, or clans, have similarly their elected chiefs, who receive their 

 investiture at the hands of the Government, and who serve as intermediaries 

 between the people and the Dutch authorities. Several united sukus constitute a 

 marga, or secondary group, tribe, or principality, corresponding to the French 

 canton, and administered by district chiefs who act on the one hand as spokesmen 

 for the people, and on the other as agents for the central power. Formerly every 

 marga had its special laws and customs recorded on bamboos or the leaves of the 

 borassus, and jealously preserved from generation to generation. 



The main divisions of Sumatra, with their areas and estimated populations, will 

 be found tabulated in the Appendix. 



SuNDA Islands, between Sumatra and Borneo. 



The Iliouw and Lingga archipelagoes, which form a southern extension of the 

 Malay peninsula, occupy a considerable area, but are far from rivalling in population, 

 products, or commercial enterprise the little island of Singapore, detached by Great 

 Britain from the Dutch East Indies, and by her developed into the chief centre of 

 trade at the southernmost extremity of the Asiatic continent. Like Singapore, 

 both insular groups appear to be mere fragments of the adjacent mainland, and both 

 are known to the Malays by the name of Tanah Salat, or " Land of Straits," from 

 the numerous channels and passages winding between these groups of islands, 

 islets, and reefs. Of all the channels, the most frequented is that of Iliouw, which 

 connects the roadstead of Singapore with the open sea stretching eastwards to 

 Borneo. 



Both archipelagoes contrast sharply with the alluvial islands on the Sumatran 



