THE 



National Geographic Magazine 



Vol. IX NOVEMBER, 1898 No. 11 



SUMATRA'S WEST COAST 



By David G. Fairchild, 



United States Department of Agriculture 



The island of Sumatra is undoubtedly one of the most valuable 

 of all the Dutch possessions in the East. Its resources are almost 

 wholly undeveloped and its interior is scarcely even known, only 

 one or two expeditions ever having crossed the island in its 

 widest part. It contains a great variety of mineral and vege- 

 table products, and its trackless forests are filled with still 1111- 

 conquered tribes of men — remarkable cannibals among them — 

 numerous rhinoceroses, and large herds of elephants. It pos- 

 sesses a chain of verdure-clad volcanoes which give to its west 

 coast one of the most salubrious climates in the archipelago, 

 and its scenery surpasses in beauty the famous scenery of Java, 

 which has been called the most beautiful tropical island in the 

 world. The island is held by a small force of Dutch and native 

 soldiers and governed by a' body of Dutch officials scattered 

 along the coast cities, whose control over the natives is more 

 moral than physical. 



That such a marvelous island should have remained so long 

 comparatively unexplored simply illustrates the slowness with 

 which the work of exploration is being conducted by the Dutch 

 home government, which hampers in every way the movements 

 of the more progressive colonial government. As American in- 

 terests in the East are increasing, the readers of this magazine 

 may find acceptable a few notes regarding one of the largest and 

 certainly the most beautiful island of the whole archipelago. 

 Miss Scidmore has called Java the Garden of the East in her 



