GEOGRAPHY OF ACHIN. 

 Translated for the Society ey Dr. Bieber. 



[The following notes on the Geography of the North-west- 

 ern part of Sumatra are taken from a paper by Mr, T. C. R. 

 Westpalm van Hoorn tot. Burgh, published a short time ago 

 in the " Tijdschriffc van het aardrijkskundig genootschap te 

 Amsterdam. 7 ' ] 



Acliin lies between 95° 13' and 98° 17' East Longitude 

 and between 2° 48' and 5° 40' North Latitude. 



The statements as to the extent of this territory, current up 

 to the present time, differ materially from each other. Melvill 

 van Carnhee calculates it at 924, Anderson at 1,200, Dijserink 

 at 960, and Veth at 900 square miles. 



Along the West coast an uninterrupted chain of moun- 

 tains extends, known by the name of Pedir Daholi ; it is a con- 

 tinuation of those mountains called the Bockit Barissan, which 

 extend to the Vlakken Hock, the Western point of South- 

 eastern Sumatra. These high mountains, which from North- 

 west to South-east run right through Sumatra, divide A chin 

 into two parts, the one sloping downwards to the West coast 

 and the other to the East coast. 



As in those parts of Sumatra, which have already been sub- 

 jected to Dutch rule, so also in Achin the mountains are of a 

 volcanic nature ; they are based on a foundation of trachyte, 

 while in the upper layers granite, porphyry, limestone and 

 sandstone come to the surface. 



The low coast lands, calied by the natives "elarat " or 

 l - ran tail," are here and there broken by low chains of hills, but 

 for the greater part they are swampy and covered with dense 

 woods. From Cape Diamond to the Tamiang river on the 

 East coast alluvial soil is to be found, and here the mouths of 

 the rivers arc continually changing, and the coast is intersected 



