Government of the Slntito Settlements. When officially visited in August 

 by >Jn 1C Vr\ liireli, lhl» group, memorable in connection with 

 Darwin's studio of atoll formations, was foil ml to have already roeovrred 

 from the enVl* of tire icrrittu eyclohr of All the ialiada (over 120 



in inimhiv' tliiYkly planted with cocoa-nuts, and thrir Jlalay lind 

 Javanese inhabitants,. Slij in l&gS, do a brisk export trade in mpm, cocoa- 

 nuts, rocoa-Mit oil, herbe-dr-mer, ami mendnkii, ;i liarfc used for dyeing 



Physical Feat urea. — In its pltjsleal omtfitution Sumatra 1 jh:- 

 much in wlntmqri both with tire adjacent muiuktid ami with Java, 

 "while also presenting wine features uf an independent character. 

 Along ib- weft side it i* traversed by the B:iriKiii mountain sy.-ti-ju, 

 parallel with but much more elevated than the nniin axis of the 

 Peainvabv taring in the line of tire great vol antic talt, this ranue 

 contaiu!:! recent eruptive rock* like those of Java, ami ulder plulonie 

 and cryc-lnllitu- t' ^ri jiil! l<hi - like «biw >i tb<- nusinlaad. lint Sutnalra 

 differ* from ln-lli nf these regions in the vast development of ils 

 plain k, which mostly stretch from the western uplands right nerons 

 th.: island u> the eastern H-uboard. In its general o-'iilignriilUin ii 

 thus appears to 1* east in broad and pimple lines, mountainous and 

 volcanic in the west, elsewhere level, and even low- lying and alluvial. 

 "OiK! may (ravel itj H.itire parts in a straight line wert words from thu 

 vnai coast Ibr 150 nr i!00 miles w ithout reaching an elevation of over 

 400 nr 500 feet, while t-ome 30 mile* farther tht: Bariisu.il pruka may 

 umnd i<i i-vi'T 10,000 fuel." H. 0. Forbeij qp, C& 



Tire fulminating point appi-ars to 1m« Mount Kassnumbn 05^000 fret 

 under the equator,, othi-r lofiy KUminit* bring liitlmpura (12*255) in 

 Korineht ; LuKe (11,000) in Arfsin ; AlMJiig-Abong (10,000) ; Telnmou, or 

 0|.]iir {WHO}; Sahimangn. {6,825), TV volcank rones are oven mora 

 HUttiefoiw titn.li in Java, und the recent Duteh explorer, Vrrbeek, stab's 

 lh.:it mxiy-ia-Vcii nr.' knmvii to etihi, although two only <Moropi T 0s4O 

 feet, and Tailing or Soelati, 8470} sin* still "Utive, Gtlrer kit'ty cones are 



Kala (&000 !) und Dcnipo, in ndmhing, both ascended in 1&S1 by 

 H. 0. Forbes, wlin determined the elevation of Di-mpi a1 lO.r.iVJ In L 

 Tliis (mvi Urr also visited the Ik-sagi juuI TVngamtis voleanoes in tire 

 l^iinpoTigs district, bmh ovi-r TOuiJ In-l. Thns thu volcanic an^a is not 

 ^oiinni d to a small tract north and sooth of the equator, as is mppoRd, 

 but « 3tb ndw froia the extreme north to ibe extn'ine south of the idsind. 



The great ulhrvial plain on the ennt *ide, lying nut many fwt 

 above wn- level, rmd often extensively (t(HMled t has a total length of 

 (J0O miles, with an average breadth of 60 Id 110, and an area of over 

 40,000 square miles. But although this region la mostly under 



primeval fon>t, ihe rasn-rti welb f Sumatra in by im mmnu< »f 



eueh uniform aHpect as is generally supposed* The plains t table- 



