SUMATRA 
201 
Not long after the occupation of Singapore by the 
British, the Dutch established a post on Rhio Island, on 
the south-east side of Bintang. Originally designed to 
counteract the trade of Singapore, it has merely added to 
it, but has itself also become prosperous. The archi¬ 
pelago is the chief seat of the gambir trade, and some 
millions of pounds of this commodity are annually ex¬ 
ported. Black pepper is also much grown, and consider¬ 
able quantities of the forest products—gutta, dammar, 
wax, timber, etc.—find their way from here to the Singa¬ 
pore markets. All this trade has caused a large influx 
of Chinese and coast Malays, especially of the former, and 
the port of Rhio is visited by the Dutch lines of steamers. 
Innumerable ships pass through the Rhio Strait, for it is 
now the recognised highway in both monsoons for vessels 
proceeding eastwards, or bound through the Strait of 
Sunda. 
The only post of the Dutch in the southern group is 
upon Lingga, where an Assistant Resident is established. 
The town is very prettily situated beneath a striking 
peak, upon a river nearly a mile from the sea, and con¬ 
tains 7000 or 8000 inhabitants, the Chinese having 
substantial houses of stone. The produce is chiefly 
rattans, gambir, and pepper. Gold is obtained in small 
quantities, but tin has not yet been discovered, although 
it occurs in the neighbouring island of Singkep. The 
Rhio-Lingga Archipelago, together with the valley of the 
Indragiri river on the opposite shore of Sumatra, and 
the Anamba and Natuna Islands north-west of Borneo, 
forms the political district known as “ Rhio and its 
Dependencies.” 
(4) Bangka (Banca or Banka) is situated opposite the 
eastern coast of Palembang, from which it is separated 
by a long strait of a tolerably uniform width of 15 
