Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1884-04-03
Malay Hountaineers.
HOLLANDS GREAT DIFFICULTY IN THE EAST.
FIERCE AND UNCONQrERABLE srMATR,N
TRIBES.
Letter to New York Times

Nsa-s>1 .sSp N-NNoE~ae ~
TRIBES.
Letter to New York Times.l
The coasts Of Sumatra and Java will long
remember that black Sunday in August
when Krakstoa swept from the earth with
one blast Of its fiery breath three populous
settlements and $4,000 human lives. And
these wreaths of bluish-white smoke which
are curling upward into the clear morning
sky from yonder hill-tops tell but too plain
| ly that what has been once may be again.
In truth, look which way you will it is
impossible to escape from the grim suggest
iveness of this magnificent temple of death.
Corpses come drifting down its smooth.
shining rivers. The fires Of hell burn
| amid the dreaming beauty of its wood
crowned hills. Panthers, serpents, and the
viewless poison Of pestilence more dead.
ly than either lurk in the shadowy depths of
its stately forests; a thousand perils, each
| with its own story Of terror and doom, lie
hid beneath its calm, sunlit seas. All the
gorgeous coloring, all the barbaric splendor
Of these tropical islands are but as beauti-
ful mask, hiding the eyeless horror of
death head. Close by yonder leafy head
land. which looks so bright and pretty in
the morning sunshine. stranded wreck lies
helpless, saved only by the timely arrival of
a British gun,boat from the murderous weap-
ons Of the savages, who swarmed down to
the beach in hundreds the moment her.dis-
tress was known. And these noble hills
which painter would love TO copy, have
run red with torrents OF human blood, she'd
| in a l2-years' battle, in which mercy is un-
known.
| This last element. in fact. is Hollands
real difficulty throughout the far Fast. The
volcanic smoke which rises from these green
hills is only too true parable Of the ordi-
nary conditions of life in This Wild region.
/ The power of the conquerors is built over
| the unquenchable hatred OF the conquered.
Twice already have the subjugated Javanese
risen against their oppressors. while the
bolder Sumatrans have never beer thor
oughly subjugated yet In truth. plantation
! life in the Malay archipelago at the present
time is very much what up-country life IN
south Australia used to be in the days Of
bushrangers and ''black fellow raids"
: Let US suppose that you have accepted an
4 invitation from hosptable Dutch planter
in one Of the remoter districts OF north
Sumairs, not far from those wonderful
"Batak hills" Of which YOU have heard SO
much and seen so little. You agree TO start
AZ once. and the next sunrise but one finds
YOU ambling along one Of the deep, mir,
ruts which are here called, by courtesy,
roads. watching the lcng s!anting rays
streaming in tide Of golden glory through
the purple gorges Of the mountains. With
every tlrn Of the road the shadowy ridges
IN front Of YOU seem 10 grow higher and
more solid. till At last YOU are fairly in
among them. The ground becomes all at
once rugged and broken. while the highway.
suddenly degenera,ing into rough bride
path. winds upward through the mouth OF
dark narrow glen, SO thlckly overhung with
trees and bushes that even the tropical sun
cannot penetrate it. From the black depths
below comes sullenly to your ear the hoarse
boom of an unseen torrent. while far above
you tower rank upon rank Of tree tops. piled
up seemingly into the very sky. On a sud
den there starts up from behind huge fern
clad bo~Ider gaunt. swarthy. wIld-e,ed
figure sIth no covering save tattered
waist -cloih and lis own shaggy black hair :;
bu, carrying long bamboo spear IN is
4 bony hand and short, man, curved Maia,
Z kriss dagger at Its side. The spec:eI ex-
changes few words with your Dutch com
rade, and then. signing YOU 10 follow him.
strides up the break-neck ascent st u pace
which few Europeans could equal on level
ground. With such men to garrison II. this
great fortress Of nature may we'll be i'm
/ preguahc as wer. the Nandois Alps, when
/ defended by the warlike disciples Of pcrc
Henri Arnaud.
Thou hast made thy children mighty by the
touch OF the mountain sod.
For the strength Of the hills we blt-- thee, our
I God, our fathers God.
I Bot this Malay Montenegro has il arti-
fetal vel! as its natural fortresSes. before
! which even the trained soldiers of Europe
have more than once given way. Half
2 way up This great mountain wall, on a ledge
/ bar,l, wide enough TO hold II. You come
/ suddenly upon a strong, high stockade,
( around which all the underground has been
unsparingly ,horn away. for those who
I guard this fort are not the men to leave
4 handbreadth Of cover for an advancing
enemy. The little hut, within the intrench-
ments are of the quaint. primitive fashion,
( half birds nest and half beehive, in which
| | found John Dunns Zulu warriors encamped
beside the Iugela 10 months ago. But be-
ware Of peering into them. for il YOU do
T YOU will never live TO tell what YOU have
seen. With this reservation. however, there
4 is no lack of hospitality in these bony, fierce
eyed. black named goblins. grim though
I they look amid the ghostly twilight Of their
| gloomy forests. They will bring YOU rice
( and fruit in abundance. and if YOU express
! a wish to rest will lead YOU to the tiny wood
en- platform in yonder corner, which, slight
( ly sheltered BY ,hatch supported on four
| tall poles. represents the local "accommoda-
/ ton for travellers" You are Just begin
ming TO think these sayages less black than
| they are painted, when in gloomy nook far
| apart YOU come Unexpectedly upon pros
trate human figure, loathsome, vet still alive.
/ Its swollen wrists and ankles, black with
sores and vrrmIn, are held fast by cleft
/ sticks, in each OF which knife is fixed so
I a, TO cut into the limb at the slightest move
ment The Batak chief tells YOU carelessly
/ that this man is doomed TO die for some
! breach Of mountain law that he had been
I lingering in this horrible trap for three
whole weeks, with just food and water
enough to prolong his torment, and that ne
may possibly last week more.
/ Such are the mountaineers of Sumatra,
the men whom Holland boasts of having
"pent up and conquered" in Acheen. Pent
up indeed they are by the Dutch command
of the sea board, but ever and anon mid
night swoop into the plain beneath, blaz-
ing camp, heap of mangled corpses tell
whether they are conquered" or not. In
tanned and untamable General Van Swieten
found them ten years ago, untamed and un-
tamable they are to this day. "Acheen will
never be at peace said veteran resident
to me the other day, "until the last Malay
| is dead.
The Decline of the Dude.