terior, but tlie natives failed to secure so valuable a
prize. Herds of tbem are said to frequently appear
in the Silindong plateau. The tusks of one taken
here lately were sold for one thousand guilders (four
hundred Mexican dollars). On our way we passed
eight or ten houses of Battas, who had come down
from the mountains. They were placed on posts
like those we have been seeing; but the gable-ends,
instead of being perpendicular, slant outward, so that
the ridge-pole, which comes up high at each end, is
much longer than the floor. Over o a n#umber of these
streams we found long suspension bridges, but none
were high as that over the Batang Taroh. Ascending
to the crest of a mountain-range, some six or
eight hundred feet in height, we found before us a
grand view of the high mountains, stretching in a
semicircle around the bay of Tapanuli 5 of the low
land at their feet, and of a part of the bay itself. A
steep, zigzag way took us down nearly to the level
of the sea, and led us over the low land to the village
of Siboga, a small Dutch settlement and military
station at the head of the bay.
C H A P T E R X IV .
RETURN TO PADANG.
Back of Siboga rises a high peak, and from its
summit I was confident that I could enjoy a magnificent
view over the whole bay. A native engaged to
show me the way to its top, but after we had travelled
a long distance I found he had even less idea of
how we were to reach the desired spot than I had
myself. Other natives gave me directions, but that
day was too far spent for such a journey, and I therefore
made my pretended guide travel with me the
next day for nothing, as a punishment for his lying.
Following up a stream back of the settlement, we
took a minor valley to the south, and discovered a
narrow path by which the Battas sometimes come
down from the interior. This led up through a thick
forest to a large place where that people had partially
cleared the land by burning down the trees. In
the irregular spaces between the stumps they had
planted pineapples and yams, which were both thriving
remarkably well. When we had gained that
place I found the desired peak still above us. My
attendant now begged me not to attempt to reach it,
less, as I afterward learned, from his fear of the
Battas than from his fear of the evil spirit who is