which also include the stable. It has lately been
built by order of the Dutch Government for the accommodation
of any official or other foreigner travelling
in this country. Before the paling was completed,
the contrôleur of the district visited this
place, and put his horse into the stable. At midnight
he heard a loud howling and neighing, and the
natives shoutiner out to each other to come with their o
arms. A tiger had come out of the adjoining forest,
and had sprung upon his horse from behind, and the
natives were attacking him with their lances. He
lost his horse, but had the privilege of carrying away
the tiger’s skin. Those who eomplain of the scarcity
of game ought to come here. It is not by any means
inaccessible, and both tigers and elephants are exceedingly
abundant.
A p ril 26th.— At 6-|- A. m. continued on through a
more open and somewhat cultivated country. The
Musi here makes a great bend to the southwest, and
the path leads eastward over a gently-rising elevation,
on the top of which is a large and most
thriving coffee-garden, and near by are rice-fields
which yield abundantly. This garden has been
very lately planted, and yet all the trees that are old
enough to bear are nearly loaded down with fruit.
The rice-fields show that an abundance of food could
be raised here, and the only thing that is wanting is
people to do the work. The elevated situation of
this country makes it very healthy for foreigners.
If any one could obtain a grant of land here, and
also the privilege of bringing a large number of
Chinamen, he would certainly realize a fortune, for
coffee can be here cultivated with little care, and rice,
the staple article of food among that people, can be
raised in any quantity. Such a privilege could not
be obtained at present, but the liberal tendency of
the government of the Netherlands India promises
that it may be, at no distant time in the future.
Such an enterprise would not have the character of
an experiment, for the facility with which coffee and
rice can be grown has already been shown on this
plantation, and the cost of transporting it to Padang
or Palembang would be very light. Sumatra undoubtedly
contains large quantities of gold, but the
true source of her wealth is not the precious metal
she possesses, but the crops of coffee she produces.
From the top of this mountain I took my last
view of the Barizan chain, which had been constantly
in sight since I passed through the Strait of Sun-
da on my way to Padang. In the ladangs in this
region the walls of the huts of the natives are mostly
made of bark. While coming down from this low
mountain-range, we had a splendid view up a valley
to the southward, and of the low but sharply-crested
chain which limits on the south the area drained by
the Musi. At the foot of this elevation a stream
courses southward to the Musi, and on its banks are a
native village, and a Dutch post and fort. Here, as
elsewhere, I rode up to the house of the controleur,
whom I had previously notified of my coming. He
had gone a number of miles southward, to the limit
of his district and the Pasuma country, where I now
learned a war was going on. His good lady was at
home, ands to my great surprise, welcomed me in