A HUNDRED YEARS' WAR.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXII, Issue 129, 1 June 1901, Page 1 (Supplement)

A HUNDRED YEARS' WAR.

CLOSE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE STRUGGLE OF MODERN TIMES.

•tf&^tJtjf OUTH AFRICA, China, '^Sk^mV^P and the Philippines are V^^^Sik'Ai" no*" c on^v countries -^J^^^Hfc. where war is in proi&\?*s9M> B"ress- n different parts joiitv£ss&o&i of the world npnig-ns of long standing are being carried on daily. Some of them have never been heard of by the average person; others have been forgotten. Under the latter head comes -Whin, where for years the Dutch hnve||been striving to subjug-ate the natives, a race so important, that at one time its rulers received embassies from the greatest potentates in Europe, that of England included. Achin is probably the most warridden State in the world. For a hun- ' dred years it has known but little ■ peace, first with one land, then with another, but principally with the Dutch. The end of this protracted war is, however, believed to be within sight at last. During the past three years the Dutch have won repeated victories, the natives being finally driven back on Batoeilik, the strongest fortified garrison of the Achinese. A race that can resist for a number of years a well-organised invasion of European troops is worthy of some attention. The country is situated in the north of Sumatra. It is the only ; State in the island that still remains independent of the Dutch; but, as already foreshadowed, its independence appears to be now doomed. The population numbers about 328.000. Before its decline, which commenced early in the eighteenth century, Achin was in close touch commercially with England. It was to the port of Achin that London merchants directed their first efforts towards .securing trade

in the Indies. Queen Elizabeth sent ' confidential communications to the King" of Acliin by special envoy, and James L also corresponded with the reigning- monarch, who lived in such luxurious style that he had 900 State

elephants. To this day there stands near the gate of the King's palace a couple of brass cannons of extraordinary size. They were a present from James I. to the ruler of Achin. They* (still bear the founder's name and the date legibly inscribed upon them.

So considerable, in fact, was Acton's one-time power, that to reduce Malacca it fitted out an armada of no fewer than 500 ships;,'a hundred of which were larger than any then used in Europe. The ships carried GO,OOO men, with the King himself in command. Moreover, at one time, Achin produced more gold than any other conntry in the Bast, excepting- perhaps Japan. One chronicler fixes the annual output at 512,0000z. For 58 years female Sovereigns reigned, and the foreign residents in Achin believe, though erroneously, that the Queen of Sheba. was Queen of Achin. The Achinese employ minted money, including" a gold coin stamped with Arabic characters called "rasas." Great stretches of the interior have not yet been explored: but from seaward two gigantic volcanic mountains, rising to a height of about 11,000 ft, are visible. Little also is known of the language. This, perhaps, is not strange, notwithstanding the great career which Achin once had. Languages, like peoples, and like greatness, wither away, and are forgotten where there is a diminution in national vigour, or else they change so completely that they arc unrecognisable. We are, however, able to give the following numeral table of the Achinese from one to ten:— l Sah C Xnm :j Dun 7 Tuju 3 Tin S Dlappan •1 Pot 9 Sakurang ."> Limung 10 Saplu. Though once powerful enough to drive the Portugese out of the island and to have a fleet and an army that were the envy of larger countries, Achin has slowly drifted into the limbo of forgotten States, and now appears destined to disappear from the map altogether.