Sumatra, the second largest island in Indonesia, straddles the equator and points northwest into the rolling blue wastes of the Bay of Bengal. On the island's tip, in the province of Atjeh, live about 1,000,000 Achinese, a proud and irritable people, unshakably Moslem, the first Indonesians to embrace Islam in the 11th century and the last to be pacified by the Dutch (1904). Some centuries ago the Achinese were intrepid pirates, raiding Western shipping, and attacking fortified towns in quest of slaves, concubines and booty. In modern times they have been peaceful farmers, fishermen and plantation workers. But they...
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