Mabel Cook Cole, author of "The Island of Nias, at the Edge of the World," National Geographic Magazine, August, 1931, was lured to this island from reports of an ancient civilization. Thus she traveled some 15,000 miles to a small eighty-mile long island off the west coast of Sumatra, in the Dutch East Indies, presently called Indonesia.
Nias, an island little known in 1931, was called the "Island of Gold." A visiting Mohammedan merchant reported in 851 A.D., "The people are rich in gold; they eat coconuts and cover their bodies with the oil; that when a man wishes to marry he must take the head of an enemy. If he takes two heads, he may take two wives; if he obtains fifty, he may have that many wives" (p. 201). Yes, we can see why Mrs. Cole was intrigued by this unique society!
Due to earthquakes destroying coastal villages, the Dutch were not interested in this island. "It is only during the last twenty years that the white man has really ruled the land" (p. 201).
In 1931, there were no cable or wireless connections in Nias, only contact by boats. Mrs. Cole landed "at Goenoeng Sitoli, a pretty little village with a palm-fringed beach." (p. 201). Then she realized her last connection, the supply steamer that brought her, had left. Mrs. Cole was traveling with her husband.
She told a Dutch official she wanted to travel to the other end of Nias. He was friendly and flatly refused. "It is impossible, especially for a lady," she was told (p. 202). He discouraged her in every way possible. Mrs. Cole wrote, "He never had come into such close contact with the undaunted strenuousness of America" (p. 203).
Finally, the Coles found three horses, hired a young native interpreter, and took with them their former auto mechanic. Soon they passed native villages and noticed that the native peoples appeared sickly and malnourished. The Coles wished to hire some as carriers but the natives "did not want money and could see no use in working" (p. 208).
In North Nias, the round houses "are built chiefly of bamboo and are raised high above the ground on posts. Their inhabitants live half the year on rice and half on sweet potato" (photo caption, p. 207). The travelers found a friendly chief who educated them about the particulars of their ancestor worship, the work of their magicians and meaning of their ancestors' skulls under the outdoor stone benches.
The group paid their respects to the chief and moved on. "The water in our canteens was tepid, and frequently we stopped by a clump of coconut trees, the Nias substitute for a soda fountain . . . It was not especially good, but it was wet and safe" (p. 209).
The next day they wanted to cross a rickety bridge over a river. As they noticed crocodiles infesting the river, they sent the horses back and crossed on foot. They soon came to a series of villages and were treated very well. The first village chief insisted on having his men carry the four visitors to the next village. "For many years these people resisted the white man's rule, and even now, though head-hunting and warfare have diminished, they lead very much their own lives" (p. 213). The village chiefs were quite resplendent with gold ornaments. The architecture of their large houses was amazing in its complexity and fine craftsmanship. Some of the village streets were paved with stone.
Sadly, with foreign rule, the ancient ways in Nias were disintegrating in 1931. When the Coles were on an outbound steamer, Mrs. Cole reminisced, as she looked back on the island, "We forgot the heat, the moisture, and the malaria that had marred our first picture of Nias. We saw, in our mind's eye, only that strange city on the hill, and we breathed a prayer that it might long survive" (p. 224). A worthy trip it was, for such staunch adventurers!
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