Enggano Island

Enggano Island is about 100 km southwest of Sumatra, Indonesia. It is one of the 92 officially listed outlying islands of Indonesia.

Enggano is about 35 kilometres (22 miles) long from east to west and about 16 kilometres (9.9 miles) wide from north to south. Its area is 402.6 square kilometres (155.4 square miles), the average elevation is about 100 metres (330 feet), and the highest point is 281 metres (922 feet).

Politically, it is a subdistrict (kecamatan) of the North Bengkulu Regency of the Indonesian province of Bengkulu. The three largest towns on the island are Barhau, Kabuwe and Kayaapu. According to the Indonesian Kantor Statistik for Bengkulu, the island had 1420 inhabitants in 1989. This number rises, according to the Pukesmas, to 1635 by 1994, with 64% of the population claiming descent from the Engganese people.

There are six villages on Enggano Island, which are all located on the island's only main road, which traverses the island's northeast coast (Yoder 2011:6).

Malakoni, Apoho, and Meok have more Enggano natives, and the other villages have larger immigrant populations. There are ferries to Bengkulu from Kahayapu and Malakoni (Yoder 2011:6).

The name of the island suggests some early contact with Portuguese traders (engano means mistake), but the earliest published account is that of Cornelis de Houtman, dating from June 5, 1596, but he was unable to land a boat.

In 1771, Charles Miller succeeded in landing and meeting the indigenous population.

With great difficulty and danger we beat up the whole South-west side of it, without finding any place where we could attempt to land; and we lost two anchors and had very near suffered shipwreck before we found a secure place into which we might run the vessel. At last, however we discovered a spacious harbour at the South-east end of the island and I immediately went into it in the boat, and ordered the vessel to follow me as soon as possible, for it was then a dead calm. We rowed directly into this bay; and as soon as we had got round the point of an island which lay off the harbour, we discovered all the beach covered with naked savages who were all armed with lances and clubs; and twelve canoes all full of them who, till we had passed them, had lain concealed, immediately rushed out upon me, making a horrid noise: this, you may suppose, alarmed us greatly; and as I had only one European and four black soldiers, besides the four lascars that rowed the boat. I thought it best to turn, if possible under the guns of the vessel before I ventured to speak with them.

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