252 Celebes. 



ou a neat and uniform plan. It was this interesting district 

 which I was now about to visit. 



Having decided on my route, I started at 8 a.m. on the 22d 

 of June. Mr. Tower di-ove me the first three miles in his 

 chaise, and Mr. Neys accompanied me on horseback three miles 

 further to the village of Lotta. . Here we met the controlleur 

 of the district of Tondano, who was returning home from one 

 of his monthly tours, and who had agreed to act as my guide 

 and companion on the journey. From Lotta we had an almost 

 continual ascent for six miles, which brought us on to the 

 plateau of Tondano at an elevation of about 2400 feet. We 

 passed through three villages whose neatness and beauty quite 

 astonished me. The main road, along which all the coffee is 

 brought down from the interior in carts drawn by buffaloes, 

 is always turned aside at the entrance of a village, so as to 

 pass behind it, and thus allow the village street itself to be 

 kept neat and clean. This is bordered by neat hedges often 

 formed entirely of rose-trees, which are perpetually in blossom. 

 There is a broad central path and a border of fine turf, which 

 is kept well swept and neatly cut. The houses are all of wood, 

 raised about six feet on substantial posts neatly painted blue, 

 while the walls are whitewashed. They all have a veranda 

 inclosed with a neat balustrade, and are generally surrounded 

 by orange-trees and flowering shrubs. The surrounding scen- 

 ery is verdant and picturesque. Coffee plantations of extreme 

 luxuriance, noble palms and tree-ferns, wooded hills and vol- 

 canic peaks, everywhere meet the eye. I had heard much of 

 the beauty of this country, but the reality far surpassed my 

 expectations. 



About one o'clock we reached Tomohon, the chief place of 

 a district, having a native chief, now called the major, at 

 whose house we were to dine. Here was a fresh surprise for 

 me. The house was large, airy, and very substantially built 

 of hard native timber, squared and put together in a most 

 workmanlike maimer. It was furnished in European style, 

 with handsome chandelier lamps, and the chairs and tables all 

 well made by native workmen. As soon as we entei'ed, Ma- 

 deira and bitters were offered us. Then two handsome boys, 

 neatly dressed in white and with smoothly-brushed jet-black 

 hair, handed us each a basin of water and a clean napkin on a 



