Natives of Minahasa. 269 



therefore probably nocturnal. It appeared to me to form a 

 new genus. About the roads in the forest I found the large 

 and handsome Cicindela heros, which I had before obtained 

 sparingly at Macassar ; but it was in the mountain torrent of 

 the ravine itself that I got my finest things. On dead trunks 

 overhanging the water, and on the banks and foliage, I obtained 

 three very pretty species of Cicindela, quite distinct in size, 

 form, and color, but having an almost identical pattern of pale 

 spots. I also found a single specimen of a most curious spe- 

 cies with very long antenute. But my finest discovery here 

 was the Cicindela gloriosa, which I found on mossy stones 

 just rising above the water. After obtaining my first speci- 

 men of this elegant insect, I used to walk up the stream, 

 watching carefully every moss-covered rock and stone. It 

 was rather shy, and would often lead me a long chase from 

 stone to stone, becoming invisible every time it settled on the 

 damp moss, owing to its rich velvety-green color. On some 

 days I could only catch a few glimj^ses of it, on others I got 

 a single siDecimen, and on a few occasions two, but never with- 

 out a more or less active pursuit. This and several other 

 species I never saw but in this one ravine. 



Among the people here I saw specimens of several types, 

 which, with the peculiarities of the languages, gives me some 

 notion of their probable origin. A striking illustration of 

 the low state of civilization of these people till quite recently 

 is to be found in the great diversity of their languages. Vil- 

 lages three or four miles apart have separate dialects, and 

 each group of three or four such villages has a distinct lan- 

 guage quite unintelligible to all the rest ; so that, till the re- 

 cent introduction of Malay by the missionaries, there must 

 have been a bar to all free communication. These languages 

 offer many peculiarities. They contain a Celebes-Malay ele- 

 ment and a Papuan element, along with some radical jjeculiari- 

 ties found also in the languages of the Siau and Sanguir islands 

 further north, and therefore probably derived from the Philip- 

 pine Islands. Physical characters correspond. There are some 

 of the less civilized tribes which have semi-Papuan features and 

 hair, while in some villages the true Celebes or Bugis physi- 

 ognomy prevails. The plateau of Tondano is chiefly inhabit- 

 ed by people nearly as white as the Chinese, and with very 



