THE BANTIKS. 343 



retain the heathen belief of their forefathers. Many 

 of them are taller than the other people I saw in the 

 Minahassa. Their houses are not placed on higher 

 posts than those of other natives, but they are fre- 

 quently long, and occupied by several families — a 

 custom which appears to have been general through- 

 out the archipelago in ancient times, and is still 

 practised at Dorey, on the north coast of New 

 Guinea, and again by the people of the .Tenger Moun- 

 tains in Java, who pride themselves on retaining the 

 customs of their ancestors. The view has been ad- 

 vanced that the Bantiks are descendants of China- 

 men, who established themselves here when they 

 first came to the Moluccas to purchase spices. This 

 may have been the case, but their features, though 

 somewhat different fi'om the other natives, did not 

 appear to me to be so unlike them as to necessitate 

 such a theory. As they have kept themselves more 

 away from the influence of all foreigners than most 

 Malays, they give us a good idea of what the abori- 

 gines of this region were before the arrival of the 

 Portuguese. 



About three miles round the northern side bay, 

 we came to Temumpa, where all the lepers of this 

 residency are obliged to live, banished forever from 

 all communication with other natives, except such of 

 their friends as come to see them. The little village 

 consists of twelve small houses, regularly arranged 

 on either side of a street. They were all neatly 

 whitewashed, and each has a small plot of ground, 

 where its unfortunate occupants can busy themselves, 

 and forget their incurable sufferings and their ban 



