ONE OF THE FINEST VIE^^■S IN THE WORLD. 369 



broke away this morning as the sun rose, and the 

 sky is now perfectly clear. The controleur provided 

 me with a horse, and a JivTcom tua accompanied me 

 as a guide. Our course was nearly west, and soon 

 the road became very steep, and extremely slippery 

 from the late rain. As we rose, the view over the 

 plateau beneath us ^videned, until we wound round 

 the mountain to the little \T.llage of Rurukan, the 

 highest negri in this land. The head of this village 

 guided us to the top of a neighboring peak, where I 

 found a large part of the Minahassa spread out be- 

 fore me like a great map. From the point where I 

 stood, there stretched to the south a high mountain- 

 chain, forming the western border of the lake of 

 Tondano. A little more to the east were seen the 

 lake far below, and the level land along a part of its 

 shores, while on the opposite side of the lake rose 

 the mountains that form the other end of the chain 

 on which I was standino-. This chain curves like a 

 horseshoe, the open part being turned toward the 

 north. At the same point where all the details of 

 this plateau were comprised in a single view, by 

 turning a little toward the north, I could look do^vn 

 the outer flanks of this elevated region away to the 

 low, distant ocean -shore, where the blue sea was 

 breaking into white, sparkling surf A little farther 

 toward the north rose the lofty peak of Mount 

 Klabat, covered with a thick mantle of fleecy clouds, 

 which had a hue of ermine in tlie brio-ht li<2:ht. This 

 mantle was slowly raised and lowered by the invisi- 

 ble hand of the strong west wind. Beneath it, low 

 on the sides of the mountain, was seen a line of trees 



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