CHAPTER VIII. 



CELEBES. 



Macassar — Visits of ceremony — Dress of the Dutch ladies — "Floating the liver" — 

 Life in Macassar — The King of Goa's house-warming — Bandit and butler- — 

 Cock-fighting — Visit to Maros — A beautiful valley — Sail for Northern Celebes — 

 The Spermonde Archipelago — Menado — Stranding of the Marchesa — Start for 

 the mountain district — Lotta — The "Major " of Tomohon — Arrive at Tondano — 

 The coffee industry — A doubtful delicacy — Languages of Minahasa — Tondano 

 waterfall — Nutmegs and Vanilla — The Kanari nut — Anoa depressicornis — Birds 

 of Celebes — Mr. Wallace on the Dutch system. 



The southern part of Celebes is affected by the easterly monsoon 

 quite as much as the islands lying to the south of it, and, as we 

 neared the coast, the thick haze characteristic of the dry season 

 rendered our position a matter of some uncertainty. We at length 

 recognised the small island of Tana-keke, and passing through the 

 network of shoals which here and to the north present considerable 

 difficulties to navigation, we came to anchor in the roadstead of 

 Macassar. We had passed the guardship on entering, and two or 

 three vessels only lay off the town, but everywhere innumerable 

 praus were to be seen, from the large Aru trader of forty tons or 

 more to small dug-out canoes. The Buginese are the orang Jchalasi 

 — the seamen — of the Eastern Archipelago, and trade as far east- 

 ward as New Guinea. 



Macassar is not attractive from the sea. The land around is 

 low and flat, and as we landed the place fairly grilled in the heat, 

 which the whitewashed houses and the thick, greenish-white water 

 of the anchorage helped, in appearance at all events, to increase. 



