164 CELEBES. [chap. 



light is necessary. The islands were all low and sandy, and 

 evidently supported a large population, for they were crowded with 

 huts and coconut palms. 



In spite of the large size of the island, and the immense extent 

 of seaboard it affords, the Dutch have practically no settlements in 

 Celebes except at Macassar in the south and the district of Mina- 

 hasa at the extreme north. The former, as I have already stated, 

 is chiefly a port of trade, but the country in the neighbourhood of 

 Menado and Kema included under the latter name is one of the 

 best coffee -growing districts in the world, and it was with the 

 intention of seeing something of the Dutch system of management, 

 and at the same time of adding to our zoological collections, that 

 we resolved on spending a month or so in this part of the island, 

 of which Mr. Wallace's descriptions had led us to form the highest 

 expectations. Eealisation in these cases is very often disappointing, 

 but in this instance it happily was not, and I may anticipate by 

 saying that there were few places in our IMalaysian cruise with 

 which we were better pleased. 



On leaving the port of Macassar for Menado the mariner has, 

 roughly speaking, to steer north for four hundred and twenty miles, 

 and then east for another three hundred before arriving at his 

 destination, and during that time he will have materially altered 

 his climate. He will have crossed the equator and passed beyond 

 the Australian influence of the south-east monsoon, and instead of 

 the arid rice-flelds and their attendant powdery dust, he will find 

 himself once more in a region which, although occasionally sul^ject 

 to drought, is practically one of perennial verdure. In our voyage 

 north our course led us from time to time within sight of the coast, 

 an-d the mountains of the interior were usually shrouded in heavy 

 mist or rain-cloud, beneath which the dense jungle loomed out a 

 sombre green. Farther east, towards the end of the peninsula, the 

 land is of lower elevation, and here we experienced better weather, 

 bright sunshine alternating with heavy showers. On the morning 

 of the fourth day we arrived off Menado. 



