VIII.] NATIONAL SCHOOLS. 177 



was apparently optional. ^Ir. A'an de Yen told us that when the 

 Dutch missionary preached there were often as many as 700 

 people present. The increase in attendance had necessitated the 

 construction of a new chapel, which was then nearly finished. 

 The service in use was that of the Dutch Eeformed Church. 



Schools are also established in all these villaqes, and at Tomohon 

 we had an opportunity of inspecting one. As far as appliances 

 were concerned, it was superior to an English national school, but 

 it was empty at the time of our visit, and w^e saw notliing of the 

 teaching.* The schoolmistress was a pleasant Dutch woman, who, 

 in addition to two native languages, spoke English, French, and 

 German. Before we left the Netherlands' India we began to feel 

 almost aggTieved at meeting any one unable to converse with us in 

 our own language. 



The waterfall in the neighbourhood of Tondano is one of the 

 lions of Celebes, although it must be confessed that there are no 

 tourists to visit it. A small river about fifteen yards broad and 

 four or five feet deep fiows out of the north end of the lake, 

 and after a rapid course of a mile through the richest vegetation, 

 precipitates itself into a gorge — which must be six or seven hundred 

 feet in depth — to reach the plain Ijelow, ultimately joining the 

 sea at ]Menado. The river descends in a series of falls, of wdiich 

 the uppermost is alone accessible. It is not more than 100 feet in 

 height, but the scene is one of great beauty, owing to the luxuriant 

 gTOwth of vegetation around, tree-ferns and tangled masses of 

 giant creeper hiding tlie perpendicular clifts from view. Below, 

 the stream dashes through a narrow, rugged gorge to another fall, 

 which is invisible from above. The xi^w from the plain beneath 

 must be magnificent, Ijut the descent offered such difficulties, owing 

 to the thickness of the jungle, that we had to abandon it. 



We spent three or four days very pleasantly in ]\Ienado, chiefly 



occupied in collecting in the beautiful plantations round the ^^llage. 



Xutmegs and vanilla were the most important crops, and the long 



black pods of the latter filled the air with a delicious fragrance as 



VOL. II. N 



