CELEBES 277 



it is therefore unlikely that the Portnguese estahlished 

 themselves on the island at an early period in the history 

 of the archipelago. All eyes were then turned to the 

 Moluccas and their spices, and Celebes, as we now know, 

 yielded few of the products coveted by Europeans except 

 gold, and for this reason carried on only a restricted 

 trade. Whether Hindu rites ever came into anything 

 like general use is unknown, but it is not at all probable, 

 although sculptured remains indicative of the worship of 

 Siva are said to exist. Mohammedanism was not intro- 

 duced until about 1600 — a fact which, as has been 

 remarked by Crawfurd, proves how small until then had 

 been the intercourse of the western nations of Asia with 

 Celebes, when it is remembered that Sumatra had been 

 converted four centuries before. The Dutch commenced 

 trading with Makassar in 1607, and definitely established 

 a factory there in 1618. In 1660 a fleet under Van 

 Dam effected the conquest of the kingdom, sinking six 

 ships of the Portuguese, then allies of the king, and 

 taking their fort. The Portuguese ejected, the Dutcli 

 turned their attention to the north of the island, wlience 

 they also expelled the Portuguese seventeen years later, 

 and in 1703 built a fort at Menado. Little, however, 

 was attempted in the way of civilisation in this part of 

 the island until the beginning of this century. In 1822 

 the coffee-plant was introduced, and in 1849 ]\Ienado 

 and Kema were made free ports. The English occupied 

 JNIakassar for a short time at the beginning of the present 

 century previous to the restoration of the Dutch posses- 

 sions in 1816. 



3. Physical Features. 



So little is really known of the interior of Celebes, 



