288 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL 



6. Native Races. 



From what has been said of the extreme antiquity of 

 Celebes, and the pecuharity and isolation of its animals, 

 it might be expected that some equally peculiar tribes of 

 mankind might be found here, or even some relic of 

 primeval man. But it must be remembered that man is 

 pre-eminently a migrating and an aggressive animal, the 

 higher or more energetic races constantly displacing the 

 lower or less physically powerful ; so that his present 

 distribution may have little relation to the ancient his- 

 tory of the countries he inhabits. It is highly probable 

 that a low and primitive race did once inhabit Celebes ; 

 but if so, it has, so far as we know, completely dis- 

 appeared, and the whole island is now occupied by many 

 distinct tribes in various stages of civilisation, but all 

 belonging to the Malayan race. They may be roughly 

 classed into two groups— the Mohammedan semi-civilised 

 tribes, and the Pagans, who are more or less savages. 

 The former read and write, and mostly have peculiar 

 alphabetic characters ; they have fixed governments, 

 regular clothing, and are considerably advanced in agri- 

 culture and the arts, being, in fact, the equals of the 

 true Malays and the Javanese. The latter are more or 

 less complete savages, without writing or fixed govern- 

 ments, usually with imperfect bark clothing, and without 

 the arts of weaving or working metals. 



The most important of the Mohammedan peoples are 

 the Bugis, the Mandars, and the Makassars. The Bugis 

 occupied originally only the district of Boni in the 

 southern peninsula, but have now extended over a consider- 

 able area. They are composed of many tribes, of which 

 the Waju are the most powerful, and are governed by in- 



