CELEBES *] 1 



promised well until lately, when many of tlie ])Iantatioiis 

 were ruined by disease. 



The mineral products of Celebes are comparatively 

 unimportant, although it is possible that further know- 

 ledge of the country may reveal gold-lields of value. 

 Coal is found in various places in the Makassar district, 

 but is of poor quality and is not worked. Iron and 

 copper are obtained in small quantities by the natives. 

 The gold mines are chiefly in the northern peninsula, in 

 the native states of Buiil, Mutong, and in the neighbour- 

 hood of Pagoat, but the methods employed are primitive, 

 and, the output passing into the hands of native traders, 

 no satisfactory statistics are available. 



9. Islands belonging to Celebes. 



Celebes is rich in islands, which are for the most part 

 situated at or near the extremities of the four great 

 peninsulas of which it is composed. Thus, from the 

 north, the Banka, Talaut, Tulur, and Carcaralong groups 

 form a series of stepping-stones, as it were, to the 

 southern end of Mindanao in the Philippines. Around 

 Balante, the eastern promontory of Celebes, are the 

 Togian, Peling, and Xulla groups. Off the end of the 

 south-eastern jDeninsula lie the large islands Muna and 

 Butung (Boeton), while between the south promontory 

 and riores the sea is covered with a multiplicity of reefs 

 and islands, of which Salaier only is of importance. 



Of all these, the chain of islands to the north are the 

 most interesting in every way. They have scarcely ever 

 been visited by Englishmen, but Dr. Hickson's visit 

 to them in 1885 has added considerably to our know- 

 ledge of them. They were first seen by Europeans in 

 1521, when the two remaining vessels of Magellan's 



