TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 149 



On the Progress of Civilization in Northern Celebes, 

 By Alfred E. Wallace, F.B. 6.S. 

 The northern peninsula of Celebes is the only part of that island which is of vol- 

 canic structure. A considerable portion of it is elevated 2500 feet above the sea, 

 forming the beautiful plateau of Tondano, in the centre of which is a lake about 

 twenty miles in circumference. Scattered about this plateau are volcanic peaks 

 and ridges 6000 or 7000 feet high. A fertile soil clothes even the mountain slopes 

 of all this region, and, assisted by the abimdant equatorial rains and a mild and 

 uniform temperature, supports a vegetation of great liLxuriance and beauty. The 

 Dutch have now had possession of this country for nearly 200 year.?, having taken 

 it from the Portuguese in 1677. The inhabitants, more particularly on the centre 

 plateau, differ from those of the rest of the Celebes. They often approach to the 

 fair complexion of the Em-opean, while they retain the straight black hair and 

 general physiognomy of the Malay races. In character they are gentle and sub- 

 missive, industi'ious and easily educated. Up to a very recent period they were 

 cornplete savages, and were almost always at war with each other. They built 

 their huts upon lofty posts to guard against attacks, and decorated them with the 

 heads of their slain enemies. Their clothing was strips of bark, and their r.eligion 

 was a degrading demon-worship. From this state of barbarism they have been 

 raised to comparative ci-vilization in a short time by the Dutch Government. The 

 country is now becoming a garden worthy of its sweet native name, "Minahassa." 

 The villages are almost all like model villages, and the cottages like those one sees 

 upon the stage. The streets are bordered with trimmed turf, and fenced with 

 hedges of roses in perpetual bloom. Near every village are the most beautifully 

 cultivated and productive coffee-plantations, while rice-fields and fruit and vege- 

 table grounds supply abundance of food to the inhabitants. In every village there 

 is a school-house, and in the larger ones a church also. The people are all neatly 

 dressed, and^ the native chiefs and schoolmasters would pass muster among respect- 

 able people in England. On arriving at one of these chiefs' bouses, in a principal 

 village, the writer was received by a gentleman in a suit of black ; boys nicely 

 dressed and with smooth-combed hair brought water and napkins for him" to wash, 

 and he was furnished with a dinner comprising every European comfort, finger- 

 gl.vses, clean napkins, claret, and beer, along with a variety of well-cooked native 

 dishes. The house was handsome and lofty ; the chairs and tables were of fine na- 

 tive woods, and, though made by self-taught natives, were of superior workmanship 

 to any but the very best we get at home ; and as he sat in the verandah taking 

 coffee his eye was gratified by the sight of beautiful flowers, which, in this delight- 

 fid climate, are perpetually renewed. This great change is the result of the intro- 

 duction of the coffee-platit under Government superintendence, and of the labours 

 of Dutch Protestant missionaries. The native chiefs were induced to further the 

 views of the Government by the promise of a per-centage on the colFee-produce of 

 their district, and the whole system is carried out by them, under the advice and 

 support of the inspectors and Dutch residents. Each family in a village works in 

 the plantations; an account is kept of the number of days' "labour eacli gives, and 

 when the produce is sent to the government warehouses^ and paid for at the fixed 

 price agreed upon on the formation of the plantations, the amount is divided pro- 

 portionately among the inhabitants. The chief and the other head men of the vil- 

 lage decide upon how many days a week it is necessary to work at different times 

 of the year, and the \-iIlagers aire called to labour at ti"xed hours by beat of gong. 

 This community of labour is a common feature among people in th"e first stages of 

 civilization, and rarely is any other pressure than public opinion required to insure 

 regularity. Habits of industry have thus been fostered, and a considerable sum of 

 money is realized annually by each family. Under the advice and example of the 

 missionaries and government inspectors, the people build neat houses and adopt 

 European clothing and habits. Their children go to school ; the Malay language 

 spreads rapidly, and is superseding the numerous native dialects ; and general morality 

 has undergone a vast improvement. No one who sees these people, and inquires 

 as to their foraier condition, can avoid the conclusion that they are both morally 

 and physically far superior to what they were. But it is said this change has bee n 

 brought about by "monopoly" and "despotism," and therefore cannot be right. 



