CELEBES. 219 



praus, which are exported to all the neighbouring archipelagoes. Two-thirds of 

 the inhabitants are centred in Great Kei, the largest member of the group ; but 

 Dula, the most frequented station, lies in Little Kei, on a deep inlet well sheltered 

 by a chain of insular hills. Recently some planters have settled in the islands, 

 the chief products of which are holothurise and tortoise-shell, both of excellent 

 quality. 



Celebes and adjacent Islands. 



9 



Celebes, which in extent takes the third, in population and commercial impor- 

 tance the fourth place in Indonesia, vies with Java itself for romantic beauty and 

 the variety of its natural phenomena. It consists, so to say, of a framework of pen- 

 insular ranges, radiating from a central nucleus, and enclosing extensive marine 

 inlets, which, unlike those of Borneo, have not yet been transformed to alluvial 

 plains. Northwards the peninsula of Gorontalo and Minahassa sweeps round in a 

 double curve to the north and east. In the centre two other peninsular masses 

 project north-east to the Molucca waters and south-east to the Banda Sea ; lastly, 

 in the south is developed the Macassar peninsula, stretching due south to the 

 Flores Sea. Thanks to this extraordinary conformation Celebes, with an area of 

 about 75,000 square miles, has a coastline of no less than 3,500 miles, excluding the 

 secondary indentations. In other words, although little over one-third the size of 

 France, it has à seaboard equal in extent to that of France and the Iberian Penin- 

 sula taken .'together. 



This eccentric island, everywhere so easily accessible from the sea, and, more- 

 over, enjoying an extremely fertile soil and a superabundance of natural resources, 

 is nevertheless almost destitute of inhabitants. Were it as densely peopled as 

 Java, it would have a population of some thirty millions, whereas, according to the 

 approximate estimates the actual population is little over three-quarters of a miUion. 

 But although nominally under the Dutch rule, most of the interior is still occupied 

 by Alfurus, that is, wild tribes for the most part living in isolated and hostile 

 groups. In many places head-hunters still prowl about the villages, and till 

 recently the neighbouring waters were infested by corsairs, continually sweeping 

 down on the natives and carrying them oïï into slavery. Nor was the Dutch occu- 

 pation effected without many sanguinary struggles, not always to the advantage 

 of the invaders. The Europeans appeared first as guests, and the early conflicts 

 were connected with questions of trade rights. Then the Dutch presented 

 themselves as rivals of the Portuguese in 1660, when they seized the fort of 

 Macassar, long their only possession on the coast. Later they concluded a treaty 

 of alliance and a protectorate with several petty states in the south-western 

 peninsula, and since that time they have omitted no occasion of strengthening 

 their position in the island. Yet in most of the inland states they are still 

 unrepresented by any officials, and even the coast districts are visited only at long 

 intervals. 



Celebes has not yet been completely explored, and some parts are known only 



