226 ■ AUSTEALASIA. 



with a complexion somewhat lighter than that of other Malays. They are a brave, 

 haughty people, but very revengeful, and more addicted to " running amuck " 

 than any other Indonesian communities. 



The Bugis have long enjoyed the reputation of being daring and enterprising 

 mariners, and they have completely monopolised the local trade in many of the 

 surrounding lands. Although they purchase no slaves, creditors reduce their 

 defaulting debtors to a state of absolute servitude, regarding this law as the 

 essential condition of their widespread commercial enterprise. Their women enjoy 

 a certain liberty, practising the industrial arts, such as weaving and embroidery, 

 and often even learning to read and write either Malay or Bugi, this idiom 

 possessing, like the Mangkassar, a peculiar alphabet of Indian origin. Towards 

 the middle of the seventeenth century the Bugis, yielding to the Mohammedan 

 missionaries, abandoned their old animistic religion, which had been profoundly 

 affected by Hindu influences. They even still observe many rites connected with 

 the worship of Siva, and the doctrine of metempsychosis explains the respect even 

 now paid to the crocodiles swarming in the moats of their citadels. 



The Alfurus of the central districts are divided into many tribal groups, such 

 as the Torajas, a term often applied collectively to all the pagan savages of the 

 interior. The Topantunuasus, or " Dog-eaters," of the Lake Posso district, eat 

 the brain and drink the blood of their enemies. Even some of the islands off the 

 coast are still occupied bj^ wild beasts in human form. Those of Peling Island, 

 near the Balante peninsula, roam naked in the forests and take refuge at night 

 amid the branches of the trees. 



But in the extreme north the civilised and confederate peoples of Minahassa, 

 that is, " Brotherhood," vie with the Bugis and Mangkassars of the extreme 

 south in the arts of peace and industry. The Minahassans and their western 

 neighbours are distinguished above most Indonesians for their remarkably light 

 complexion, many being quite as fair as Europeans and distinguishable from them 

 only by their more prominent cheek-bones. Dumont d'Urville was struck b}^ 

 their surprising resemblance to the Tongans and Maoris of Eastern Polynesia. 

 At the beginning of the present century most of the Minahassans were still 

 head-hunters, and even devoured human flesh at their great feasts. But since 

 then they have become quiet, peaceful citizens, very industrious and skilled 

 artisans. The chiefs wear the European dress, and the pure Malay taught in 

 the schools is gradually replacing the thousand local dialects. This remark- 

 able change is mainly due to the cultivation of the soil, and especially to the 

 coffee plantations, which since 1822 have been rapidly developed throughout 

 the Minahassa districts. Besides coffee, the chief cultivated plants are sugar- 

 cane, tobacco, kosso (Manilla hemp), the nutmeg, sago, rice and maize. This 

 district also yields for export gutta-percha, wax, honey, mother-of-pearl, 

 tortoise-shell, edible nests and algae. Nearlj^ all the Minahassans have accepted 

 Christianity, whereas most of the other cultured Celebians are followers of 

 the Prophet. 



