332 CELEBES. [chap. xv. 



were also a few square-rigged trading-vessels, and twenty 

 or thirty native praus of various sizes. I brought letters of 

 introduction to a Dutch gentleman, Mr. Mesman, and also 

 to a Danish shopkeeper, who could both speak English, 

 and who promised to assist me in finding a place to 

 stay at, suitable for my pursuits. In the meantime, I 

 went to a kind of club-house, in default of any hotel 

 in the place. 



Macassar was the first Dutch town I had visited, and I 

 found it prettier and cleaner than any I had yet seen in 

 the East. The Dutch have some admirable local regula- 

 tions. All European houses must be kept well white- 

 washed, and every person must, at four in the afternoon, 

 water the road in front of his house. The streets are kept 

 clear of refuse, and covered drains carry away all impurities 

 into large open sewers, into which the tide is admitted at 

 high-water and allowed to flow out when it has ebbed, 

 carrying all the sewage with it into the sea. The town 

 consists chiefly of one long narrow street, along the sea- 

 side, devoted to business, and principally occupied by the 

 Dutch and Chinese merchants' offices and warehouses, and 

 the native shops or bazaars. This extends northwards for 

 more than a mile, gradually merging into native houses, 

 often of a most miserable description, but made to have a 

 neat appearance by being all built up exactly to the straight 

 line of the street, and being generally backed by fruit 



