388 CELEBES. [chap. xvii. 



bitants. This system works very well, and I believe is 

 at present far better for the people than free-trade would 

 be. There are also large rice-fields, and in this little 

 village of seventy houses I was informed that a hundred 

 pounds' worth of rice was sold annually. 



I had a small house at the very end of the village, almost 

 hanging over the precipitous slope down to the stream, 

 and with a splendid view from the verandah. The thermo- 

 meter in the morning often stood at 62° and never rose 

 so high as 80°, so that with the thin clothing used in 

 the tropical plains we were always cool and sometimes 

 positively cold, while the spout of water where I went 

 daily for my bath had quite an icy feel. Although I 

 enjoyed myself very much among these fine mountains 

 and forests, I was somewhat disappointed as to my collec- 

 tions. There was hardly any perceptible difference between 

 the animal life in this temperate region and in the torrid 

 plains below, and what difference did exist was in most 

 respects disadvantageous to me. There seemed to be 

 nothing absolutely peculiar to this elevation. Birds and 

 quadrupeds were less plentiful, but of the same species. 

 In insects there seemed to be more difference. The 

 curious beetles of the family Cleridse, which are found 

 chiefly on bark and rotten wood, were finer than I have 

 seen them elsewhere. The beautiful Longicorns were scarcer 

 than usual, and the few butterflies were all of tropical 



