394 CELEBES. [chap. xvu. 



shaken. The sensation produced by an earthquake is 

 never to be forgotten. We feel ourselves in the grasp of a 

 power to which the wildest fury of the winds and waves 

 are as nothing ; yet the effect is more a thrill of awe than 

 the terror which the more boisterous war of the elements 

 produces. . There is a mystery and an uncertainty as 

 to the amount of danger we incur, which gives greater 

 play to the imagination, and to the influences of hope 

 and fear. These remarks apply only to a moderate earth- 

 quake. A severe one is the most destructive and the 

 most horrible catastrophe to which human beings can be 

 exposed. 



A few days after the earthquake I took a walk to Ton- 

 dano, a large village of about 7,000 inhabitants, situated at 

 the lower end of the lake of the same name. I dined with 

 the Controlleur, Mr. Bensneider, who had been my guide 

 to Tomohon. He bad a fine large house, in which he often 

 received visitors ; and his garden was the best for flowers 

 which I had seen in the tropics, although there was no 

 great variety. It was he who introduced the rose hedges 

 which give such a charming appearance to the villages ; 

 and to him is chiefly due the general neatness and good 

 order that everywhere prevail. I consulted him about a 

 fresh locality, as I found Kurukan too much in the clouds, 

 dreadfidly damp and gloomy, and with a general stagnation 

 of bird and insect life. He recommended me a village 



