chap, xvii.] WATERFALL AT TONDANO. 395 



some distance beyond the lake, near which was a large 

 forest, where he thought I should find plenty of birds. As 

 he was going himself in a few days I decided to accompany 

 him. 



After dinner I asked him for a guide to the celebrated 

 waterfall on the outlet stream of the lake. It is situated 

 about a mile and half below the village, where a slight 

 rising ground closes in the basin, and evidently once 

 formed the shore of the lake. Here the river enters a 

 gorge, very narrow and tortuous, along which it rushes 

 furiously for a short distance and then plunges into a 

 great chasm, forming the head of a large valley. Just 

 above the fall the channel is not more than ten feet wide, 

 and here a few planks are thrown across, whence, half hid 

 by luxuriant vegetation, the mad waters may be seen 

 rushing beneath, and a few feet farther plunge into the 

 abyss. Both sight and sound are grand and impressive. 

 It was here that, four years before my visit, the Governor- 

 General of the Netherland Indies committed suicide, by 

 leaping into the torrent. This at least is the general 

 opinion, as he suffered from a painful disease which was 

 supposed to have made him weary of his life. His body 

 was found next day in the stream below. 



Unfortunately, no good view of the fall could now be 

 obtained, owing to the quantity of wood and high grass 

 that lined the margins of the precipices. There are two 



