CH. I FIBST GLIMPSES OF CELEBES 13 



but they soon begin to look crabbed and wizen as they 

 advance in age. Of a pale yellowish brown complexion, 

 perhaps paler than the majority of the Malay races, 

 with high cheek bones and oval eyes, long straight jet 

 black hair, and, when she does not indulge in the practice of 

 betel chewing, perfect pearl-like teeth, the young Minahassa 

 girl is sometimes very pretty, and even among the older 

 people there are types occasionally seen which may be 

 called quite handsome. There is nothing repulsive or offen- 

 sive to European taste about the ordinary inhabitants of 

 Minahassa. In matters of adornment they are simple- 

 minded : no hideous grotesque rings, bracelets, clothes, 

 or coiffures mar their personal appearance ; no revolting 

 malformations or mutilations of lips, ears or nostrils shock 

 the European's sense of what is right and proper. 



I am never likely to forget the first few days I spent in 

 this fascinating region — the first glimpses of the warm 

 luxuriant scenery, the neat and well-regulated villages and 

 streets, or the quiet and respectful inhabitants. My im- 

 pressions of the place were extremely pleasant, and though 

 in later days I came across some customs, habits, laws, 

 and regulations open to serious criticism, I still believe 

 that this little Dutch colony is fully worthy of the praise 

 and admiration it has excited in every traveller who has 

 visited it and written down his experiences there. 



I had arranged to start with the agent for Talisse at 

 six o'clock in the morning of August 4, but for some reason 

 or another the boat was not ready for us untU nine o'clock 

 in the evening. 



Coming straight from European cities, where trains and 

 boats, engagements and appointments, are timed to the 

 minute, the traveller is often much annoyed by the un- 

 reasonable unpunctuaUty of the Eastern races; but a few 

 months' experience teaches him that no man's word can be 



