56 A NATUBALI8T IN CELEBES ch. iv 



square miles in area, in no place deeper than forty fathoms, 

 and fairly protected in all winds and seasons ; there is a 

 considerable mangrove swamp in many places on the coast, 

 and more than half the island is still covered with primitive 

 forest. A canoe in the Dutch postal service calls about 

 once a week, and the agent of the Moluksche Handels 

 Vennootschap, a Dutch company that owns the coco-nut 

 plantations on the island, calls on a tour of inspection 

 about once a month. The only disadvantage that I found 

 was the difficulty of hiring for a reasonable price a good 

 seaworthy boat for my investigations upon the sea. 

 Another time I should be careful to hire a boat at the 

 principal town of the district before fixing upon my 

 headquarters. 



Talisse Island is situated in lat. 1° 49' 30" N., long. 

 125° 4' 19" E., and is bounded on the north-west by the 

 Celebes Sea, south by the Straits of Tindela, and east by 

 the Talisse Sea and the Straits of Kinabohutan. It is 

 about seven miles long from north to south, and about three 

 miles broad at its widest part. 



With the exception of a small portion at the northern 

 extremity, which contains the birds'-nest caves, the whole 

 island is owned by the Moluksche Handels Vennootschap, 

 a Dutch trading and culture company, with its head agency 

 at Manado. The company has a resident ' opzichter,' or 

 overseer, on the island, whose duty it is to superintend the 

 clearance of the forest and the planting of the coco-nuts 

 by a band of some eighty to one hundred coolies. 



Besides the coolies there are a few wandering fishermen 

 belonging to the Sangirese race, who reside temporarily in 

 little tumble-down huts at various places on the coast. 

 In addition to these, the island is from time to time visited 

 by the canoes of those strange, gipsy-like people, the 

 Wadjorese, who wander from place to place, subsisting 



