206 A NATURALIST IN CELEBES ~ ch. ix 



meaning ' one' ; the verb 'mahasa ' signifies 'to join into 

 one,' whilst the prefix ' ni ' turns the verb into a sub- 

 stantive. The original form, Nimahasa, has since become 

 changed into Minahassa. The chief town is Manado, or 

 Menado, as it is more commonly spelt, pleasantly situated 

 on the shores of a wide open bay of the same name, and 

 divided into two parts by the river which brings the over- 

 flow waters from Lake Tondano to the sea. Its position 

 was approximately determined by P. de Lange to be 124° 

 49' 44" E. by 1° 29' 39" N. It is divided into five districts : 

 Manado and Bantik on the north bank of the river ; Aris, 

 Klabat bawah, and Negori baru on the south. The most 

 important of these and the centre of the trade and govern- 

 ment is Aris. Here we find the church, the schools, the 

 fort, the prison, the government offices, and the houses of 

 all the principal Europeans. 



The business quarter, where the market, the tokos, or 

 shops, of the Chinese and Arab traders, and the establish- 

 ments of the two principal European merchants are 

 situated, lies on the river side of Aris ; the Chinese quarter 

 extends from the market out towards the Klabat bawah 

 district, whilst the official residences and offices extend 

 along the shore towards Negori baru. 



The market is always a scene of activity and animation, 

 and the gay garments of the women lend colour and 

 brightness to a spectacle which is never devoid of a certain 

 picturesqueness and beauty. The fruit-sellers stalls are 

 filled with the produce of the season — bananas, oranges, 

 rambutans,' mangoes, pineapples, and the evil-smelling 

 but delicious dorians. The fishmongers exhibit their stock 

 of fish,^ many of them coloured with every colour of the 



> Nsphelium lappaceum. 



' The fish commonly seen in the market-plaoe at Manado belong, ac- 

 cording to Bleelcer, to the following genera: Mesoprion, Lithrinus, Sicydium 

 Julis, Leptooephalus (7). 



