212 A NATURALIST IN CELEBES ch. ix 



he passes along the brink of a deep ravine filled with lofty 

 palms and other trees. In many ways this portion of the 

 road between Lotta and Tomohon affords more magnificent 

 views of hill and dale, of plains and distant mountains, 

 of coast and sea than any I can remember to have seen. 

 If it has a rival anywhere, it is the road from Kakas to 

 Eemboken, where the waters of Lake Tondano take the 

 place of what would otherwise be missed in sea and coast 

 scenery. 



Our journey was not without incident, for before we 

 had proceeded more than half-way one of the six oxen we 

 had brought with us from Lotta fell down exhausted with 

 the heat. Soon afterwards another fell, and, as a final 

 blow to our misfortunes, the shaft broke about two miles 

 from Tomohon, and we were obliged to complete the distance 

 on foot. Perhaps our misfortune was as disappointing to 

 the natives as to us, for many of the leading people had 

 come out to meet us on horseback, and in honour of the 

 Eesident had decorated their houses and the roadside with 

 numbers of Dutch national flags. It must have been a 

 disappointment to many of them that our entrance into 

 then- village was so unceremonious. After a meal with a 

 German trader and a cup of tea in the beautiful and taste- 

 fullj-decorated house of the Hukum besar (chief of the 

 district), we proceeded on our way to Tondano, but, as it 

 was quite dark and a light misty rain was falling, we 

 saw nothing of the beautiful scenery of this part of the 

 road. 



Tondano is a large and prosperous town situated on the 

 banks of the river which carries off the overflow waters of 

 the great lake. It is the centre of the coffee district, and 

 the wide fertile plains on the shores of the lake produce 

 an abundance of rice and Indian corn to support the large 

 and thriving population. 



