230 A NATUBALIST IN CELEBES ch. ix 



cats which have run wild, and these, it may be supposed, 

 have a tendency to keep the numbers of the rodents 

 down. 



The natives are unfortunately very fond of cats, not 

 as pets, but as articles of food, and it is consequently 

 necessary to make a strict rule in every plantation that 

 the labourers are not allowed to catch and eat them. 



Unless he knew beforehand the links in the chain of 

 argument, a stranger might be considerably puzzled should 

 he be asked to explain what harm it would do the coffee 

 if the natives were allowed to eat cats. 



Kelelonde is about 4,000 feet above the sea, and it 

 takes its name from the mountain peak on the slopes of 

 which it stands. Mr. Eijkschroeff told me that Kelelonde 

 literally means ' a canoe turned upside down ' ; but I must 

 confess that I could see but little resemblance to such an 

 object in the broad flat peak of the mountain. 



The whole range is very volcanic. Hot-water springs 

 and sulphur deposits, found in many places in the district, 

 tell only too plainly the tale of the hidden fires ; but, if 

 further evidence were needed, it could easily be found in 

 the fine old crater of the sister peak, where dwells the god 

 Saputan, the Vulcan of the Alfur's mythology, whose mighty 

 hammer may be heard from time to time as he works in 

 his mountain smithy. 



I stayed at Kelelonde about a fortnight without mate- 

 rially benefiting my health, and then returned in Omar's 

 gig to Manado. 



Just before we came to Kakas we met a man waving 

 a large Dutch flag, followed by two others beating drums 

 and a crowd of natives. I asked Omar what the fuss was 

 all about. He told me it was a mapalu. 



The mapalus are very interesting gatherings, and, as 

 they play an important part in the life of the natives of 



