236 A NATUBALI8T IN CELEBES ch. ix 



As we crossed the pass, however, we saw some heavy clouds 

 hovering over the fields around Tondano, and by the time 

 we reached Tomohon the rain came down in torrents. 



During the worst part of this shower we were fortu- 

 nately able to take refuge under the roof of a little bridge 

 which crossed a rivulet. It often strikes people who visit 

 these regions for the first time as a strange thing that 

 all the bridges should be protected by roofs of attap, but 

 one can readily see the necessity for it. Exposure to the 

 cold and soaking rains and the burning rays of the tropical 

 sun would soon work irreparable mischief even to a well- 

 built wooden bridge. An ample roof of attap, although it 

 cannot defend them from insect pests, protects from the 

 worst effects of exposure to sun and rain, and keeps them 

 safe and sound for several years. 



As we drove past the wild forests of the Tompusu Pass, 

 and then descended into the more cultivated plains around 

 Tomohon, I could not but deplore my lack of botanical 

 knowledge. Most of the trees, many of them strikingly 

 beautiful in growth and foliage, were absolutely strange to 

 me, and I cannot even indicate to the reader their position 

 in the vegetable kingdom. An oak tree (Qtiercus 7noluc- 

 censis) could be recognised, and a small tree with poplar- 

 like leaves, which I took to be Eeinwardt's Carumbium 

 populifoliuni. The difficulty which the naturalist has to 

 contend with in such a country as Celebes is that the 

 forests are composed of a large variety of trees belonging to 

 different orders, and it is only with the greatest difficulty 

 he can obtain specimens of the leaves and flowers for 

 identification. The forests are not mainly composed, as is 

 usually the case in Europe, of a number of trees belonging 

 to one or two species only, but it is really not an exaggera- 

 tion to say that every tree one comes across in the Celebean 

 forests is specifically different to all its immediate neighbours. 



