<;h. X MTTEOLOGY OF TEE MINAHASSEBS 263 



and sailed for that purpose from Kema in a canoe accom- 

 panied by seven braves. 



' The Sultan of Ternate received him with great honour, 

 and held a cock-fight for his pleasure. On the second day 

 a combat was arranged between the champion warriors of 

 the Sultan and Loloda. The champion of the Sultan was 

 named Pata-besi. He was a giant in size, of revolting 

 aspect and covered with hair. He was already famous for 

 his skiU and bravery in many battles. Heavily armed with 

 a huge sword he came forth to meet Loloda' s champion, 

 a shght, active little man named Banton, who was armed 

 only with a small dagger. 



' The appearance of Banton and his little weapon caused 

 laughter amongst the assembled multitude, and the people 

 foresaw an easy victory for the Sultan. 



' The giant, with a certain oriental poUteness, invited 

 Banton to commence the fray, "For," he said, "if I begin 

 I shall not give you a chance, but shall cut you in two with 

 the first stroke." Banton, however, refused, and the giant 

 commenced by swinging his huge sword. Three times he 

 swung it, but on each occasion Banton avoided the stroke. 

 When it was Banton's turn to attack he made one spring 

 and pierced the giant with his dagger on the right side, 

 so that he died before the eyes of his humbled Sultan and 

 the astonished multitude.' 



The following story (41) shows a belief in goblins : ' An 

 ape, a buffalo, and a weris (a bird) were friends. One day 

 they went down to the sea to fish. They were very success- 

 ful and came back laden with spoil. The fish were put 

 into a hut to dry, and the first night the weris was 

 told off to watch. In the course of the night a great 

 goblin or adjiganti, a fine strong creature, all covered 

 with hair, came and ate up aU the fish. The two friends 

 were very angry when they came back the next morning 



