CH. xin HISTORY OF MINAHAS8A 327 



was able to obtain one of the spears these people left behind 

 them when they were driven off. The blade is of iron, the 

 handle is of a heavy black wood about three feet in length. 

 Around the neck of the spear there is a band of brass orna- 

 mented with a conventional floral design (fig. 33) . 



With these exceptions the rule of the Dutch in Mina- 

 hassa has been a peaceful one, and the progress of the 

 colony towards a condition of civilisation has been remark^ 

 able, thanks to the humanisiag efforts of the missionaries, 

 the abohtion of slavery by Eesident Koos in 1819, the spread 

 of an elementary education, and the wise and just govern- 

 ment of the officials. 



Minahassa has at various times been visited by many 

 eminent naturahsts and travellers. Van Eosenberg, Wal- 

 lace, Eeinwardt, Bleeker, Meyer, Platin, and others have 

 sojourned in the peninsula for the purpose of investigating the 

 natural history. Eesident Musschenbroek made consider- 

 able additions to our knowledge of the fauna, and Controleur 

 Eiedel ' did much valuable scientific work at Tondano. 



A great deal of useful work was done by the naturalists 

 on board the French man-of-war ' L'Astrolabe,' which 

 visited Manado ia the year 1827. 



The British surveying vessel, the ' Samarang,' under 

 the command of Captain Sir E. Belcher, spent some days 

 in North Celebes in the year 1844, and there is a valuable 

 contribution to our knowledge of the fauna of this and other 

 regions visited by the vessel in the volume on the zoology 

 of the voyage edited by the distinguished naturalist Adams. 



Notwithstanding the labours of all these naturalists, a 

 great deal still remains to be done both in the botany and 

 zoology of the district before we can form any accurate 

 idea of the value of the treasures it contains. Some groups 

 of the animal kingdom have not yet been looked at, and 



' Afterwards Eesident of Amboyna. 



