212 



CELEBES, 



[chap. XV. 



were also a few square-rigged trading-Yo&sels, and twenty 

 or tliii'ty native praus of various sixes. I brought letters of 

 introdiictioE to a Dutcli gentleman, Ml !Mesman, and also 

 to a Danish shopkeeper, who could hotli speak English, 

 and wlio promised to assist me in finding a place to 

 stay at, suitable for my pursuits, In the meantime, I 

 went to a kind of club-liouse, in default of any hotel 

 in the place. 



Macassar was the first Dutch town I had visited, and I 

 found it prettier and cleaucr than any I had yet seen iu 

 the East The Butch have some atbnirable local regula- 

 tions. All European houses must be kept well white- 

 waslied, and every person must, at four in the afternoon, 

 water the road in front of his house. The streets are kept 

 clear of refuse, and covered drains carry away all impurities 

 into lai^e open sewers, into which the tide is admitted at 

 high-water and allowed to flow out when it has ebbed, 

 carrying all the sewage with it into the sea. The town 

 consists chiefly of one long narrow street, along the sea- 

 side, devoted to business, and principally occupied by tlie 

 Dutch and Chinese merchants* officas and warehouses, and 

 the native shops or bazaars. This extends northwards for 

 more tlian a mile, gi-adually nierging into native houses, 

 often of a most miserable description, but made to have a 

 neat appearance by being all built up exactly to the straight 

 iine of the street, and being generally backed by fruit 

 trees. This street is usually thronged with a native popu- 

 lation of Bugis and Macassar men, who wear cotton 

 trousers about twelve inches long, covering only from the 

 Hp to half-way down the thigh, and tlie universal Malay 

 sarong, of gay checked colours, worn round the waist or 

 across the shoulders in a variety of ways. Parallel to this 

 street run two short ones, wliich form the old Dutch town, 

 and are enclosed by gates. These consist of private houses, 

 and at their southern end is the fort, the church, and a 

 road at right angles to the beach, containing the houses 

 of the Governor and of the principial officials. Beyond 

 the fort again, along the beach, is another long street of 

 native huts and many country houses of tlie tradtismen 

 and merchants. All around extend the fiat rice-fields, 

 now bare and dry and forbidding, covered with dusty 



