Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Our road lay over a mountain ridge about 4,000 feet above the sea, and then descended
about 500 feet to the little village of Rurúkan, the highest in the district of Minahasa, and
probably in all Celebes. Here I had determined to stay for some time to see whether this el-
evation would produce any change in the zoology. The village had only been formed about
ten years, and was quite as neat as those I had passed through and much more picturesque. It
is placed on a small level spot, from which there is an abrupt wooded descent down to the
beautiful lake of Tondáno, with volcanic mountains beyond. On one side is a ravine, and
beyond it a fine mountainous and wooded country.
Near the village are the coffee plantations. The trees are planted in rows, and are kept
topped to about seven feet high. This causes the lateral branches to grow very strong, so that
some of the trees become perfect hemispheres, loaded with fruit from top to bottom, and
producing from ten to twenty pounds each of cleaned coffee annually. These plantations
were all formed by the Government, and are cultivated by the villagers under the direction
of their chief. Certain days are appointed for weeding or gathering, and the whole working
population are summoned by sound of gong. An account is kept of the number of hours'
work done by each family, and at the year's end the produce of the sale is divided among
them proportionately. The coffee is taken to Government stores established at central places
over the whole country, and is paid for at a low fixed price. Out of this a certain percentage
goes to the chiefs and majors, and the remainder is divided among the inhabitants. This sys-
tem works very well, and I believe is at present far better for the people than free-trade
would be. There are also large rice-fields, and in this little village of seventy houses I was
informed that a hundred pounds' worth of rice was sold annually.
I had a small house at the very end of the village, almost hanging over the precipitous
slope down to the stream, and with a splendid view from the verandah. The thermometer in
the morning often stood at 62° and never rose so high as 80°, so that with the thin clothing
used in the tropical plains we were always cool and sometimes positively cold, while the
spout of water where I went daily for my bath had quite an icy feel. Although I enjoyed my-
self very much among these fine mountains and forests, I was somewhat disappointed as to
my collections. There was hardly any perceptible difference between the animal life in this
temperate region and in the torrid plains below, and what difference did exist was in most
respects disadvantageous to me. There seemed to be nothing absolutely peculiar to this elev-
ation. Birds and quadrupeds were less plentiful, but of the same species. In insects there
seemed to be more difference. The curious beetles of the family Cleridæ, which are found
chiefly on bark and rotten wood, were finer than I have seen them elsewhere. The beautiful
Longicorns were scarcer than usual, and the few butterflies were all of tropical species. One
