Country we have
only to consider those changes which have occurred since its last
elevation above the waters since such last elevation, I feel confident
that Timor has not formed part of Australia.
CHAPTER XV.
CELEBES.
(MACASSAR, SEPTEMBER TO NOVEMBER, 1856.)
I LEFT Lombock on the 30th of August, and reached Macassar in
three days. It was with great satisfaction that I stepped on a
shore which I had been vainly trying to reach since February, and
where I expected to meet with so much that was new and
interesting.
The coast of this part of Celebes is low and flat, lined with
trees and villages so as to conceal the interior, except at
occasional openings which show a wide extent of care and marshy
rice-fields. A few hills of no great height were visible in the
background; but owing to the perpetual haze over the land at this
time of the year, I could nowhere discern the high central range
of the peninsula, or the celebrated peak of Bontyne at its
southern extremity. In the roadstead of Macassar there was a
fine 42-gun frigate, the guardship of the place, as well as a
small war steamer and three or four little cutters used for
cruising after the pirates which infest these seas.
