The Major's
Father Who Was Chief Before Him, Wore, I Was Informed, A Strip Of
Bark As His Sole Costume, And Lived In A Rude But Raised Home
On Lofty Poles, And Abundantly Decorated With Human Heads.
Of course
we were expected, and our dinner was prepared in the best style, but
I was assured that the chiefs all take a pride in adopting
European customs, and in being able to receive their visitors in
a handsome manner.
After dinner and coffee, the Controlleur went on to Tondano, and
I strolled about the village waiting for my baggage, which was
coming in a bullock-cart, and did not arrive until after midnight.
Supper was very similar to dinner, and on retiring I found an
elegant little room with a comfortable bed, gauze curtains with
blue and red hangings, and every convenience. Next morning at
sunrise the thermometer in the verandah stood at 69°, which I was
told is about the usual lowest temperature at this place, 2,500
feet above the sea. I had a good breakfast of coffee, eggs, and
fresh bread and butter, which I took in the spacious verandah
amid the odour of roses, jessamine, and other sweet-scented
flowers, which filled the garden in front; and about eight
o'clock left Tomohón with a dozen men carrying my baggage.
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.
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