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 system 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
myself 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 elevation. 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 Cleridae, 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 of these, Papilio
blumei, of which I obtained a few specimens only, is among the
most magnificent I have ever seen. It is a green and gold
swallow-tail, with azure-blue and spoon-shaped tails, and was often
seen flying about the village when the sun shone, but in a very
shattered condition. The great amount of wet and cloudy weather
was a great drawback all the time I was at Rurukan.
Even in the vegetation there is very little to indicate
elevation. The trees are more covered with lichens and mosses,
and the ferns and tree-ferns are finer and more luxuriant than I
had been accustomed to seeing on the low grounds, both probably
attributable to the almost perpetual moisture that here prevails.
Abundance of a tasteless raspberry, with blue and yellow
composite, have somewhat of a temperate aspect; and minute ferns
and Orchideae, with dwarf Begonias on the rocks, make some
approach to a sub-alpine vegetation. The forest, however, is most
luxuriant. Noble palms, Pandani, and tree-ferns are abundant in
it, while the forest trees are completely festooned with
Orchideae, Bromeliae, Araceae, Lycopodiums, and mosses. The
ordinary stemless ferns abound; some with gigantic fronds ten or
twelve feet long, others barely an inch high; some with entire
and massive leaves, others elegantly waving their finely-cut
foliage, and adding endless variety and interest to the forest
paths. The cocoa-nut palm still produces fruit abundantly, but is
said to be deficient in oil. Oranges thrive better than below,
producing abundance of delicious fruit; but the shaddock or
pumplemous (Citrus decumana) requires the full force of a
tropical sun, for it will not thrive even at Tondano a thousand
feet lower. On the hilly slopes rice is cultivated largely, and
ripens well, although the temperature rarely or never rises to
80°, so that one would think it might be grown even in England in
fine summers, especially if the young plants were raised under
glass.
The mountains have an unusual quantity of earth and vegetable
mould spread over them. Even on the steepest slopes there is
everywhere a covering of clays and sands, and generally a good
thickness of vegetable soil. It is this which perhaps contributes
to the uniform luxuriance of the forest, and delays the
appearance of that sub-alpine vegetation which depends almost as
much on the abundance of rocky and exposed surfaces as on
difference of climate. At a much lower elevation on Mount Ophir
in Malacca, Dacrydiums and Rhododendrons with abundance of
Nepenthes, ferns, and terrestrial orchids suddenly took the place
of the lofty forest; but this was plainly due to the occurrence
of an extensive slope of bare, granitic rock at an elevation of
less than 3,000 feet. The quantity of vegetable soil, and also of
loose sands and clays, resting on steep slopes, hill-tops and the
sides of ravines, is a curious and important phenomenon. It may
be due in part to constant, slight earthquake shocks facilitating
the disintegration of rock; but, would also seem to indicate that
the country has been long exposed to gentle atmospheric action,
and that its elevation has been exceedingly slow and continuous.
During my stay at Rurukan, my curiosity was satisfied by
experiencing a pretty sharp earthquake-shock. On the evening of
June 29th, at a quarter after eight, as I was sitting reading,
the house began shaking with a very gentle, but rapidly
increasing motion. I sat still enjoying the novel sensation for
some seconds; but in less than half a minute it became strong
enough to shake me in my chair, and to make the house visibly
rock about, and creak and crack as if it would fall to pieces.
Then began a cry throughout the village of "Tana goyang! tana
goyang! "(Earthquake! earthquake!) Everybody rushed out of their
houses - women screamed and children cried - and I thought it
prudent to go out too. On getting up, I found my head giddy and
my steps unsteady, and could hardly walk without falling. The
shock continued about a minute, during which time I felt as if I
had been turned round and round, and was almost seasick. Going
into the house again, I found a lamp and a bottle of arrack
upset.
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