Volume 14 Australasia - dana ward's homepage

226 AUSTRALASIA.witli a complexion somewhat lighter than that of other Malays. They are a brave,haughty people, but very revengeful, and more addicted to " running amuck "than any other Indonesian communities.The Bugis have long enjoj-ed the reputation of being daring and enterprisingmariners, and they have completely monopolised the local trade in many of thesurrounding lands. Although they purchase no slaves, creditors reduce theirdefaulting debtors to a state of absolute servitude, regarding this law as theessential condition of their widespread commercial enterprise.Their women enjoya certain liberty, practising the industrial arts, such as weaving and embroidery,and often even learning to read and write either Malay or Bugi, this idiompossessing, like the Mangkassar, a jDeculiar alphabet of Indian origin. Towardsthe middle of the seventeenth century the Bugis, yielding to the Mohammedanmissionaries, abandoned their old animistic religion, which had been p)rofoundlyaffected by Hindu influences. They even still observe many rites connected withthe worship of Siva, and the doctrine of metempsychosis explains the respect evennow paid to the crocodiles swarming in the moats of their citadels.The Alfurus of the central districts are divided into many tribal groups, suchas the Torajas, a term often applied collectively to all the pagan savages of theinterior. The Toj)antunuasus, or " Dog-eaters," of the Lake Posso district, eatthe brain and drink the blood of their enemies. Even some of the islands off thecoast are still occupied by wild beasts in human form. Those of Peling Island,near the Balante p)eninsula, roam naked in the forests and take refuge at nightamid the branches of the trees.But in the extreme north the civilised and confederate peoples of Minahassa,that is, " Brotherhood," vie with the Bugis and Mangkassars of the extremesouth in the arts of peace and industry. The Minahassans and their westernneighbours are distinguished above most Indonesians for their remarkably lightcomplexion, many being quite as fair as Europeans and distinguishable from themonly by their more prominent cheek-bones. Dumont d'Urville was struck bytheir surprising resemblance to the Tongans and Maoris of Eastern Polynesia.At the beginning of the present century most of the Minahassans were stillhead-hunters, and even devoured human flesh at their great feasts. But sincethen they have become quiet, peaceful citizens, very industrious and skilledartisans. The chiefs wear the European dress, and the pure Malay taught inthe schools is gradually replacing the thousand local dialects. This remarkablechange is mainly due to the cultivation of the soil, and especially to thecoffee plantations, which since 1822 have been rapidly developed throughoutthe Minahassa districts. Besides coffee, the chief cultivated plants are sugarcane,tobacco, kosso (Manilla hemp), the nutmeg, sago, rice and maize. Thisdistrict also yields for export gutta-percha, wax, honey, mother-of-pearl,tortoise-shell, edible nests and algse. Nearly all the Minahassans have acceptedChristianity, Avhereas most of the other cultured Celebians are followers ofthe Prophet.