Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 5.djvu/300

Rh 288 CELEBES ducts of the island are gold and salt ; excellent iron is also found, which is utilized by the natives ; and coal of rather poor quality has been met with in various places, as in the district of Maros. The gold-mines are mainly in the northern peninsula ; but even there the amount actually obtained is not so great as it was formerly. The various chiefs, bound by contract to bring yearly a fixed quantity of the metal to the Dutch authorities, frequently fail in their engagements, and many of them have been of necessity exempted. The gold is usually found at a depth of from 1 2 to 75 feet ; but there are some mines in Bwool and Tontoli that reach 90 feet. In many, such as those of Ankahulu, Pagiama, and Popasatu, it is very cold, and the miners have to sit all day in nitrous water. The whole island is practically in the hands of the Dutch Government, though a comparatively small portion is under their direct administration, and a large number of petty princes are still permitted to do very much as they please in the internal management of their territories. For administrative purposes it is distributed among the residencies of Celebes, Manado, and Ternate, of which the two former belong solely to the island, while the third includes a large part of the Moluccas. Residency The residency of Celebes, formerly known as the Govern- of Celebes, merit of Macassar, comprises all the various states that surround the Gulf of Boni, and is divided into the following departments : (1) Macassar, (2) the Northern Districts, (3) the Southern Districts, (4) Bulecomba and Bonthain, and (5) Saleyer and the subordinate islands, Buton, Sum- bawa, and Bima. The department of Macassar, or Mangkasara as it is called in the native language, is one of the oldest parts of the Dutch possessions. It contains Macassar, the capital of the residency, which is situated on the west coast of the southern peninsula in 5 7 45&quot; S. lat., forms one of the principal ports in the archipelago, and has a population of from 15,000 to 20,000. The inhabitants of the depart ment consist mainly of Macassars and Malays proper, Endinese from the Island of Flores, and immigrants from the neighbouring kingdom of Wadjo. The foreign colonies are each under the management of a separate captain, and the Malays are also under the care of a head priest. The Macassars proper are one of the most important peoples in the island. They belong to the Malay race, are well built and muscular, and have in general a &quot; dark-brown com plexion, a broad and expressive face, black and sparkling eyes, a high forehead, a rlattish nose with large alae, a large mouth, and black soft hair, which they let fall over their shoulders.&quot; The women are sprightly, clever, and amiable, and in former times were bought for large prices. The men are brave and not treacherous, but ambitious, jealous, and extremely revengeful. Drunkenness is rare, but to gambling and cock-fighting they are passionately addicted; and so frequent among them is the running amuck that the Dutch authorities had to dismiss the Macassar soldiers from their service. In all sorts of bodily exercises, as swinging, wrestling, dancing, riding, and hunting, they take great pleasure. Though they call themselves Mahometans, their religion is largely mingled with pagan superstitions ; they worship animals, and a certain divinity called Karaeng Love&quot;, who has power over their fortune and health. Their language, which belongs to the Malayo-Javanese group, is spoken by about 300,000 persons, in Macassar proper, Goa, Tello, Sanraboni, Turateya, Bulecomba, Tanralili, and a great many parts of the southern peninsula ; but it has a much smaller area than the Buginese, which is the language of Boni. It is very deficient in generalizations ; thus, for example, it has words for the idea of carrying in the hand, carrying on the head, carrying on the shoulder, and so on, but has no word for the notion of simply carrying. It has adopted a certain number of vocables from Sanskrit, Malay, Javanese, and Portuguese, but on the whole is remarkably pure, and has undergone comparatively few changes in the course of the last two or three centuries. It is written in a peculiar character, which has displaced, and probably been corrupted from, an old form employed as late as the 1 7th century. Neither bears any trace of derivation from the Sanskrit alphabet. The priests affect the use of the Arabic letters. The literature is very poor, and consists largely of romantic stories from the Malay, and religious treatises from the Arabic. Of the few original pieces the most important are the early histories of Goa, Tello, and some other states of Celebes, and the Rapang, or collection of the decrees and maxims of the old princes and sages. The more modern productions are letters, laws, and poems, many of the last having very considerable beauty. For his know ledge of the Macassar the European scholar is mainly indebted to the labours of B. F. Malthes of the Dutch Bible Society, who was sent out in 1846, and has published Makassaarsche Spraakkunst (1858), Afakassaarsch-Hol- landsch Woordenboek (1859), EthnograpJdsche Atlas (1859), Makassaarsche Chrestomathie (18GO), and various com munications to the Zeitsch. der morgenl. Gesellsch. The department of the Northern Districts, called also Maros (properly Marusa), from the chief town, lies to the north of Macassar, and is divided into twenty-six districts. It is watered by the River Maros, which has a channel of great picturesqueness broken by waterfalls and bordered by caves. The mineral products comprise gold, marble, porcelain-clay, and anthracite ; but the extensive rice-fields are the principal source of wealth. The river is commanded by the fort of Valkenburg ; and a great road, constructed in 1859, leads through the department. About five miles from the town are the warm mineral springs of Amarang and Magemba. The population is estimated at 120,000. The prevailing language is Buginese, but Macassar is also spoken by a considerable number. The department of the Southern Districts, or Takalla, lies to the south-west of Macassar, and is divided into two parts by the interposition of the little independent state of Sanraboni. The population is estimated at 70,000, and the language is Macassar. The people of the district of Glissong or Galesong are remarkable for their attachment to a sea faring life. In 18G3 the department wus increased by the annexation of Turateya, which included the three small states of Bintamo, Bangkala, and Laikan, previously troublesome by their piracies and raids. The Turateyans speak a mixture of Macassar and Buginese. Separated from Turateya by the River Tino is the depart ment of Bonthain and Bulecomba, a thinly-peopled and mountainous country, chiefly remarkable for the lofty summit of Lompobattang or Dikbuik, more familiarly known as the Peak of Bonthain, which has a height of about 11,000 feet. The soil is specially adapted for the culture of coffee. The inhabitants are peaceful and well- behaved, but in education and civilization they are less advanced than those of the departments already described. They were formerly subordinate to the Macassar kingdom. To the north of these two states lies the important kingdom of Boni, of which an account will be found in a separate article (vol. iv. p. 32), and to the north of Boni, and separated from it by the River Chinrana, is the rival kingdom of Wajo or Wadjo, with a coast line of about 50 miles along the Gulf of Boni. It is governed by about forty chiefs or nobles, who are almost independent in their respective districts and maintain their individual bands of followers, but at the same time recognize the overlordship of the prince. The different offices of the state are not unfrequently held by women ; and the greatest importance is attached to purity of descent. The inhabitants rather