Page:Scented isles and coral gardens- Torres Straits, German New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies, by C.D. Mackellar, 1912.pdf/285

Rh these Celebian islands. It is not safe to venture into the interior of Bouton, as the natives are dangerous, as they also are in the Celebes.

When we passed Bouton, and were in sight of the mountains of the Celebes, it was a curious scene. All along the coast were low-lying, palm-clothed lands and countless isles and coral islets, and the latter were dotted about everywhere. The waters were full of fish, and the large.and small phraus of the Malay fishermen were everywhere. Some were very large, with huge square sails. Long poles, looking like the masts of sunken ships, are anchored in the sea, and to these the fishing-boats are tied. Platforms are also erected in this manner and each occupied by a Malay, who sees the shoals of fish and signals where they are.

The blue skies, green, blue, and amethyst sea, the purple and pale blue mountains, the green palm-clad coral islets, the brown- and red-sailed phraus, with the touches of colour about their Malay crew, formed a picture which is almost indescribable. The rainy season, of which they have months, has commenced, but so far we have none of it. At Macassar, along the sea-beach, the native houses are on long poles and sometimes over the water, and this has the same curious effect as the platforms out at sea.

We arrived at Macassar, the capital of Celebes, in the morning, and lay beside the wharf, which was crowded with a most picturesque and brilliant group of Bugis, Macassars, Malays, and Chinese in their various costumes of bright colours, and some carrying Chinese umbrellas. Along the shore stretched the “go-downs,” or trading sheds, of the Dutch and German merchants, each with a rickety pier in front of it. Of course we all hurried ashore at once. It being Sunday all