Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/177

 CELEBES CELERY 169 fibres of which are manufactured by the natives into a sort of coarse rope called coir. The fruits of Celebes are bananas, breadfruits, duri- ans, lansiums, limes, mangosteens, oranges, pine- apples, pompelmuses or shaddocks, and those already referred to. Rice and coffee are the most important agricultural productions. Cacao, cot- ton, maize, and tobacco are also raised, the last j named only for home consumption. Rice can be profitably cultivated up to an elevation of 4,500 ft., and coffee between that and an alti- j tude of 1,000 ft. above the sea level. The an- i nual yield of the Dutch government coffee plan- ! tations on the table lands of Minahasa is about 5,000,000 Ibs. The coffee raised here is supe- rior to any from Java, and commands a higher price. Gold occurs in very considerable quan- tities, not only throughout the whole northern peninsula, but also near the southern extremity of the island, S. of Macassar. It is sold by the j native chiefs to the Bughis, who pay for it more liberally than the Dutch. The iron ore j of the island is of a superior quality, and tin and copper are also found. The native inhabi- tants of Celebes are in part governed by their own kings, but these are dependent upon the Dutch government. All appear to belong to the Malay race. The Bughis constitute the most numerous and active portion of the population, And are famed as sailors and traders through- out the archipelago, every important island of which is visited by their light vessels known as praus. They occupy that part of the S. W. peninsula lying between lat. 3 30 and 5 S. They are one of the four true Malay tribes, Mohammedans in religion, and speak the Bughis and Macassar languages, for which they have two different written characters. The Bughis sailors are wild and ferocious in appearance, but of quiet and peaceable disposition. The .aborigines of northern Celebes are classed with the savage Malays, although the civilizing in- fluence exerted by the Dutch since the intro- duction of coffee cultivation in 1822 has greatly promoted their advancement. They are short in stature, of light-brown complexion, with projecting cheek bones, and have long, straight, black hair. Up to a comparatively recent period they were addicted to head-hunting like the Dyaks of Borneo, and even to cannibalism ; but they are obedient servants, gentle and in- dustrious, and readily assume the manners and habits of civilized life. A people called the Mandhars dwell in the most western part of the island, N. of Macassar. Menado, the Dutch capital of the northern portion of the island, is & free port and town of 2,500 inhabitants, on the Celebes sea. Kema is a place of 2,000 in- habitants on the opposite shore, used as the port of the province during the prevalence of the western monsoon, which renders Menado difficult of access for ships. Macassar or Vlaardingen, the chief Dutch town on the island, in lat. 5 9' S., Ion. 119 36' E., is a | fortified free port, with good anchorage, and carries on a considerable trade with China, especially in tripang or sea slugs, of. which the yearly exports are valued at $600,000. Other articles of export from Celebes, in addition to coffee and rice, comprise tortoise shell, which is abundantly obtained on the coasts, Macassar horses, which are sold in Java, and variegated mats. The first mention of Celebes by any European writer is believed to be in a work by the Portuguese historian De Barros, who lived in the 16th century and wrote an account of the conquests of his countrymen in the East Indies. According to this, the island was dis- covered in 1525 by Portuguese from the Moluc- cas, who sought si Icibih, "still more" gold and spices than they had already found. Touch- ing at the points of two peninsulas, they be- lieved they had visited two islands, and so de- scribed the discovery in their report as as ilhas Cellebes, a designation which has remained substantially unchanged. This name, however, is not known to the natives, who generally call the country Negri Bughis, or Bughis land. The conversion of the more advanced tribes of the island to Mohammedanism was effected a few years after the arrival of the Portuguese, in spite of the efforts of their Christian mission- aries. The first intercourse of the Dutch with the island was in 1607. They expelled the Portuguese from the Macassar country in 1660, and establishing themselves on the island main- tained their position there until expelled by the British in 1811. Their possessions were re- stored to them by the treaty of 1815. CELEBES, in Roman antiquity, a body guard instituted by Romulus, composed of 300 young men of the most illustrious families. They were elected by the suffrages of the 30 curia3, each of which furnished 10. The name has been derived by some from the name of their first chief, but more probably was given to them in allusion to the rapidity with which they executed their orders. Their commander was called the tribune of the celeres, and was, after the king, the highest officer in the state. This office was held by Brutus when he ex- pelled the Tarquins from Rome. The celeres are thought by Niebuhr to have been the pa- tricians in general, so called because they could keep horses or fought on horseback, and thus to correspond with the later equites or knights. CELERY (apium graveolens, Linn.), an um- belliferous plant chiefly cultivated for salad. In its wild state, in which it is found in ditches throughout Europe, it is rank, coarse, and even poisonous; but by cultivation in gardens it be- comes sweet, crisp, juicy, and of an agreeable flavor. Its green leaves, stems, and seeds are used in soups, and the blanched stalks either in that way, or more usually as a salad. One variety, called the celeriac, is raised only for the root or base of the leaves, which becomes a white, solid bulb. Celery requires a deep, rich, well drained soil. The seed is sown in a bed, from which the plants are transferred to another when they are 2 or 3 inches high. At 8 or 12 inches' height they are transferred for