We Passed Through Three Villages
Whose Neatness And Beauty Quite Astonished Me.
The main road,
along which all the coffee is brought down from the interior in
carts drawn by buffaloes, is always turned aside at the entrance
of a village, so as to pass behind it, and thus allow the village
street itself to be kept neat and clean.
This is bordered by neat
hedges often formed entirely of rose-trees, which are perpetually
in blossom. There is a broad central path and a border of fine
turf, which is kept well swept and neatly cut. The houses are all
of wood, raised about six feet on substantial posts neatly
painted blue, while the walls are whitewashed. They all have a
verandah enclosed with a neat balustrade, and are generally
surrounded by orange-trees and flowering shrubs. The surrounding
scenery is verdant and picturesque. Coffee plantations of extreme
luxuriance, noble palms and tree ferns, wooded hills and volcanic
peaks, everywhere meet the eye. I had heard much of the beauty of
this country, but the reality far surpassed my expectations.
About one o'clock we reached Tomohón, the chief place of a
district, having a native chief now called the "Major," at whose
house we were to dine. Here was a fresh surprise for me. The
house was large, airy and very substantially built of hard native
timber, squared and put together in a most workmanlike manner. It
was furnished in European style, with handsome chandelier lamps,
and the chairs and tables all well made by native workmen. As
soon as we entered, madeira and bitters were offered us. Then two
handsome boys neatly dressed in white, and with smoothly brushed
jet-black hair, handed us each a basin of water and a clean
napkin on a salver. The dinner was excellent. Fowls cooked in
various ways; wild pig roasted, stewed and fried; a fricassee of
bats, potatoes, rice and other vegetables; all served on good
china, with finger glasses and fine napkins, and abundance of
good claret and beer, seemed to me rather curious at the table of
a native chief on the mountains of Celebes. Our host was dressed
in a suit of black with patent-leather shoes, and really looked
comfortable and almost gentlemanly in them. He sat at the head of
the table and did the honours well, though he did not talk much.
Our conversation was entirely in Malay, as that is the official
language here, and in fact the mother-tongue and only language of
the Controlleur, who is a native-born half-breed. The Major's
father who was chief before him, wore, I was informed, a strip of
bark as his sole costume, and lived in a rude but raised home
on lofty poles, and abundantly decorated with human heads. Of course
we were expected, and our dinner was prepared in the best style, but
I was assured that the chiefs all take a pride in adopting
European customs, and in being able to receive their visitors in
a handsome manner.
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