most useful plant. The custom of these people to
sing while working in the field is the more noticeable,
because the Javanese and Malays usually toil
without thinking of thus lightening their monotonous
labor. Upward and upward we climbed until
we were about three thousand feet above the sea,
when we came to two small villages. Beyond, the
road again became level, and soon we reached To-
mohon, where I met the contrôleur from Tondano,.
a large village to the east, who had come at the
Resident’s request to accompany me for the rest
of that day’s journey. Another horse was brought
and saddled for me, and we continued on toward the
south, our party now numbering six or eight, for the
chief of each village and one or two servants are
obliged by law to accompany the contrôleur from
their own village to the next one he comes to, in
whatever direction he may choose to travel. We
soon after entered the charming village of Saronsong.
In the centre of it and on one side of the street is the
chief’s house, and opposite to it but back from the
street is the ru/rna nêgri, and the space between the
two is a pretty garden abounding in roses. This
reminder of home gave me a thrill of pleasure that I
shall remember as long as I love to look on this, the
most beautiful of all flowers. As we galloped out
of this village the thick rain-clouds and fog cleared
away, and only cumuli and cirri were again to be
seen in the sky. I now had a magnificent view, on
the left, of the high range along the west side of lake
Tondano, toward the northwest of the sharp volcanic
cone of Lohon, about five thousand feet in
height, west of that of Empung, attaining nearly that
height, and in the northeast Gunong Api with its
three peaks. Somewhat farther on we rode down
into a little valley, where the road ran along the side
of a small lake, whose muddy water was of a dirty-
white color, and from which strong, almost strangling,
fumes of sulphur were rising—a most unearthly
place, and one that would remind the traveller of
Bunyan’s picture of “ the Valley of the Shadow of
Death,” where the way was narrow, and on either
hand “ ever and anon came up flame and smoke in
great abundance with sparks and hideous noises.”
In one place a flock of ducks was swimming in this
sulphurous pool, and on its margin I noticed a few
waders running to and fro seeking food. Its banks
were mostly covered with'ferns, the leaves of whic
were of a bright red, reminding one of the brilliantly-
colored leaves of our maples in autumn.
Near the next village, Lahendong, we made a
short excursion to the left, up a high but not a
steep hill, to see the remarkable lake Linu. The
hill is the top of an old volcano, and soon, as we descended
and turned a sharp point, we found before
us the lake now filling the bottom of the crater. On
our way down to a house near its edge, we passed
a place where much sulphurous gas was escaping. It
looked indeed much like the top of a great half-
slaked lime-kiln. The lake is about half a mile in
diameter, and has an outlet on the southwest, through
a former split in the old crater-wall. In most parts
the water has a blue color, but in some it has a
whitish tinge from gases that rise up through the