n
I
11<>|<I h i 11011g them, nor haw it since, mil the only Mohammedan*
now in the land arc I,ho immigrant* at
Mcnado, who have come from ot.het' f»art,a of the
archipelago, and a few nafivcH banished from Java,
liven an late an 1888, but little more than thirty
yearn ago, I’ietermaat, who wan then Resident, in hi>
official report, nayn of fhene people: “ They are
wholly ignorant of reading, writing, and arithmetic.
They reckon by means of notchen in a piece of bamboo,
or by knots made in a cord.” Formerly they
were guilty of practising the bloody custom of cutting
oil" human heads at every great celebration, and
the missionary at Langowan showed me a rude drawing
of one of their principal feasts, made for him by
one of the natives themselves. In front of a house
where the chief was supposed to reside, was a short,
circular paling of bamboos placed upright, the upper
ends of all were sharpened, and on each was stuck a
human head. Between thirty and forty of these
heads were represented as having been taken off for
this single festive occasion, and the missionary regarded
the drawing as no exaggeration, from what
he knew of their bloody rites.
The remarkable quantities of coffee, cocoa-nuts,
and other articles yearly exported from the Mina-
hassa show that a wonderful change has come over
this land, even since 1833 ; and the question at once
arises, What is it that has transferred these people
from barbarism to civilization ? The answer and the
only answer is, Christianity and education. The
Bible, in the hands of the missionaries, has been the
chief cause that has induced these people to lay aside