shaken. The sensation produced by an earthquake is
never to be forgotten. We feel ourselves in the grasp of a
power to which the wildest fury of the winds and waves
are as nothing; yet the effect is more a thrill of awe than
the terror which the more boisterous war of the elements
produces. There is a mystery and an uncertainty as
to the amount of danger we incur, which gives greater
play to the imagination, and to the influences of hope
and fear. These remarks apply only to a moderate earthquake.
A severe one is the most destructive and the
most horrible catastrophe to which human beings can be
exposed.
A few days after the earthquake I took a walk to Tondano,
a large village of about 7,000 inhabitants, situated at
the lower end of the lake of the same name. I dined with
the Controlleur, Mr. Bensneider, who had been my guide
to Tomohon. He had a fine large house, in which he often
received visitors ; and his garden was the best for flowers
which I had seen in the tropics, although there was no
great variety. I t was he who introduced the rose hedges
which give such a charming appearance to the villages ;
and to him is chiefly due the general neatness and good
order that everywhere prevail. I consulted him about a
fresh locality, as I found Rurukan too much in the clouds,
dreadfully damp and gloomy, and with a general stagnation
of bird and insect life. He recommended me a village
some distance beyond the lake, near which was a large
forest, where he thought I should find plenty of birds. As
he was going himself in a few days I decided to accompany
him.
After dinner I asked him for a guide to the celebrated
waterfall on the outlet stream of the lake. It is situated
about a mile and half below the village, where a slight
rising ground closes in the basin, and evidently once
formed the shore of the lake. Here the river enters a
gorge, very narrow and tortuous, along which it rushes
furiously for a short distance and then plunges into a
great chasm, forming the head of a large valley. Just
above the fall the channel is not more than ten feet wide,
and here a few planks are thrown across, whence, half hid
by luxuriant vegetation, the mad waters may be seen
rushing beneath, and a few feet farther plunge into the
abyss. Both sight and sound are grand and impressive.
It was here that, four years before my visit, the Governor-
General of the Netherland Indies committed suicide, by
leaping into the torrent. This at least is the general
opinion, as he suffered from a painful disease which was
supposed to have made him weary of his life. His body
was found next day in the stream below.
Unfortunately, no good view of the fall could now be
obtained, owing to the quantity of wood and high grass
that lined the margins of the precipices. There are two