第107章

In this beautiful and healthy country， and with abundance of food and necessaries， the population does not increase as it ought to do. I can only impute this to one cause. Infant mortality， produced by neglect while the mothers are working in the plantations， and by general ignorance of the conditions of health in infants. Women all work， as they have always been accustomed to do. It is no hardship to them， but I believe is often a pleasure and relaxation. They either take their infants with them， in which case they leave them in some shady spot on the ground， going at intervals to give them nourishment， or they leave them at home in the care of other children too young to work. Under neither of these circumstances can infants be properly attended to， and great mortality is the result， keeping the increase of population far below the rate which the general prosperity of the country and the universality of marriage would lead us to expect. This is a matter in which the Government is directly interested， since it is by the increase of the population alone that there can be any large and permanent increase in the production of coffee. The Missionaries should take up the question because， by inducing married women to confine themselves to domestic duties， they will decidedly promote a higher civilization， and directly increase the health and happiness of the whole community. The people are so docile and so willing to adopt the manners and customs of Europeans， that the change might be easily effected by merely showing them that it was a question of morality and civilization， and an essential step in their progress towards an equality with their white rulers.

After a fortnight's stay at Rurúkan， I left that pretty and interesting village in search of a locality and climate more productive of birds and insects. I passed the evening with the Controlleur of Tondano， and the next morning at nine， left in a small boat for the head of the lake， a distance of about ten miles. The lower end of the lake is bordered by swamps and marshes of considerable extent， but a little further on， the hills come down to the water's edge and give it very much the appearance of a greet river， the width being about two miles.

At the upper end is the village of Kakas， where I dined with the head man in a good house like those I have already described；and then went on to Langówan， four miles distant over a level plain. This was the place where I had been recommended to stay， and I accordingly unpacked my baggage and made myself comfortable in the large house devoted to visitors. I obtained a man to shoot for me， and another to accompany me the next day to the forest， where I was in hopes of finding a good collecting ground.

In the morning after breakfast I started off， but found I had four miles to walk over a wearisome straight road through coffee plantations before I could get to the forest， and as soon as Idid so，it came on to rain heavily and did not cease until night.

This distance to walk everyday was too far for any profitable work， especially when the weather was so uncertain. I therefore decided at once that I must go further on， until I found someplace close to or in a forest country. In the afternoon my friend Mr. Bensneider arrived， together with the Controlleur of the next district， called Belang， from whom I learned that six miles further on there was a village called Panghu， which had been recently formed and had a good deal of forest close to it； and he promised me the use of a small house if I liked to go there.

The next morning I went to see the hot-springs and mud volcanoes， for which this place is celebrated. A picturesque path among plantations and ravines brought us to a beautiful circular basin about forty feet in diameter， bordered by a calcareous ledge， so uniform and truly curved， that it looked like a work of art. It was filled with clear water very near the boiling point， and emitted clouds of steam with a strong sulphureous odour. It overflows at one point and forms a little stream of hot water， which at a hundred yards' distance is still too hot to hold the hand in. A little further on， in a piece of rough wood， were two other springs not so regular in outline， but appearing to be much hotter， as they were in a continual state of active ebullition.

At intervals of a few minutes， a great escape of steam or gas took place， throwing up a column of water three or four feet high.

We then went to the mud-springs， which are about a mile off， and are still more curious. On a sloping tract of ground in a slight hollow is a small lake of liquid mud， with patches of blue， red， or white， and in many places boiling and bubbling most furiously.

All around on the indurated clay are small wells and craters full of boiling mud. These seem to be forming continually， a small hole appearing first， which emits jets of steam and boiling mud， which upon hardening， forms a little cone with a crater in the middle. The ground for some distance is very unsafe， as it is evidently liquid at a small depth， and bends with pressure like thin ice. At one of the smaller， marginal jets which Imanaged to approach， I held my hand to see if it was really as hot as it looked， when a little drop of mud that spurted on to my finger scalded like boiling water.

A short distance off， there was a flat bare surface of rock as smooth and hot as an oven floor， which was evidently an old mud-pool， dried up and hardened. For hundreds of yards around where there were banks of reddish and white clay used for whitewash， it was still so hot close to the surface that the hand could hardly bear to be held in cracks a few inches deep， and from which arose a strong sulphureous vapour. I was informed that some years back a French gentleman who visited these springs ventured too near the liquid mud， when the crust gave way and he was engulfed in the horrible caldron.