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 falls, the lower being the most lofty; and it is possible, by long circuit, to
descend into the valley and see them from below. Were the best points of view
searched for and rendered accessible, these falls would probably be found to be
the finest in the Archipelago. The chasm seems to be of great depth, probably
500 or 600 feet. Unfortunately, I had no time to explore this valley, as I was
anxious to devote every fine day to increasing my hitherto scanty collections.
Just opposite my abode in Rurúkan was the schoolhouse. The schoolmaster
was a native, educated by the Missionary at Tomohón. School was held every
morning for about three hours, and twice a week in the evening there was
catechising and preaching. There was also a service on Sunday morning. The
children were all taught in Malay, and I often heard them repeating the
multiplication-table, up to twenty times twenty, very glibly. They always wound
up with singing, and it was very pleasing to hear many of our old psalm-tunes in
these remote mountains, sung with Malay words. Singing is one of the real
blessings which Missionaries introduce among savage nations, whose native
chants are almost always monotonous and melancholy.
On catechising evenings the schoolmaster was a great man, preaching and
teaching for three hours at a stretch much in the style of an English ranter. This
was pretty cold work for his auditors, however warming to himself; and I am