an important group of islands in the Indian Archipelago, the principal of which extends from N. Lat. 1. 45. to S. Lat. 5. 45.; and from E. Long. 113. 10. to 116. 45. Its length is estimated at 576, its average breadth at 75 miles, and its area is by various authorities computed at 75,000 square miles. The Portuguese, by whom the island was invaded in the sixteenth century, appear to have been the first Europeans by whom any part of it was occupied. English and Danish settlements, which were not long maintained, were afterwards formed on various parts of the coast. The Dutch ultimately acquired permanent possession of all the most important districts, the native princes having given their assent to treaties by which they acknowledged the sovereignty of that power, and placed themselves under its protection. The island of Celebes and its surrounding groups now constitute one of the most valuable colonial possessions of Holland. Celebes is described as very irregular in its conformation, the most considerable portion of the island consisting of four great peninsulas, the form of which is determined by three arms of the sea, extending from east to west far into the land, and its coast is penetrated in all directions by numerous small gulfs and bays. The whole of it, but particularly the interior and northern parts, are very mountainous, the highest elevations being Lampo-Betang, 7000 feet, and Mount Klahat, 6000 feet high. There are also several other mountains and volcanoes, both active and extinct, ranging from 5000 to 3000 feet in height. The northern districts of Mongondo and Menado, in some parts of which there are immense quantities of sulphur, have been frequently exposed to severe shocks of earthquakes. In its physical constitution, the island consists for the most part of igneous rocks, particularly basalt, in a state of decomposition, covered with a vegetable soil of various degrees of depth. Between the elevated regions of the interior and the coasts are extensive plains of great fertility, beautiful valleys covered with a rich tropical vegetation, and picturesque lakes surrounded by richly wooded banks. In the northern parts of the island there are several mines of copper, tin, iron, and gold. Considerable quantities of the more precious metal, which is found in the form of dust and spangles, are unfortunately lost in consequence of the imperfect system of gold washing adopted by the natives. The highly tempered weapons of the natives are manufactured by themselves from steel and the metal to which they give the name of paner. The vegetable productions of the island, which are both numerous and valuable, consist of nutmegs, pepper, cloves, ginger, sago, tapioca, cocoa, coffee, the sugar-cane, rice, maize, and tobacco. The ebony tree, the palm, the sandal, the banana, the silk cotton tree, the indigo plant, the samuk, the calambang, the waranguin, the bamboo, the lingoa, and tanjoung, also flourish in various parts of Celebes. No formidable beast of prey is known to exist in any part of the island, the only peculiar animals being some species of the monkey tribe, such as the papio niger, and the papio nigrescens, several kinds of bats, the sus babirusa, the antelope depressicornis; and a small but spirited race of horses, great numbers of which are sent to Batavia, Madras, and Calcutta. The rivers, of which the principal are the Goa, the Sadang, the Maros, and the Boli, are frequented by crocodiles, lizards, and serpents of various kinds. The transparent sea of those regions, which sometimes assumes an appearance of milky whiteness, supposed to be caused by the presence of an immense number of microscopical mollusca on the surface, contains a great number of those crustacea and mollusca which are so much admired and sought after by the lovers of curiosities. When the waters are calm, fields of zoophytes may be distinctly perceived at a considerable depth extending their branches on all sides in ever-changing varieties of form and colour.

The peninsulas extending to the north, the south, and the east, are the only parts of the island which have been re- garded by the Dutch as commercially important, or which have ever been explored by any European. Each of these peninsulas includes a great number of petty states, of which Macassar (native capital Goa, upon a river of the same name), Boni, Wadjo, and Mandhar are among the principal, all governed by native kings, princes, sultans, and rajahs, who are either subject to the Dutch government or under its influence and protection. The town of Macassar, which is situated at the south-western extremity of the southern peninsula stretching out into the sea of Java, is the chief European settlement. The governor of the island, who is assisted in the administration of its affairs by five residents located in different districts, resides here. Macassar is admirably situated for commercial purposes, being in the direct line of the navigation connected with the straits of Malacca, the principal ports of Java, the Moluccas, the southward route to Australia, and the ports which China has opened to the ships of all nations. The northern peninsula, known as the residence of Menado, comprehends all that portion of the island situated between the bay of Palos and Cape Taliaibo. The other two peninsulas (in one of which is the bay of Vosmaer, the superior advantages of which for European commercial settlements have been so strongly represented by one of the late Dutch residents, whose name has been bestowed upon it) have hitherto been regarded by the government as only of secondary importance. Of the numerous groups of smaller islands by which Celebes is surrounded, the principal are Salajer, Sangir, Talant, Boeton, Moena, Kambcina, and Wangi Wangi. The population of Celebes, which consists of the aboriginal Alfores, Malays, Chinese, and Dutch, is estimated to amount to 1,104,000; although by some the computation has been carried as high as 3,000,000, which is considered, however, by the most intelligent judges as far above the actual number. According to the approximate census of 1838, the population immediately subject to the government of the Netherlands amounted only to 410,000. The Malays, who in religion are Mohammedans, are said to have come originally from Sumatra, to have conquered the districts on the coast, and, with the exception of a few whom they compelled to adopt their manners, customs, and religion, to have driven all the native inhabitants into the interior. The Alfores, Minahasas of the north, while worshipping several secondary deities and holding the doctrine of metempsychosis, profess to believe in one supreme being whom they name Epong. The Malays and Alfores, living in the neighbourhood of the European settlements, are described as active, intrepid, and brave; but when their passions are roused, and their jealousy or suspicion excited, as haughty, vindictive, and cruel. In some of the more remote districts, particularly in the south-eastern peninsula, the natives are extremely uncivilized and savage. The barbarous custom of cutting off heads in order to adorn their persons, weapons, houses, and tombs, with portions of the skull and the hair of their victims, still continues to be practised. Piracy is carried on to a great extent all along the coast and in the neighbouring islands; and it is almost hopeless for the industrious agricultural and fishing communities who are settled in the more remote and unprotected districts to carry on their labours with any probability of ultimate benefit. Many of the Malays and Alfores are actively engaged in commerce, the articles which they convey from the island in their pirogues being coffee, rice, bees' wax, cocoanut oil, palm sugar, Macassar mats, tortoise-shell, and gae-moeti, a very strong kind of cordage produced from the fibres of one of the species of the palm-tree growing in Celebes. The principal imports which they bring back in return are cotton and silk manufactures, arak, iron, steel, copper utensils, and the various productions of China. Celebes altogether presents one of the most promising fields for commercial enterprise and manufacturing industry. Being free from that pestilential miasma by which many other tropical regions are rendered so unhealthy for Europeans, possessing a salubrious climate and a fertile soil, it may reasonably be anticipated that when the island has been more thoroughly explored, civilization more widely spread, the barbarous and superstitious customs of its inhabitants extirpated, and its commercial advantages more fully appreciated, it will ultimately become, like Java, one of the most valuable dependencies of the crown of Holland.