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 Rurukan was the schoolhouse. The schoolmaster
was a native, educated by the Missionary at Tomohon. 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
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