Sunday sand: the shores of Makassar

Grey-brown, very dark when wet, and not exactly fitting the standard concept of a tropical beach sand. But, as always, look more closely and its character is revealed – glittering grains in subtle hues of pinks, browns, and greens, shining transparent quartz, telling the story of their roots.

I have a new recruit, here in Indonesia, to my network of arenokleptomaniacs, and, since she recently visited Sulawesi, she returned with a sample of the sand from a beach near Makassar on the island’s southwest coast. The city, known when I was there some time ago, as Ujung Pandang but now officially reverted to its old name, is the provincial capital and a major port. And the city has a history almost as tumultuous as the tectonic events that built Sulawesi, provided the debris for today’s sand, and continue to rumble seismically and volcanically on. Makassar – the name has a certain exotic ring to it, redolent with tales of pirates, traders, ancient cultures – and colonialism. The city long resisted the colonial aggression of the Dutch, enjoying its role as a regional trade centre, ruled by the Makassarese kings who maintained an open-door policy. Into the port came  manufactured goods from all over eastern Asia and beyond, the ships returning with precious metals, pearls, oils, and, of course, spices. The main cultural group in this part of Sulawesi was that of the Bugis, whose distinctive vessels dominated trade and controlled the high seas of the Makassar Straits; these boats still ply their trade around Indonesia.

In the 17th century, the Dutch finally gained control of Makassar, turned the place into a walled city (with a fort, inevitably named “Fort Rotterdam”), and so began centuries of oppressive, often brutal, colonial rule.   

In Victorian and Edwardian times, the most famous product imported from Sulawesi was Makassar oil, an unguent used to groom gentlemen’s hair. It was composed of one or more of various oils - palm, coconut, and other sources - mixed with a variety of natural fragrances, such as that derived from exotic flowers of the ylang-ylang or cananga tree. The Victorian gentleman’s obsession with this caused nothing but problems with the family furniture, and so a decorative but protective fabric, often lace or crocheted, was used, draped over the back of a chair to catch the gentleman’s unguent. I remember well, as a kid, visiting the homes of my various great-aunts, that all the chairs and sofas were extensively draped in these items that were known as “anti-makassars” (the common spelling being "antimacassar").  Bizarrely, they still linger on in more prosaic modern forms over the backs of first-class railway carriage seats.

Makassar’s local beach, much-frequented by tourists, is named “Akkarena” - whether the last five letters are purely coincidental, I don't know.

 

sand delivered to the beaches south of Makassar

 

[Thanks, Connie, for volunteering for the network!]

Comments

[Richard Bready]

His accents mild took up the tale:
He said "I go my ways,
And when I find a mountain-rill,
I set it in a blaze;
And thence they make a stuff they call
Rowlands' Macassar-Oil --
Yet twopence-halfpenny is all
They give me for my toil."

- sings the White Knight to Alice.

[Walter]

And was not Makassar the intended destination of the Dutch East Indian "Batavia" when her mutiny occurred ending in her foundering off Australia?

[Sandglass]

And a dreadful story that was, too - mutineers and criminals, murder and mayhem, foundering and floundering....