Volume 14 Australasia - dana ward's homepage

21GAUSTRALASIA.extremity of another igneous range indicated at intervals by a few islets risingabove the surface.But however they maj' differ in their sedimentarj', volcanic, or corallineorigin, the Serwatty groups resemble each other in their political and commercialhistory. The most striking in form and relief are naturally the igneous islands,conspicuous ardongst which is the superb but now smokeless cone of Gunong Api.Wetter (Wetta), facing the north coast of Timor, is traversed by a line of craters,amid which the timid natives have taken refuge. Kisser (Kissa), lying farthereast and nearest to Timor, is also mountainous, and in the last century was chosenas the administrative centre of the whole group ; but it suffers fropi a deficientrainfall, and its inhabitants have often been driven by famine to emigrate to thesurrounding lands. Eoma, which follows to the north-east, is on the contraryproductive enough to export some of its superabundant produce. The chain iscontinued north-eastwards through Damma, with its smoking crater and thermalsprings, to Nila, with a still active cone, and Sarua, the last eastern links in theSundanese igneous system.The southern chain, stretching between Timor and Timor Laut, begins withLetti, most densely peopled of all the Serwatty Islands ;it is followed eastward byMoa, also very populoiis and noted for its peak, the "Buffalo," which looks like areduced copy of Teneriffe. The neighbouring Lakor is a mere coral bank risinglittle more than twent_y feet above the surface. Luang is also fringed with reefs,where are taken the most highly prized sea-cucumbers in the whole archipelago.Sermatta, forming a long chain of steep hills with no accessible creek, is littlevisited by skippers, whereas Babber (Baba), with its numerous islets, including thelovely little AVetang, is much frequented by native craft.During the- last century, when the Company kept a factory and a fort in almostevery island, the natives of Serwatty had mostly become Christians, adopting adark costume and European names as an outward sign of their conversion. In 1825and 1826 the chaplain accompanying Kolff's expedition had scarcelj' landed in avillage, when he was surrotmdcd by these "Christians," entreating him to solemnisetheir marriages and baptize their children. Some could still read and write,and, as they were nearly everywhere looked on as a superior race, they had succeededin imposing a kind of slavery on those natives who had remained pagans.Their authority is now all the greater that they claim the title of Anak Compani,or " Children of the Company," on the ground of descent from European fathersand native women. But of late years Islam has made considerable progress in theArchipelago. The natives of several islands, especially Wetter and Kisser, aredesignated by the name of Alfuru ; a term, however, which has no ethnical value, andwhich is indifferently applied in many places to the indigenous inhabitants, whatevertheir origin, that have hitherto resisted Mohammedan and Christian influences.The Soitth-Eastern GRours :Tenimher and Kei.These groups were named the " South-Eastern Islands " by the Dutch in referenceto Amboyna, their chief political and trading station in those distant waters.