Volume 14 Australasia - dana ward's homepage

218 'AUSTRALASIA.Tenimber (Taaah Imber) was siipijosed to stretch imiuterrupttdly to tlie southernextremity of the Archipelago, and this error still figures on most maps. Yet thenatives are quite aware that their territory is divided into two distinct islands, toeach of which ttey give a special name. Owen Stanley had already stated in1839 that Tenimber comprised several separate islands, and in 1878 the Egeron, aship from Banda, traversed the channel between Yamdena and Selaru) varyingfrom eight to forty fathoms in depth, and presenting several excellent havens onboth sides. But the hydrographic survey of the group is still far from complete,and. so recently as 1888 a hitherto unknown island two miles long was discoveredat the south-west extremity of the Archipelago.The two chief islands, consisting of limestone rock, are almost everywhere low,and the highest point of the whole group is the volcanic islet of Laibobar, off thewest side of Yamdena, rising, according to Forbes, to a height of about two thousandfeet. The islet of Larat, separated by the navigable Wallace Strait fromYamdena, is also low, but beyond it rises the precipitous islet of Verdate, at thenorthern extremity of the Tenimber group. The archipelago is skirted on thewest side by a parallel line of islets and reefs, which, lying mostly in shallowwater, are little accessible to shipping.Owing to tbe porous nature of the calcareous soil the rain-water almost everywheredisappears without forming fertilising streams; hence, vast tracts haveremained barren and uninhabited. Some of the slopes are, -nevertheless, clothedwith dense brushwood, where the cattle, let loose by the early navigators, find arefuge from the native hunters. Large herds of wild boars infest the neighbourhoodof the villages ; but Tenimber, like most of the Moluccas, has no monkeys,and its fauna generally presents a New Guinea aspect.The natives recognise no rulers, although certain individuals claim the emptytitle of chief. In appearance they resemble the Malays much more than thePapuans, although they are evidently a mixed race.Both sexes slightly tattoo theforehead,, cheeks, breast, and hands, and the women deck themselves with braceletsand necklets of red glass beads. The wealthy natives convert into heavy ringsand ear ornaments the gold coins they take in exchange for their holothurise andtortoise-shell ;in the decoration of their praus and dwellings they also display fargreater artistic taste than their Malay neighbours.They have hitherto resisted theproselytising attempts of the Arabs and other Mohammedans.. Nevertheless theyworship a supreme deity, Dwadilah, symbolised by a sacred post and other rudeimages set up in front of their dwellings. They also believe in a future state forthemselves and all living beings, and the fisherman never fails to return to the seaa portion of his capture, so that the soul of the fish may swim away to the sjiiritworld.The Kei (Ke) Islands were probably so named by the Portuguese, for the termappears to be identical with that of the Koys, that is, the Cayos, of Florida. Lyingnearer to Banda and Amboyna than Tenimber, this group, to which the surroundingpopulations give the name of Evar, or Hog Islands, has been brought more underMohammedan influences. They manufacture earthenware, and build excellent