Where there was earth, it was a deposit of reddish clay
overlying the rock, and was worn so smooth by the attrition of
naked feet that my shoes could obtain no hold on the sloping
surface.
A little farther we came to the bare rock, and this was
worse, for it was so rugged and broken, and so honeycombed and
weatherworn into sharp points and angles, that my boys, who had
gone barefooted all their lives, could not stand it. Their feet
began to bleed, and I saw that if I did not want them completely
lamed it would be wise to turn lack. My own shoes, which were
rather thin, were but a poor protection, and would soon have been
cut to pieces; yet our little naked guides tripped along with the
greatest ease and unconcern, and seemed much astonished at our
effeminacy in not being able to take a walk which to them was a
perfectly agreeable one. During the rest of our stay in the
island we were obliged to confine ourselves to the vicinity of
the shore and the cultivated grounds, and those more level
portions of the forest where a little soil had accumulated and
the rock had been less exposed to atmospheric action.
The island of Ke (pronounced exactly as the letter K, but
erroneously spelt in our maps Key or Ki) is long and narrow,
running in a north and south direction, and consists almost
entirely of rock and mountain. It is everywhere covered with
luxuriant forests, and in its bays and inlets the sand is of
dazzling whiteness, resulting from the decomposition of the
coralline limestone of which it is entirely composed. In all the
little swampy inlets and valleys sago trees abound, and these
supply the main subsistence of the natives, who grow no rice, and
have scarcely any other cultivated products but cocoa-nuts,
plantains, and yams. From the cocoa-nuts, which surround every
hut, and which thrive exceedingly on the porous limestone soil
and under the influence of salt breezes, oil is made which is
sold at a good price to the Aru traders, who all touch here to
lay in their stuck of this article, as well as to purchase boats
and native crockery. Wooden bowls, pans, and trays are also
largely made here, hewn out of solid blocks of wood with knife
and adze; and these are carried to all parts of the Moluccas. But
the art in which the natives of Ke pre-eminently excel is that of
boat building. Their forests supply abundance of fine timber,
though, probably not more so than many other islands, and from
some unknown causes these remote savages have come to excel in
what seems a very difficult art. Their small canoes are
beautifully formed, broad and low in the centre, but rising at
each end, where they terminate in high-pointed beaks more or less
carved, and ornamented with a plume of feathers. They are not
hollowed out of a tree, but are regularly built of planks running
from ego to end, and so accurately fitted that it is often
difficult to find a place where a knife-blade can be inserted
between the joints. The larger ones are from 20 to 30 tons
burthen, and are finished ready for sea without a nail or
particle of iron being used, and with no other tools than axe,
adze, and auger. These vessels are handsome to look at, good
sailers, and admirable sea-boats, and will make long voyages with
perfect safety, traversing the whole Archipelago from New Guinea
to Singapore in seas which, as every one who has sailed much in
them can testify, are not so smooth and tempest-free as word-
painting travellers love to represent them.
The forests of Ke produce magnificent timber, tall, straight, and
durable, of various qualities, some of which are said to be
superior to the best Indian teak. To make each pair of planks
used in the construction of the larger boats an entire tree is
consumed. It is felled, often miles away from the shore, cut
across to the proper length, and then hewn longitudinally into
two equal portions. Each of these forms a plank by cutting down
with the axe to a uniform thickness of three or four inches,
leaving at first a solid block at each end to prevent splitting.
Along the centre of each plank a series of projecting pieces are
left, standing up three or four inches, about the same width, and
a foot long; these are of great importance in the construction of
the vessel. When a sufficient number of planks have been made,
they are laboriously dragged through the forest by three or four
men each to the beach, where the boat is to be built. A
foundation piece, broad in the middle and rising considerably at
each end, is first laid on blocks and properly shored up. The
edges of this are worked true and smooth with the adze, and a
plank, properly curved and tapering at each end, is held firmly
up against it, while a line is struck along it which allows it to
be cut so as to fit exactly. A series of auger holes, about as
large as one's finger, are then bored along the opposite edges,
and pins of very hard wood are fitted to these, so that the two
planks are held firmly, and can be driven into the closest
contact; and difficult as this seems to do without any other aid
than rude practical skill in forming each edge to the true
corresponding curves, and in poring the holes so as exactly to
match both in position and direction, yet so well is it done that
the best European shipwright cannot produce sounder or closer-
fitting joints. The boat is built up in this way by fitting plank
to plank till the proper height and width are obtained.
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