I Could Not Deny These Probabilities, And
Although I Showed Them That We Could Not Get Back To Our
Starting-Point With The Wind As It Was, They Insisted Upon
Returning.
We accordingly put about, and found that we could lay
no nearer to Uta than to Teor; however, by
Great good luck, about
ten o'clock we hit upon a little coral island, and lay under its
lee till morning, when a favourable change of wind brought us
back to Uta, and by evening (April 18th w e reached our first
anchorage in Matabello, where I resolved to stay a few days, and
then return to Goram. It way with much regret that I gave up my
trip to Ke and the intervening islands, which I had looked
forward to as likely to make up for my disappointment in Ceram,
since my short visit on my voyage to Aru had produced me so many
rare and beautiful insects.
The natives of Matabello are almost entirely occupied in making
cocoanut oil, which they sell to the Bugis and Goram traders, who
carry it to Banda and Amboyna. The rugged coral rock seems very
favourable to the growth of the cocoa-nut palm, which abounds
over the whole island to the very highest points, and produces
fruit all the year round. Along with it are great numbers of the
areca or betel-nut palm, the nuts of which are sliced, dried, and
ground into a paste, which is much used by the betel-chewing
Malays and Papuans. A11 the little children here even such as can
just run alone, carried between their lips a mass of the nasty-
looking red paste, which is even more disgusting than to see them
at the same age smoking cigars, which is very common even before
they are weaned. Cocoa-nuts, sweet potatoes, an occasional sago
cake, and the refuse nut after the oil has been extracted by
boiling, form the chief sustenance of these people; and the
effect of this poor and unwholesome diet is seen in the frequency
of eruptions and scurfy skin diseases, and the numerous sores
that disfigure the faces of the children.
The villages are situated on high and rugged coral peaks, only
accessible by steep narrow paths, with ladders and bridges over
yawning chasms. They are filthy with rotten husks and oil refuse,
and the huts are dark, greasy, and dirty in the extreme. The
people are wretched ugly dirty savages, clothed in unchanged
rags, and living in the most miserable manner, and as every drop
of fresh water has to be brought up from the beach, washing is
never thought of; yet they are actually wealthy, and have the
means of purchasing all the necessaries and luxuries of life.
Fowls are abundant, and eggs were given me whenever I visited the
villages, but these are never eaten, being looked upon as pets or
as merchandise. Almost all of the women wear massive gold
earrings, and in every village there are dozens of small bronze
cannon lying about on the ground, although they have cost on the
average perhaps £10 a piece.
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