466 BOAT-BUILDING AT KI ILLI. 



pottery, of which we saw many specimens, formed 

 with great taste, of a coarse porous material, which 

 being unglazed is well adapted for cooling by evapo- 

 ration, in the manner so much used in the east. 



We had also an opportunity of seeing the boats, 

 which are built in great numbers from the excellent 

 timber with which all the islands of this group 

 abound. They are much used by the traders fre- 

 quenting the Arru Islands, and were highly spoken 

 of for their durability and speed. The boats we saw, 

 though they varied considerably in size, were all 

 built on the same plan, having a considerable beam, 

 a clean entrance and run, a flat floor, and the stem 

 and stern post projecting considerably above the 

 gunwales. They were all built of planks cut out 

 of solid timber to the form required, dowelled to- 

 gether by wooden pegs, as a cooper fastens the 

 head of a cask, and the whole afterwards strength- 

 ened by timbers, lashed with split rattan to solid 

 cleats left for the purpose in each plank, during the 

 process of hewing it into shape. 



Four of the smallest of these boats were purchased 

 for the use of the colony, for about 2J dollars each, 

 and were found to answer very well. 



After leaving Ki lUi we sailed to the southward, 

 along the eastern side of the great Ki, which is well 

 wooded to the summit of the hills, and cleared away 

 for cultivation in many places. There is no an- 

 chorage off" this side of the island, which is so steep 

 too, that on one occasion we could get no bottom 



