84 



Animals. 



Length of 



SoOLO. 



SOOLO ISLANDS. 



fcientifically, I am at a lofs to define the kinds, except- 

 ing the Mytilus Margaritifcria ; every one of thefe lliells have 

 in them two fmall lobfters, to which the Indians attribute 

 the formation of the pearls. The banks were once pri- 

 vate property, and belonged to feveral individuals, but by the 

 Mahometan law, they are now common even to ftrangers. The 

 divers are Haves to the fultan ; they feem to be hired out, and to 

 receive a certain portion for their fliare. Pigafetta, the com- 

 panion oi Magellan in his circumnavigation, vilited thefe iflands 

 in 1521. He calls Soolo, Zolo^ and fays from report*, that two 

 pearls had been taken there, the property of the king of Borneo^ 

 which were round, and as big as hens' eggs. 



The fwallows with edible nefts fwarm here; they build in 

 eaves open at top, but with their fides communicating with the 

 fea beneath its furface. The nefts are got by divers, who plunge 

 through the entrance, and rife within the vaft caverns, which are 

 inaccellible from above. 



The Upas or poifon tree is found in Soolo. 

 Mr. Forrejl has given us a brief account of the animals ; the 

 Soolos have plenty 'of horfes, which the ladies of fafliion have 

 learned to ride with much grace. Here are abundance of goats 

 and cattle, but the people do not milk the cows ; wild hogs 

 fwarm, and with the wild elephant do great mifchief. The ele- 

 phants are not aboriginal, but bred from fome that had been fent 

 as prefents to the Soolo princes. The Spotted Deer or Axis is 

 found here. 



Soolo is thirty miles long and twelve broad, and very populous, 



* Purchas, i. 43. 



which 



