ISLANDS NORTH OF TIMUR. 125 



black, frizzled-liairecl people, allied to tlie inhabitants 

 of Timur. The bloody practice of " liead-^liunting " 

 still exists among tliem. North of Tiinur is Kissa, 

 the most important island in this part of the archi- 

 pelago. In the early part of the present century this 

 was the seat of a Dutch residency. It is a low island, 

 and the rice and maize consumed by its inhabitants 

 are chiefly imported fi'om Wetta. Its people, how- 

 ever, carry on a very considerable trade with the sur- 

 rounding islands, and are said to be far in advance 

 of the natives of Amboina in point of industiy. 

 Southeast of Kissa lies Letti, for the most part high 

 and hilly, but level near the sea. Kloff * describes 

 the natives as tall and well formed, and having light- 

 brown complexions. The men wear no other dress 

 than a piece of cloth "^vrapped around the waist. The 

 women sometimes wear, in addition to this dress, a 

 hahaya^ open in fi-ont. Polygamy is not found, and 

 adultery is punishable with death or slavery. When 

 the Dutch occupied these islands, they induced the 

 natives to change these sentences into exile to the 

 Banda Islands, where men were needed to cultivate 

 the nutmeg-trees. Neither Mohammedanism nor Hin- 

 duism has been introduced into these islands ; they 

 only pay homage to an image of human shape placed 

 on a heap of stones that has been raised under a large 

 tree near the centre of the village. When a marriage 

 or death, or any remarkable event occurs, a large hog 

 or buffjilo, which has been kept and fattened for the 

 purpose, is slaughtered. They are especially anxious 



* " Voyage of the Dourga in 1825 and 1826," by Captain Kloff, trans- 

 lated by G. W. Earl. 



