362, COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL 



There is not much trade in Flores, but Larantuka is 

 visited in the westerly monsoon by the praus of the 

 Celebes traders, who ship rice, birds' nests, tortoiseshell, 

 wax, and so forth, and bring Butung sarongs in exchange. 

 Sandalwood and cinnamon are also exported in small 

 quantities, and a few ponies. The forests produce various 

 dyes, such as sapan wood and another known as " kayu 

 kuning " by the Malays, yielding a yellow dye. The 

 thickets near the coast are rendered dangerous by the 

 presence of a very poisonous shrub, probably one of the 

 Uuphorhiacece, whose juice causes severe wounds and 

 fever, and even blindness when it touches the eye. 

 Copper, gold, and iron are known to exist, and tin is 

 worked by the natives on the south coast, but the mines 

 have never been visited by Europeans. 



Larantuka is the chief town, situated just within the 

 northern entrance of the Flores Strait. It gives its 

 name to the eastern portion of the island. The name 

 Flores is seldom used in the archipelago in common 

 parlance, the natives speaking of Mangarai, Ende, or 

 Larantuka, according as they wish to refer to the western, 

 central, or eastern part. The whole population of the 

 island has been roughly estimated at 250,000. Flores 

 falls under the administration of the Eesident of Timor, 

 and besides the sub-Controleur at Larantuka, there are 

 two Postholders on the island, one at Maumeri on the 

 north coast, and another at Ambugaga in Ende Bay. 



6. The Solor and Allor Groups. 



Between Flores and Timor lie the five smaller islands 

 comprised in these two groups — Solor, Adenara, and 

 Lomblen forming the first named, and Pantar and Allor 

 (or Ombay) the Allor group. Solor and Adenara lie 



