2 PEOCEEDINGS OF THE ISTATIOlSrAL MUSEUM vol. 77 



surrounded by mangrove swamps. One small hill rises about 30 feet above 

 sea level. A family of Malays were living on the island at the time of my 

 visit and were responsible for clearing some of the forest in order to plant 

 coconuts. 



The next island to note is Moeara Toea (or Maratua), a large island 28 

 nautical m'les directly east of Tandjong Batoe, which is the nearest point on 

 the mainland. Maratua is a peculiarly shaped island, in the form of a V with 

 the right arm about twice the length of the left and bent inward, so that it 

 forms a rhomb with one side missing. It is about 11 miles in length on the 

 southwestern arm and five on the northeastern side. Unlike the other islands 

 visited, it is not low and sandy but is composed almost entirely of sharp, cav- 

 ernous rock of a very dark color. This type of rock is called by the Malays 

 " batoe bini," literally, female rock. The only place where this rock was not 

 to be found was a narrow strip near the shore on the southwestern part of 

 the island, where the land was flat and sandy and nowhere more than a few 

 feet above the level of the sea. Here at the time of my visit were a few 

 Bandjerese Malays, who were clearing the forest and planting coconuts for 

 one of the Chinamen of Derawan. The rest of the island was covered with 

 heavy forest. I was told by the natives that there was much hard wood, in- 

 cluding ironwood. There were also many large cinnamon trees in this forest 

 and I was presented with several large pieces of the cinnamon bark. In most 

 places in the forest of Maratua no soil was to be seen, nothing but sharp, jagged 

 rock over which the roots of the trees wound as they descended into its holes 

 and crevices. The highest part of the island was about 400 feet. 



After spending a few days near the southern tip of Maratua, we managed to 

 work the prahu around into the bay and anchored near five tiny islands, the 

 names of which my crew told me were Semoet, Alanga, Sangalen, Tong Toetoep, 

 and Loesa Koekoep. On one or two of these little islands were groves by which 

 coconut trees had been planted. Badjaoe natives come to the islands occasion- 

 ally to fish and gather shells. 



From Maratua we followed southeastward along the reef to Pulo Bakungan, 

 which is 6 miles from Maratua, the two being connected by a broad reef. Like 

 Maratua, Bakungan is also made of sharp, dark-colored rock, resembling lava, 

 though whether it is or not I do not know. Part of the shore of Bakungan was 

 covered with white coral sand. The vegetation was scrubby and sparse. 



I wanted to stop at the island of Kakaban, just 4 miles southwest of Maratua, 

 but was unable to do so at the time, for it offered no shelter for my prahu. 

 The narrow reef about Kakaban affords no protection from the wind and strong 

 current. The island seemed to be of the same sharp rock as that on Maratua. 



Pulo Samama lies 16 miles southeast of Tandjong Batoe, nearly 11 miles 

 directly west of Kakaban, and is in line with Derawan and Pandjan^ to the 

 northwest. The island is about a mile long. From the sea, as we approached, 

 I could see that it was covered with low forest and I was surprised to find 

 Samama to be an atoll, the lagoon of which was filling with mud and sand 

 and a rather dense growth of mangroves. I think no part of the island was 

 more than 2 feet above high-water mark. Samama has no human inhabitants 

 but is occasionally visited by people from Derawan in search of fish and turtle 

 eggs. About Samama there are very extensive reefs, of which some of the coral 

 protrudes at very low tides. 



From Pulo Samama we were unable to see toward the southeast the little 

 island of Sangalaki, distant about four and one-half miles. Sangalaki is a 

 beautiful island, low and sandy, covered with forest and surrounded by a wide 



