234 



AUSTRALASIA. 



The islet of Kihcaru, off the cast point of Ceram and near the ring-shaped 

 Gisser, presents the aspect of a little " Malay Venice," where the pile-dwellings 

 are so closely packed that the ground can nowhere be seen, and the whole island 

 looks like a floating village. Lying on the only deep channel across the subma- 

 rine banks of Ceram Laut, Kilwarii is a busy mart, the chief entrepôt of the trade 

 between Amboyna and New Guinea. 



East of Amboyna, the chief town of the Uliasser group is Saparua, in the 

 island of the same name, near the shore of a good haven, and at the converging 

 point of two routes which cross the island at its narrowest parts. But despite 



Fig. 99. — KiLWABU. 

 Sen le 1 : 25,000. 



150° 52' 



Easb oF Greenwich 



ISO'ss' 



Oto 16 

 Feet. 



Depths. 



16 to 32 



Feet. 



32 Feet and 

 upwards. 



1,100 Yards. 



these natural advantages, Saparua has less than two thousand inhabitants, nearly 

 all Christians. The surrounding plantations yield a larger quantity of cloves than 

 Amboyna, though the crops are very precarious. A good harvest will exceed 

 340,000 lbs. for the whole Amboyna group, while that of bad years will fall 

 below 56,000 lbs. 



The fortified town of Banda, or Neira, in the island of like name, occupies one 

 of the most picturesque positions in the Eastern Archipelago. It lies on the north 

 side of Banda Bay, on the slopes of Mount Papenberg, amidst the loveliest nutmeg 

 plantations in the world. The opposite island of Great Banda is almost covered 



