238 



AUSTRALASIA. 



ten, if not their orig^in, at least their language and even their Catholic faith ; they 

 now speak Malay mixed with a few Portuguese words, and call themselves Protes- 

 tants. Through crossings with the natives they have become as dark as the 

 Papuans and greatly resemble the Brazilian half-castes of the Amazons. The 

 Orang Serani are almost the only natives of Indonesia who eat the " flying-fox," 

 that huge bat which is at times seen suspended by hundreds from the branches of 

 dead trees. 



The Alfurus, or aborigines, are now found chiefly in the central parts of the 

 northern peninsula in Halmahera. Although many are as fair as the Malays, 



Fig. 102. — Teenate, Tidor, and Dadinga Isthmus. 

 Scale 1 : 600,000. 



127 °(5 



E^sl: of- breen ■■, ich 



l27°35- 



Depths. 



Oto 100 

 Fathoms. 



100 Fathoms 

 and upwards. 



■ 12 Miles. 



Wallace and others regard them as but slightly modified Papuans,, with the 

 coarse features, nearly aquiline nose, frizzly hair, and vivacity of the New Guinea 

 natives. In other respects, and especially in their usages and social institutions, 

 they resemble the Alfurus of Coram and Buru. 



The little island of Kayoa, north of Bat j an, is occupied by a few hundred 

 natives tributar}^ to the Sultan of Tern ate. The more fertile Makjan is also far 

 more densely peopled ; in former times its importance made it a bone of contention 

 between the rival sovereigns of Tidor and Ternate. Afterwards it passed succes- 

 sively from the Spaniards to the Dutch, who ruined it by compelling the ruler of 

 Ternate to destroy its clove plantations. 



