96 THE G0RJ3I ISLANDS. [chap. xxv. 



Aru. He was very friendly, and we had a long talk ; but 

 when I begged for a boat and men to take me on to Ke, 

 he made a host of difficulties. There were no praus, as all 

 had gone to Ke or Aru ; and even if one were found, there 

 were no men, as it was the season when all were away 

 trading. But he promised to see about it, and I was obliged 

 to wait. For the next two or three days there was more 

 talking and more difficulties were raised, and I had time 

 to make an examination of the island and the people. 



Manowolko is about fifteen miles long, and is a mere 

 upraised coral-reef. Two or three hundred yards inland 

 rise cliffs of coral rock, in many parts perpendicular, and 

 one or two hundred feet high ; and this, I was informed, 

 is characteristic of the whole island, in which there is 

 no other kind of rock, and no stream of water. A few 

 cracks and chasms furnish paths to the top of these 

 cliffs, where there is an open undulating country, in which 

 the chief vegetable grounds of the inhabitants are situated. 



The people here — at least the chief men — were of a 

 much purer Malay race than the Mahometans of the 

 mainland of Ceram, which is perhaps due to there having 

 been no indigenes on these small islands when the first 

 settlers arrived. In Ceram, the Alfuros of Papuan race 

 are the predominant type, the Malay physiognomy being 

 seldom well marked ; whereas here the reverse is the 

 case, and a slight infusion of Papuan on a mixture of 



