CHAP. XXIX.] TRABE AND PBOBUCTS. 183 



forest where a little soil had accumulated and the rock 

 had been less exposed to atmospheric action. 



The island of Ke (pronounced exactly as the letter K, 

 hut erroneously spelt in our maps Key or Ki) is long and 

 narrow, runnins; in a north and south direction, and con- 

 sists almost entirely of rock and mountain. It is every- 

 where covered with luxuriant forests, and in its bays and 

 inlets the sand is of dazzling whiteness, resulting from the 

 decomposition of the coralline limestone of which it is 

 entirely composed. In all the little swampy inlets and 

 valleys sago trees abound, and these supply the main sub- 

 sistence of the natives, who grow no rice, and have scarcely 

 any other cultivated products but cocoa-nuts, plantains, 

 and yams. From the cocoa-nuts, which surround every 

 hut, and which thrive exceedingly on the porous limestone 

 soil and under the influence of salt breezes, oil is made 

 which is sold at a good price to the Aru traders, who all 

 touch here to lay in their stock of this article, as well as 

 to purchase boats and native crockery. Wooden bowls, 

 pans, and trays are also largely made here, hewn out of 

 solid blocks of wood with knife and adze ; and these are 

 caiTied to all parts of the. Moluccas. But the art in which 

 the natives of K^ pre-eminently excel is that of boat- 

 building. Their forests supply abundance of fine timber, 

 though probably not more so than many other islands, and 

 from some unknown causes these rernote savages have 



