282 THE ARU ISLANDS. [chap. xxxn. 



for its durability, and large quantities are sold, as well as 

 white EngHsh calico and American unbleached cottons, 

 common crockery, coarse cutlery, muskets, gunpowder, 

 gongs, small brass cannon, and elephants' tusks. These 

 three last articles constitute the wealth of the Aru people, 

 with which they pay for their wives, or which they hoard 

 up as " real property." Tobacco is in immense demand 

 for chewing, and it must be very strong, or an Aru man 

 will not look at it. Knowing how little these people 

 generally work, the mass of produce obtained annually 

 shows that the islands must be pretty thickly inhabited, 

 especially along the coasts, as nine-tenths of the whole are 

 marine productions. 



It was on the 2d of July that we left Aru, followed by 

 all the Macassar praus, fifteen in number, who had agreed 

 to sail in company. We passed south of Banda, and then 

 steered due west, not seeing land for three days, till we 

 sighted some low islands west of Bouton. We had a 

 strong and steady south-east wind day and night, which 

 carried us on at about five knots an hour, where a clipper 

 ship would have made twelve. The sky was continually 

 cloudy, dark, and threatening, with occasional drizzling 

 showers, till we were west of Bouru, when it cleared up 

 and we enjoyed the bright sunny skies of the dry season 

 for the rest of our voyage. It is about here, therefore, 

 that the seasons of the eastern and western regions of the 



