LARGE GARDEN GROUND. 183 



man, named Dzoom, came down and asked for a 

 passage round to Keriam. In going along he gave 

 us names for each of the little villages we passed, 

 of which the principal were in regular order the 

 following: Moggor, Badoga, Maedha, Zhee, Keriam; 

 the hill he called Pasaer. 



March 31.— I landed this morning at six o'clock 

 with my attendant Johns, to go all over the island. 

 We first of all went to the little rill of water near the 

 N.W. point of the island, and went up into some 

 good plantain-gardens behind it; beyond these were 

 some spaces of bamboo, much cut; but behind these, 

 again, W e came to a dense, impenetrable thicket. 

 We were then obliged to scramble down by a dry 

 water-course to the beach, and then proceeded to 

 Keriam, to try the path at the back of the huts. 

 After some little opposition to our proceeding by 

 this, I got two boys to come with us, and they then 

 let us go. The path was very narrow, and it wound 

 for about half a mile through the thickest woods, 

 matted by impenetrable creepers and underwood, 

 till it came out on the brow of a rising ground, 

 where the wood had been partially cleared, and 

 some very extensive " ketai " (yam) plantations 

 formed. Several acres of ground here were very 

 tolerably fenced in and pretty fairly cleaned, the old 

 stumps and branches of trees being left for the ketai 

 plants to be trained upon. A grove of cocoa-nuts 

 crested the summit of this hill, which was probably 

 about 250 feet above the sea. This place was called 

 " gedoop," which is, I believe, their general word 



