ctt^T sxix.] TRADE ANB PRODUCTS. 419 



overlying the rock, and was worn so smooth by the attrition 

 of naked feet that iny shoes could obtain no hold on ilie 

 sloping surface. A little farther we came to the bare rock, 

 aod tins was worse, for it was so rugged and broken, and 

 80 honeycombed and weatherworn into sharp points and 

 angles, that my boys, who bad gone barefooted all their 

 lives, could not stand it Their feet began to bleed, and I 

 saw that if I did not want them completely lamed it would 

 be wise to turn back. My own shoes, which were rather 

 thin, were but a poor protection, and would soon have been 

 cut to pieces; yet our little naked guides tripped along 

 with the greatest ease and unconcern, and seemed much 

 astonished at our effeminacy in not being able to take 

 a walk which to them was a perfectly agreeable one. 

 During the rest of our stay in the island we were obliged 

 to confine ourselves to the vicinity of the shore and the 

 cultivated grounds, and those more level portions of the 

 forest where a little soil had accumulated and tlie rock 

 liad been less exposed to atmospheric action. 



The island of Ke (pronounced exactly as the letter 

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

 narrow, running 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 wliiteness, resulting from the 

 decomjiosition of the coralline limestone of which it is 

 entirely compoficd. 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 tlirive exceedingly on the porous limestone 

 soil and under the influence of salt br<^ezes, oil is made 

 which is sold at a good price to the Am 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 

 carried to all parts of the ^Moluccas, But the art in which 

 the natives of K4 pre-eminently excel is that of boat- 

 building. Their forests supply abundance of fine timber, 



£ £ 2 



