450 



THE JRU ISLANDS. 



[chap, XXXI. 



of the eaves, is the style nf arcliitecture they usually 

 a^lopt. Inside there ai'e partition walls of tlmtch, fomiug 

 little boxes or sleeping place.^, to accomniodatc the two or 

 three sepai^ate fiiiiiilics tluit usually live to<:ether. A few 

 mats, baskets, and cooking vessels, witli plates aud bashia 

 purchased from tlic ilacassar tradei's, constitute tlieir 

 wliole furnitum ; sitears and bows are their wtapons ; a 

 sarong or mat fornis the clothing of the women, a waist- 

 cloth of the men. For hours or even for days thoy sit 

 idle in their houses, the women bnuj^iug in the vej^etables 

 or sago which fonii their food. Sometimes they hunt or 

 fish a little, or work at their houses or canoes, but they 

 seem to cujoy pure idleness, and work as little fis they 

 can. They liave little to vaiy the monotony of life, little 

 that can be called pleasure, except idleness and conver- 

 sation. And they certainly do talk ! Every evenLng there 

 m a little Babel aroimd me ■ but as I rmderstand not a 

 word of it, I go on w*ith my book or work undistui'bed. 

 Now and tlien they scream aud shout, or laugh frantically 

 for variety ; aud this goes on alternately with vociferous 

 talking of men, women, aud children, till long after I am 

 in my mosquito curtain and sound asleep. 



At this place I obtained some light on the complicated 

 mixture of races in Aru, which would utterly confound an 

 ethnologist. Many of the natives, though equally dark 

 with the others, have little of the Papuan pliysioguomy, 

 but have more delicate features of the Kui-opean type, 

 with more glossy, curling hair. These at firat quite puzzled 

 me, lor they have no more resemblance to Malay than to 

 I*apuan, and the dax*knes3 of skin and hair would forbid 

 the idea of Dutch intermixture, listening to their con- 

 vei-sation, however, I detected some words that were 

 familiar to me, "Accabd" was one; and to be sure that 

 it wyus not an accidental resemblance, I asked the speaker 

 in Malay wliat "aceab6" meant, aud was told it meant 

 " done or finished," a true Portuguese word, with its 

 meaning retained. Again, I heard the word " jafui" often 

 repeated, and could see, without inquiry, that its meaning 

 was "he's gone," as in Portuguese. "Porco," too, seems 

 a common name, though tlie peojde have no itlea of its 

 European meaning. This cleared up the difiiculty. I at 



