483 



THE JRU IS'UmS, 



[chap. XXX 1 1. 



mental woods, tiraber, ami Birds of Paradise. These atij 

 purchased with a variety of goods, Of arrack, about 

 equfkl ill strength to ortlinary West India mm, 3,000 boxes, 

 each containing fifteeii lialf-gallon bottks, are cousmned 

 annually. Native clotli froni Celebes is much esteemed 

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

 white English calico aiid iliaerican unbleached cottons, 

 common crockery, ooai'se cutlery, muskets, gunpowder, 

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

 three last articles constitute the wealth of the Ani p<*ople, 

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

 up as " real property Tobacco is in immense demand 

 for chewuig, and it must be veiy strong, or an Aru man 

 will not look at it. Knowing how little these people 

 generally work, the mass of produce obtained annujidly 

 shows that the islands must be pretty thickly inhaluted, 

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

 maruie productions. 



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

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

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

 steered due west, not seeing land for thre^ days, till we 

 sighted some low islands west of Bouton. We had a 

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

 carrietl 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, tOl we were west of Bourn, when it cleared up 

 and we enjoyed the bright suimy skies of the dry season 

 for the rc^t of our voyage. It is about liere, therefore, 

 that the seasons of the eastern and western regions of the 

 Archipelago are divided. West of this line from June to 

 December is generally fine, and often very dry, the rest of 

 the year being the wet season. East of it tlie weather is 

 exceedingly uncertain, each island, and each side of an 

 island, having its own peculiarities. The difTerence seems 

 to consist not so unich in the distribution of the rainfall 

 as in that of the clouds and the moistness of the atmo- 

 sphere. In Am, for example, when we left, the little 

 streams were all dried up, although tlie weather wa? 

 gloomy; while in January, February, and March, w-hcn we 



