THE ALPUBA OF BCTRtT. 



271 



Temate in 1511, the shores of the island were 

 occupied by the Malays, who had already subjected 

 the earliest inhabitants of the island of which we 

 have any knowledge. During my stay at Kay61i I 

 saw several of them, though they are always shy 

 about entering the village. Like the Alfura of Ceram, 

 they resemble the Malays in stature and general ap- 

 pearance, but are distinguished fi'oni them by their 

 darker color, and by their hair, which is frizzly, not 

 lank like that of the Malays, and not woolly, like 

 that of the Papuans. As in Cerani, many of them 

 suffer from that unsightly disease, icthyosis, in which 

 the skin becomes dry and comes off in scales. Their 

 houses are described as the most miserable hovels, 

 consisting of little more than a roof of palm-leaves 

 resting on foui' poles, with a kind of platform a foot 

 or two above the ground, where they sit and sleep. 

 They are all free, and slavery ia wholly unknown. 

 Mr. T. J. Miller, who was formerly resident here, took 

 much pains to gather all the information possible in 

 regard to them. He states that they have divided 

 the island tuto Fenna^ or tribes, each of which has 

 a chief Instead of living together in villages, like 

 the Malays, they are scattered over their whole terri- 

 tory. Several of these chiefs continue to acknowL 

 edge one of the Mohammedan rajahs, or, as they are 

 named by the Dutch, " regents," in the village of 

 Kay61i, as their superior. Formerly, each was obHged 

 to send one young giii to its regent for a bride 

 every yeai', but the Dutch have long since relieved 

 them from such an unwelcome exaction. In former 

 times also they were compelled to pay their regent a 



