ARU PEARL-FISHERS. 
129 
where the path leads among trees of immense 
height, giving perfect shade. We were accom- 
panied by a number of men and boys, who evi- 
dently wished to make the most of their visitors. 
A post-holder had been established in Ke three 
months previous to our visit. He aided H. to 
purchase a native tombstone — a curious box 
which is set up on a pole, having the propor- 
tions and pretty much the appearance of a small 
dovecot. * As we sailed out from among the low 
wooded islands, over which cloudlets of varied 
and fantastic shapes hovered in a soft-hued sun- 
set, the dark hills of Great Ke filling in the 
horizon, we thought that Little Ke had a beauty 
of its own. 
A night brought us to the Aru Islands ; but 
we had to lie some distance off while the officers 
went in a boat to find out how far we might 
venture, for we had almost stranded. While we 
waited boats drew near, oared by curious-looking 
crews, who, we learnt, were the pearl-divers of 
Aru. I took them at first for women — a mistake 
due to their arrangement of the hair; for their 
immense mops of frizzy locks were gathered 
behind in a large chignon or knot, while the 
short escaped hair formed a fringe, the whole 
coiffure being an untidy copy of the fashion- 
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