362 
COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL 
There is not much trade in Flores, but Larantuka is 
visited in the westerly monsoon by the praus of the 
Celebes traders, who ship rice, birds’ nests, tortoiseshell, 
wax, and so forth, and bring Butung sarongs in exchange. 
Sandalwood and cinnamon are also exported in small 
quantities, and a few ponies. The forests produce various 
dyes, such as sapan wood and another known as “ kayu 
kuning ” by the Malays, yielding a yellow dye. The 
thickets near the coast are rendered dangerous by the 
presence of a very poisonous shrub, probably one of the 
Eitpliorhiacece , whose juice causes severe wounds and 
fever, and even blindness when it touches the eye. 
Copper, gold, and iron are known to exist, and tin is 
worked by the natives on the south coast, but the mines 
have never been visited by Europeans. 
Larantuka is the chief town, situated just within the 
northern entrance of the Flores Strait. It gives its 
name to the eastern portion of the island. The name 
Flores is seldom used in the archipelago in common 
parlance, the natives speaking of Mangarai, Ende, or 
Larantuka, according as they wish to refer to the western, 
central, or eastern part. The whole population of the 
island has been roughly estimated at 250,000. Flores 
falls under the administration of the Besident of Timor, 
and besides the sub-Controleur at Larantuka, there are 
two Postholders on the island, one at Maurneri on the 
north coast, and another at Ambugaga in Ende Bay. 
6. The Solor and Allor Groups. 
Between Flores and Timor lie the five smaller islands 
comprised in these two. groups—Solor, Adenara, and 
Lomblen forming the first named, and Pantar and Allor 
(or Ornbay) the Allor group. Solor and Adenara lie 
