More
Important Than All These However Is The Trade To Aru, A Group Of
Islands Situated On The South-West Coast Of New Guinea, And Of
Which Almost The Whole Produce Comes To Macassar In Native
Vessels.
These islands are quite out of the track of all European
trade, and are inhabited only by black mop-headed savages, who
yet contribute to the luxurious tastes of the most civilized
races.
Pearls, mother-of-pearl, and tortoiseshell find their way
to Europe, while edible birds' nests and "tripang" or sea-slug
are obtained by shiploads for the gastronomic enjoyment of the
Chinese.
The trade to these islands has existed from very early times, and
it is from them that Birds of Paradise, of the two kinds known to
Linnaeus were first brought The native vessels can only make the
voyage once a year, owing to the monsoons. They leave Macassar in
December or January at the beginning of the west monsoon, and
return in July or August with the full strength of the east
monsoon. Even by the Macassar people themselves, the voyage to
the Aru Islands is looked upon as a rather wild and romantic
expedition, fall of novel sights and strange adventures. He who
has made it is looked up to as an authority, and it remains with
many the unachieved ambition of their lives. I myself had hoped
rather than expected ever to reach this "Ultima Thule" of the
East: and when I found that I really could do so now, had I but
courage to trust myself for a thousand miles' voyage in a Bugis
prau, and for six or seven months among lawless traders and
ferocious savages, I felt somewhat as I did when, a schoolboy, I
was for the first time allowed to travel outside the stage-coach,
to visit that scene of all that is strange and new and wonderful
to young imaginations-London!
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