During The Rest Of Our Stay In The
Island We Were Obliged To Confine Ourselves To The Vicinity Of
The Shore And The Cultivated Grounds, And Those More Level
Portions Of The Forest Where A Little Soil Had Accumulated And
The Rock Had Been Less Exposed To Atmospheric Action.
The island of Ke (pronounced exactly as the letter K, but
erroneously spelt in our maps Key or Ki) is long and narrow,
running in a north and south direction, and consists almost
entirely of rock and mountain.
It is everywhere covered with
luxuriant forests, and in its bays and inlets the sand is of
dazzling whiteness, resulting from the decomposition of the
coralline limestone of which it is entirely composed. In all the
little swampy inlets and valleys sago trees abound, and these
supply the main subsistence of the natives, who grow no rice, and
have scarcely any other cultivated products but cocoa-nuts,
plantains, and yams. From the cocoa-nuts, which surround every
hut, and which thrive exceedingly on the porous limestone soil
and under the influence of salt breezes, oil is made which is
sold at a good price to the Aru traders, who all touch here to
lay in their stuck of this article, as well as to purchase boats
and native crockery. Wooden bowls, pans, and trays are also
largely made here, hewn out of solid blocks of wood with knife
and adze; and these are carried to all parts of the Moluccas. But
the art in which the natives of Ke pre-eminently excel is that of
boat building.
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