Page:Scented isles and coral gardens- Torres Straits, German New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies, by C.D. Mackellar, 1912.pdf/270

218 was presented to me, are of great purity and value.] Yet these Papuans, Malays, Chinese, and Arabs trade peaceably together. Pearls, pearl-shell, and tortoise-shell are exported to Europe; and to China, trepang and edible birds’-nests. Sometimes, at long intervals, pirate Malay phraus arrive from Sulu and elsewhere, attack and burn the villages, murder the people, and carry away the women. The Aru islanders live in fear of them. The islands are a paradise for the naturalist.

North of these are the beautiful Ké Islands. They were not known till 1886, and are covered with dense jungle and virgin forest. At Ellat, on Great Ké, resides the Dutch controlleur and one or two Germans in the timber trade. There is a Jesuit Mission and a wooden church. Tocal, the chief village, is on Little Ké. The population is about 20,000, of whom 6000 are Mohammedans. There are eighteen rajas, who bear as wands of office the gold-and silver-mounted staffs presented by the Dutch. At Nugu Roa, on the sea cliffs, are ancient inscribed coloured paintings of natives and their phraus, of which nothing is known, but they are believed to be of great age. The islands are very picturesque, mountainous, and have bays of dazzling white sand. The most magnificent butterflies and beetles, as well as many species of pigeons and other birds, render the islands more than attractive to naturalists. Wooden bowls and pottery are items of export. The timber is magnificent, and the Ké islanders are noted boatbuilders. They build Papuan canoes to hold sixty men; and their great phraus of 20 or 30 tons burden, which sail on any sea and trade to Singapore, are made without a nail or piece of iron. The harbour is always full of phraus.