CHAPTER XXXIII. THE ARU ISLANDS—
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY AND ASPECTS
OF
NATURE.
IN this chapter I propose to give a general sketch of the physical geography of
the Aru Islands, and of their relation to the surrounding countries; and shall thus
be able to incorporate the information obtained from traders, and from the works
of other naturalists with my own observations in these exceedingly interesting
and little-known regions.
The Aru group may be said to consist of one very large central island with a
number of small ones scattered round it. The great island is called by the natives
and traders "Tang-busar" (great or mainland), to distinguish it as a whole from
Dobbo, or any of the detached islands. It is of an irregular oblong form, about
eighty miles from north to south, and forty or fifty from east to west, in which
direction it is traversed by three narrow channels, dividing it into four portions.
These channels are always called rivers by the traders, which puzzled me much
till I passed through one of them, and saw how exceedingly applicable the name
was. The northern channel, called the river of Watelai, is about a quarter of a
mile wide at its entrance, but soon narrows to abort the eighth of a mile, which
width it retains, with little variation, during its whole, length of nearly fifty
miles, till it again widens at its eastern mouth. Its course is moderately winding,
and the hanks are generally dry and somewhat elevated. In many places there are
low cliffs of hard coralline limestone, more or less worn by the action of water;
while sometimes level spaces extend from the banks to low ranges of hills a little
inland. A few small streams enter it from right and left, at the mouths of which
are some little rocky islands. The depth is very regular, being from ten to fifteen
fathoms, and it has thus every feature of a true river, but for the salt water and
the absence of a current. The other two rivers, whose names are Vorkai and
Maykor, are said to be very similar in general character; but they are rather near
together, and have a number of cross channels intersecting the flat tract between
them. On the south side of Maykor the banks are very rocky, and from thence to
the southern extremity of Aru is an uninterrupted extent of rather elevated and