but fruits are so scarce, except at particular seasons, that one soon learns to
appreciate anything of a fruity nature.
Many persons in Europe are under the impression that fruits of delicious
flavour abound in the tropical forests, and they will no doubt be surprised to
learn that the truly wild fruits of this brand and luxuriant archipelago, the
vegetation of which will vie with that of any part of the world, are in almost
every island inferior in abundance and duality to those of Britain. Wild
strawberries and raspberries are found in some places, but they are such poor
tasteless things as to be hardly worth eating, and there is nothing to compare
with our blackberries and whortleberries. The kanary-nut may be considered
equal to a hazel-nut, but I have met with nothing else superior to our crabs, oar
haws, beech-nuts, wild plums, and acorns; fruits which would be highly
esteemed by the natives of these islands, and would form an important part of
their sustenance. All the fine tropical fruits are as much cultivated productions as
our apples, peaches, and plums, and their wild prototypes, when found, are
generally either tasteless or uneatable.
The people of Matabello, like those of most of the Mahometan villages of East
Ceram and Goram, amused me much by their strange ideas concerning the
Russian war. They believe that the Russians were not only most thoroughly
beaten by the Turks, but were absolutely conquered, and all converted to
Islamism! And they can hardly be convinced that such is not the case, and that
had it not been for the assistance of France and England, the poor Sultan world
have fared ill. Another of their motions is, that the Turks are the largest and
strongest people in the world—in fact a race of giants; that they eat enormous
quantities of meat, and are a most ferocious and irresistible nation. Whence such
strangely incorrect opinions could have arisen it is difficult to understand, unless
they are derived from Arab priests, or hadjis returned from Mecca, who may
have heard of the ancient prowess of the Turkish armies when they made all
Europe tremble, and suppose that their character and warlike capacity must be
the same at the present time.
GORAM
A steady south-east wind having set in, we returned to Manowolko on the
25th of April, and the day after crossed over to Ondor, the chief village of
Goram.
Around this island extends, with few interruptions, an encircling coral reef
about a quarter of a mile from the shore, visible as a stripe of pale green water,
but only at very lowest ebb-tides showing any rock above the surface. There are
several deep entrances through this reef, and inside it there is hood anchorage in