purchases, I stayed here two days, and sent two of my boxes of specimens by a
Macassar prau to be forwarded to Ternate, thus relieving myself of a
considerable incumbrance. I bought knives, basins, and handkerchiefs for barter,
which with the choppers, cloth, and beads I had brought with me, made a pretty
good assortment. I also bought two tower muskets to satisfy my crew, who
insisted on the necessity of being armed against attacks of pirates; and with
spices and a few articles of food for the voyage nearly my last doit was
expended.
The little island of Kilwaru is a mere sandbank, just large enough to contain a
small village, and situated between the islands of Ceram-laut, and Kissa—straits
about a third of a mile wide separating it from each of them. It is surrounded by
coral reefs, and offers good anchorage in both monsoons. Though not more than
fifty yards across, and not elevated more than three or four feet above the highest
tides, it has wells of excellent drinking water—a singular phenomenon, which
would seem to imply deep-seated subterranean channels connecting it with other
islands. These advantages, with its situation in the centre of the Papuan trading
district, lead to its being so much frequented by the Bugis traders. Here the
Goram men bring the produce of their little voyages, which they exchange for
cloth, sago cakes, and opium; and the inhabitants of all the surrounding islands
visit it with the game object. It is the rendezvous of the praus trading to various
parts of New Guinea, which here assort and dry their cargoes, and refit for the
voyage home. Tripang and mussoi bark are the most bulky articles of produce
brought here, with wild nutmegs, tortoiseshell, pearls, and birds of Paradise; in
smaller quantities. The villagers of the mainland of Ceram bring their sago,
which is thus distributed to the islands farther east, while rice from Bali and
Macassar can also be purchased at a moderate price. The Goram men come here
for their supplies of opium, both for their own consumption and for barter in
Mysol and Waigiou, where they have introduced it, and where the chiefs and
wealthy men are passionately fond of it. Schooners from Bali come to buy
Papuan slaves, while the sea-wandering Bugis arrive from distant Singapore in
their lumbering praus, bringing thence the produce of the Chinamen's workshops
and Kling's bazaar, as well as of the looms of Lancashire and Massachusetts.
One of the Bugis traders who had arrived a few days before from Mysol,
brought me news of my assistant Charles Allen, with whom he was well
acquainted, and who, he assured me; was making large collections of birds and
insects, although he had not obtained any birds of Paradise; Silinta, where he
was staying, not being a good place for them. This was on the whole
satisfactory, and I was anxious to reach him as soon as possible.