Discoveries in Australia Volume I Part 38

The number of Indians collected amounted to about sixty; they were merely residing on the island during the fishing season; for their home, as it afterwards turned out; was at a considerable distance off. Their princ.i.p.al subsistence was turtle and small fish, which they caught with hook and line, and sh.e.l.lfish which abound on the reefs. The island also produces a small fruit like a plum with a stone in it, probably a species of Eugenia. The fish were broiled over the ashes of a fire, or boiled in the basin of a large volute (Voluta ethiopica) which being rather a scarce sh.e.l.l is of great value to them.

The island of Pullan is covered with low trees and underwood, and the soil is sandy. In the centre of it is a spring, which supplied the whole party with sufficient water for their consumption; and, as Ireland says, they used a great deal, it must at least have yielded fifteen or twenty gallons a day, for the hole was always full. Upon a voyage they carry their water in bamboo joints, and coconut sh.e.l.ls, as do the Malays.

After remaining here two months, the Indians separated. One party taking Ireland and the infant D'Oyly with them, embarked in a canoe, and after half a day's sail reached another islet to the northward, where they remained a day and a night, on a sandy beach; and the next morning proceeded and reached another island similar to Pullan, low and bushy, where they remained a fortnight. They then proceeded to the northward, calling on their way at different islands, and remaining as long as they supplied food, until they reached one,* where they remained a month, and then they went on a visit to Darnley's Island, which they called Aroob, where for the first time, Ireland says, he met with kind treatment.

(*Footnote. Probably one of the group of the northward of Halfway Island, near Aureed, named by Mr. Lewis, Sir Richard Bourke's Group.)

After a fortnight they again embarked and returned by the way they came, to an island they called Sir-reb,* situated near Aureed, where their voyage ended, and they remained until purchased by Duppar, the Murray Islander; who, it appears, upon hearing that there were two white boys in captivity, at Aureed, embarked in a canoe with his wife Pamoy, and went for the express purpose of obtaining them, taking for the purpose of barter some fruit. The price of their ransom was a branch of bananas, for each. They returned by way of Darnley's Island, where they stopped a few days, and then reached Murray's Island, where they remained ever since, and were most kindly treated. Duppar gave little D'Oyly to a native named Oby to take care of; a charge of which he faithfully acquitted himself, and both Oby and his adopted child soon became very fond of each other; for as the child was a mere infant, he soon forgot his mother, and naturally attached himself to his nurse. When at Aureed the Indians had named Ireland, Wak; and little D'Oyly, they called Ua.s.s; names which they retained at Murray's Island, and by which they are doubtless now known all over the archipelago.

(*Footnote. Sir-reb, according to Ireland's information is Marsden Island. P.P.K.)

Ireland lived in the same hut with Duppar and his family; his employment was to cultivate a plantation of yams, and during the season to a.s.sist in taking turtle and sh.e.l.lfish. On one occasion he accompanied them on an excursion towards New Guinea, where they went for the purpose of barter and trade; which they frequently did, to obtain bows and arrows, canoes and feathers, for which they give in return sh.e.l.ls;* and which from their scarcity, the New Guinea people prize very much, but as Duppar was fearful that the New Guinea people would steal or murder him, he was left at Darnley's Island, in charge of Agge, an Indian, until their return.

Duppar and his friends, however, were not long away; for having stopped at an island, Jarmuth (Campbell's Island) to pa.s.s the night, one of the islanders attempted to take away by force from one of the visitors, his moco moco (a sort of bandage worn round the calves of the legs, made of the bark of bamboo) upon which a quarrel ensued, in which the Murray Islanders used their bows and arrows, and wounded several, one being shot through the body. The Jarmuth people then retreated to their huts, and the others embarked; but instead of going to New Guinea, returned to Darnley's Island, where in a few days they received a message from Jarmuth, offering peace; which, however, they would not accept; nor did they afterwards make friends.

(*Footnote. Ireland describes the sh.e.l.l to be a cone, and recognized it among the plates in the Encyclopedie Methodique, as the Conusmille punctatus.)

Ireland's account of the visit of the Mangles, is so different from what Captain Carr describes, that the discrepancy must be received with much caution.

He states that Captain Carr's object seemed to be entirely that of trading for tortoise-sh.e.l.l; he was alongside the Mangles, and not at a considerable distance off; he was so near as to ask one of the people on the p.o.o.p to throw him a rope, to get fast to the vessel, which was done, but owing to the sea running high he was obliged to let it go; upon which he asked for a boat to be lowered for him to get on board, which was also done, and he should have made his escape, had not one stood up in the bow with a naked cutla.s.s and the others flourished their weapons over their heads; which frightened the Indians so much that they pulled away on sh.o.r.e, followed by the boat for a little distance, and there concealed him. Ireland declares, that he did not say, that the natives would not give him up.

When under the Mangles' stern one of the crew offered him some tobacco which he declined. Had Captain Carr offered an axe for him, he would have been given up immediately as well as little D'Oyly, who was on the beach, in the arms of one of the natives. The natives knew that Ireland was anxious to be taken away, and were averse to his going off to the vessel, saying, "You shall not go there to be killed;" but as he hoped to make his escape he persisted, and the result was a bitter disappointment to him.

Such is the succinct narrative, of which old Lomba offered me the first rude materials.

THE CHIEF LOMBA.

As soon as I had read the papers contained in the basket, I endeavoured, by the help of the Malay dictionary, to gain some more information from the old man, and after some time succeeded in making out that he was the chief Lomba, mentioned by the seamen in their narrative; which was confirmed by finding that the shirt he wore was marked with the name of the unfortunate midshipman, J.P. Ching, who so early fell a victim to the murderous savages on the reef. From our ignorance of the language I was unable to gain any information of the European boy, said to be still on the island. Lomba pointed out the village he came from, prettily situated on the crest of a well-wooded hill, and gave me to understand that I should there find the other chief, Pabok, who was too old and infirm to come down. Upon which I determined to remain for the night, in order to visit the village, in hopes of getting some more information, and also to make Pabok a present, which he well deserved for his good services.

The gig was accordingly sent insh.o.r.e to sound, and soon made the signal of having found an anchorage, upon which we stood in, greatly to the delight of the natives, who, as they were not armed, were allowed to come on board, where they behaved very well. Some went aloft with great activity to a.s.sist in furling sails, and two came aft to the wheel, the use of which they seemed to understand perfectly.

At one o'clock we anch.o.r.ed in 11 fathoms sand and coral, three quarters of a mile from the sh.o.r.e; and as soon as the ship was secured, a party of us landed, accompanied by the old chief, and followed by most of the natives in their canoes.

APPEARANCE OF THE Sh.o.r.eS.

On landing, the contrast to the Australian sh.o.r.es we had so recently sailed from, was very striking. We left a land covered with the monotonous interminable forest of the eucalyptus or gumtree, which, from the peculiar structure of its leaf, affords but little shelter from the tropical sun. Sh.o.r.es fringed with impenetrable mangroves; a soil producing scarcely any indigenous vegetable, either in the shape of root or fruit fit for food. The natives black, naked, lowest in the scale of civilized life; their dwellings, if such they can be called, formed by spreading the bark rudely torn from the tree, over a few twigs placed in the ground, under which they creep for shelter; dependent almost entirely on the success of the chase for their daily food, not having arrived at the first and simplest form of cultivation, and in like manner dest.i.tute of all trace of religion, except the faint symptom of belief in an evil spirit.

We landed on a beach, along which a luxuriant grove of coconut trees extended for more than a mile, under the shade of which were sheds neatly constructed of bamboo and thatched with palm leaves, for the reception of their canoes. To our right a hill rose to a height of about 400 feet, covered with brilliant and varied vegetation so luxuriant as entirely to conceal the village built on its summit. The natives who thronged the beach were of a light tawny colour, mostly fine, athletic men, with an intelligent expression of countenance.

DRESS OF THE NATIVES.

Their dress consisted of a cloth round the waist reaching to the knee, which in some instances was neatly ornamented with small white sh.e.l.ls; their arms and ankles were loaded with rings formed of ebony, ivory, and coloured gla.s.s, some of the former bore evident marks of having been turned in a lathe. The lobes of their ears were perforated with large holes, from which enormous earrings of ivory and ebony, in the shape of padlocks, were suspended, sometimes as many as three from one ear. A few of the natives had gold earrings of considerable size but rude workmanship. The boys and younger men had their hair cut short, and their heads smeared over with a preparation of lime, which bleaches the naturally black hair to a flaxen colour; as soon as this is effected, the hair is allowed to grow to a considerable length, and in due time presents a piebald appearance, the ends retaining the flaxen colour while the roots are black. When grown to a sufficient length it is wound gracefully round the head and fastened by a comb of sandalwood or tortoise-sh.e.l.l; some specimens of which were very large, and of such superior manufacture as to indicate an intercourse with much more civilized nations.

LEPROSY.

The natives appeared to be healthy with the exception of a sort of leprosy, from which many of them were suffering. It gave them a most disgusting appearance, but did not appear to cause any inconvenience, nor were they avoided by the rest of their companions, as if the disease had been contagious. On our first landing, very few of the natives had any arms, but they afterwards brought down some bows and arrows, some of which were four or five feet long, neatly headed with iron. We also saw a few iron-headed spears, a few cresses, and some hatchets of a very rude construction.

CANOES.

Their canoes, about thirty of which were hauled upon the beach, were from twenty-five to thirty feet long, and very narrow, with outriggers projecting ten or twelve feet from each side, and supporting a piece of buoyant wood to give stability. They carried one large mat-sail, but did not appear to sail fast.

As soon as we had satisfied our curiosity on the beach, old Lomba led the way to the village on the crest of the hill. The ascent commenced close to the landing place by a flight of steps rudely formed by logs of wood laid across a narrow path cut in the hillside, which brought us to within forty or fifty feet of the summit. After which we had to climb two ladders, made of hard red wood richly carved, placed almost perpendicularly against the cliff. In a recess under the upper step we noticed four small idols that bore a strong resemblance to those of the South Sea islanders.

VILLAGE OF OLILIET.

After reaching the top of the ladder we pa.s.sed through a gateway, evidently intended for defence, and then found ourselves in the village of Oliliet, built on a level s.p.a.ce of considerable extent, accessible only from seaward by the path we had ascended, which the removal of the ladders would render impracticable, and on the land side protected by a wall, beyond which the jungle appeared to be very dense.

The houses, all raised on piles six or eight feet above the ground, could only be entered by means of a ladder leading through a trapdoor in the floor. The roofs neatly thatched with palm leaves, and formed with a very steep pitch projected considerably beyond the low side-walls, and surmounted at the gables by large wooden horns,* richly carved, from which long strings of sh.e.l.ls hung down to the ground, giving the village a most picturesque appearance.

(*Footnote. See the view annexed.)

The houses were arranged with considerable regularity, so as to form one wide street of considerable extent, from which narrow alleys branched on each side.

Our conductor led us to the Oran Kaya, whom we found seated in front of a small house in the widest part of the street, opposite to which there was a circular s.p.a.ce marked out by a row of stones placed on the ground, and which appeared to be set aside for religious purposes, as they seemed unwilling we should set foot within it. Here the natives soon afterwards a.s.sembled in considerable numbers, and were for some time engaged in serious discussion.

ORAN KAYA AND PABOK.

The Oran Kaya, who was an elderly man, received us very civilly, and invited us to sit down beside him. Soon afterwards Pabok came up. He was very old, had lost the sight of one eye, and wore an old straw hat of European manufacture, decorated with stripes of red and blue cloth sewn round it. I tried in vain to get more information from him about the European boy; and on pressing him to come down to the boat to receive a present, he made signs he was too old to do so.

After remaining a short time in the village, during which one of our party caught a transient glimpse of some of the women, we returned to the beach; where we found that the natives had brought a plentiful supply of coconuts, and they promised to bring some other supplies off in the morning.

DEPARTURE FROM OLILIET.

At sunset the natives all went quietly away, and we returned on board, pa.s.sing on our way some small rocky islands which appeared to be used as burial places, and emitted an intolerable stench; the bodies were placed in rude wooden boxes, open at the top and quite exposed to the air, from one small rock not large enough to hold a body, there was a long bamboo erected, from which a human hand, blackened by exposure to the sun, was suspended.

On the 22nd, soon after daylight, the natives came off, bringing with them Indian corn and coconuts, in such quant.i.ties that they sold the latter for a couple of pins each. They also brought yams, bananas, fowls, chilies, etc. but they did not seem inclined to part with them for anything we could offer, except gunpowder, which I would not allow to be given as barter.

At nine, finding we could get no more information from them, we weighed; the natives all left us very quietly as soon as the capstan was manned, and by signs appeared to wish us to revisit them. During the whole time they were on board, they behaved perfectly well, and did not make any attempt at stealing, though they must have seen many things most valuable to them, which they might easily have taken.

From what we saw of Oliliet, it does not appear to be a place from which any quant.i.ty of sea stock can be procured, for although they had plenty of pigs and fowls in the village, they did not seem at all inclined to part with them. Water may be procured on the beach, but a merchant vessel should be very cautious in sending her boats for it, as the crew being necessarily divided, would easily fall victims to any treacherous attack on the part of the natives; and from all we subsequently learnt of them from the traders we met at Arru, they are not always to be trusted.

After clearing the bay we stood to the northward, along the east coast of Timor Laut, which is formed by a range of hills wooded to the very summit, and indented by deep bays which would afford anchorage during the North-West monsoon, were it not for a coral reef that appears to extend along the coast, at a distance of two to three miles from the sh.o.r.e.

During the day we pa.s.sed six villages, all built like Oliliet on cliffs overhanging the sea, and protected on the land side by dense jungle, through which it would be difficult to penetrate.

ARRU ISLANDS.

At sunset, we pa.s.sed a small detached coral reef, and then steered for the Arru Islands, in the hope of being able to gain some information from the traders who frequent them, for the purpose of procuring the birds of Paradise, trepang, pearls, etc. which are found in their vicinity.

During our pa.s.sage across, we had very irregular soundings, and at daylight on the 24th of March, saw the Arru Islands; all the islands of this group, which extends from North to South about 100 miles, and the eastern limits of which are but imperfectly known, are very low and swampy, but from being well-wooded, have the appearance of being much higher than they really are: many of the trees that we saw attained a height of ninety feet, before they began to branch out.

DOBBO HARBOUR.

We stood along the islands to the northward all day, with very light winds, and on the 25th were off the entrance of Dobbo harbour, situated between the two islands, Wamma and Wokan. As there were several square-rigged vessels in the harbour, we tacked and made signal for a pilot, and were soon afterwards boarded by the master of one of the vessels, who to our great delight hailed us in very good English. Under his pilotage we ran in and anch.o.r.ed off a low sandy point, on which the traders establish themselves during their stay, by building very neat bamboo houses thatched with the palm leaf. Several hundred people, including some Dutchmen from Maca.s.sar, and Chinamen, remain throughout the year. The house of Messrs. Klaper and Nitzk, cost above 300 pounds and contained goods to the amount of ten times that sum and upwards. The trade with these islands appears to be carried on in the following manner. Towards the end of the North-West monsoon, the trading vessels from Java and Maca.s.sar, having laid in their stock for barter, come over to Dobbo, generally touching at the Ki Islands to procure boats, which are there built in great numbers. On arriving they make the chief of the island (who carries a silver-headed stick, with the Dutch arms engraved upon it, as an emblem of his authority) a present, which he considers to be his due, consisting generally of arrack and tobacco. The large boats they have brought from the Ki Islands having been thatched over, and fitted with mat sails are then despatched through the various channels leading to the eastward, under the charge of a Chinaman, to trade for trepang, pearls, pearl oyster-sh.e.l.ls, edible birds-nests, and birds of Paradise, in return for which they give chiefly knives, arrack, tobacco, coloured cottons, bra.s.s wire, ornaments for the arms, etc.

These boats return to their vessels as soon as they have procured a cargo, of which the pearls form the most valuable portion. The trepang obtained here is only considered as third-rate; that from the Tenimber group second, and from Australia first-rate.

BIRDS OF PARADISE.

The birds of Paradise, which are brought from the east side of the island, appeared to be plentiful; they are shot by the natives (from whom the traders purchase them for one rupee each) with blunt arrows, which stun them without injuring the plumage, and are then skinned and dried.