Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
here the reverse is the case, and a slight infusion of Papuan on a mixture of Malay and Bugis
has produced a very good-looking set of people. The lower class of the population consists
almost entirely of the indigenes of the adjacent islands. They are a fine race, with strongly
marked Papuan features, frizzly hair, and brown complexions. The Goram language is
spoken also at the east end of Ceram, and in the adjacent islands. It has a general resemb-
lance to the languages of Ceram, but possesses a peculiar element which I have not met with
in other languages of the Archipelago.
After great delay, considering the importance of every day at this time of year, a miser-
able boat and five men were found, and with some difficulty I stowed away in it such bag-
gage as it was absolutely necessary for me to take, leaving scarcely sitting or sleeping room.
The sailing qualities of the boat were highly vaunted, and I was assured that at this season a
small one was much more likely to succeed in making the journey. We first coasted along
the island, reaching its eastern extremity the following morning (April 11th), and found a
strong W.S.W. wind blowing, which just allowed us to lay across to the Matabello Islands, a
distance little short of twenty miles. I did not much like the look of the heavy sky and rather
