Chapter 17. The Aru Islands Visited

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_ CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. THE ARU ISLANDS VISITED

Leaving the coast of New Guinea, the _Dugong_ stood across to the Aru Islands, which Mr Hooker was anxious to visit. I may as well say that the dugong is a large fish found in these waters, from ten to twelve feet in length, of the whale species. They swim in flocks, often coming into shallow water.

The natives prize them for food. We speared one, and got it on board; and we all agreed, when the fish was cooked, that we had seldom tasted a more delicate dish. However, the look of the dugong is not attractive. Mr Hooker told me that the female dugong is remarkable for the affection which she has for her young, of which she produces only one at a time. If the young dugong is speared, she will never leave it, but is sure to be taken also.

We approached the Aru Islands from the southward. The sea between them and New Guinea is very shallow, considerably under fifty fathoms in many places. There are about eighty of them, mostly very low, and forming a chain about a hundred miles in length, and half that distance in width. They belong to the Dutch. The inhabitants are very mixed. There is a larger number of Papuans than any other race among the population. Two or three native Christian schoolmasters have been sent over from Amboyna to teach the inhabitants. We could just see these islands in the far distance, when we found ourselves approaching a fleet of large native boats at anchor. Two or three vessels were also at anchor near them. With our glasses we could see a number of figures standing up in the boats, and then suddenly disappearing overboard. Others were seen climbing up over the sides. What they could be about I could not at first guess. On pointing them out to Mr Hooker, however, he said at once that they must be pearl-divers; and as the wind was very light, and we passed close to them, we had an opportunity of observing their proceedings. There appeared to be about a dozen men in each boat, half of whom were evidently, from their want of dress, the divers, while two other men we took to be the chief and an assistant. A large sugar-loaf stone was let down overboard by a thick rope. A diver stepped on the gunwale, holding on by the rope, and apparently placing his toe in a loop or hole to keep his foot in its place. On the other foot a net was fastened. With this apparatus the diver began to descend. Before, however, his head reached the water I saw that he held his nose very tightly with his hand. This was, I understood, to prevent the water getting into his nostrils. We calculated that about four from each boat were down at a time, and we judged that each man remained from two to three minutes below the water. Up he came again at the end of that time, apparently very little exhausted, although he must have been making active exertions to collect the shells. After he had come to the top, the net containing the oysters was drawn up, and in that time he had collected from a hundred to a hundred and fifty.

We watched them with great interest, and were anxious to procure some of the oysters, but the chiefs would not sell them; indeed, they all belong to merchants who have rented the fishing for the season. Some of the men, we observed, suffered far more than others, and discharged water from their mouths and ears and nostrils, and some even blood; but, notwithstanding this, the same men were ready to go down again when their turn came. We learned that most of them will make from forty to fifty plunges in one day, and that a few of the most experienced and strongest remain down nearly five minutes. Their greatest danger is from the ground shark, which lies in wait at the bottom. However, some of these men will face even the shark, with knives in their hands, and come off victorious. To secure themselves still further, some of the boats carry conjurers or priests on board, who, by their incantations, are supposed to preserve them from the attacks of the shark. Of course, if a diver is picked off by a shark, the conjurer asserts that he has not properly obeyed his directions, and thus does not lose his credit. The saw-fish is another of the diver's foes, more dangerous, because more difficult to attack than the shark.

The merchants have to keep a very strict look-out on the divers on their return to the shore, as frequently when the oyster is in the boat, and left alive undisturbed for some time, it opens its shell. A pearl may then easily be discovered, and, by means of a piece of wood, the shell be prevented from again closing till the diver has an opportunity of picking out the prize. Sometimes they will even swallow the pearls to conceal them. As soon as the boats arrive on the shore the oysters are put in holes or pits dug in the ground to the depth of about two feet, fenced carefully round to guard them from depredation. Mats are first spread below them to prevent them touching the earth. Here the oysters are left to die and rot. As soon as they have passed through a state of putrefaction and become dry, they can be easily opened without the danger of injuring the pearl, which might be the case if they were opened when fresh. The shell is then carefully examined for pearls. Sometimes one is found in the body of the mollusc itself, but it is generally in the shell. We afterwards, on going on shore, had a specimen of the horrid odour which arises from these pits, but the people who are accustomed to it do not appear to suffer; indeed, we saw people groping about on the sands where the oyster pits had existed, and learned that they were seeking for stray oysters, frequently pearls of some value being thus discovered.

Emily and Grace, as well as Oliver and I, took great interest in watching the proceedings I have described. I asked Mr Hooker how pearls come to exist.

"Oh, I have read somewhere," exclaimed Emily, "that they are produced by a kind of dew which falls from heaven into the salt water, where the oyster swallows it, when it hardens and forms the beautiful white object we call a pearl."

"A very poetical notion, Miss Emily," observed Mr Hooker; "but in reality pearls are identical with the substance which we call mother-of-pearl, which lines the shell of the oyster. It is, indeed, the result of disease. When any substance intrudes into the shell the animal puts forth a viscous liquor, which agglomerates and hardens till the pearl is formed. It is said, indeed, in some places, that the divers pierce the shells of the oysters, and thus increase the number of pearls. It has also been discovered that oysters which have been pierced by a certain small marine worm have invariably pearls within them. The oyster, to defend itself from the worm, covers the hole with a substance which becomes as hard as the shell, and brilliant as mother-of-pearl."

A breeze springing up towards evening, we proceeded on our voyage, followed by the boats, which also shaped a course for the Aru Islands. In the course of the next day we came in sight of a small rocky island with high cliffs, off which we espied a couple of Chinese junks at anchor. As the island was not much out of our course, we stood towards it, keeping the lead going for fear of reefs. The water, however, was deep close up to the rocks. The cliffs completely overhung the sea, and we observed within them numerous hollows and caverns. On getting nearer, we saw that several boats belonging to the junks were lying directly under the cliffs. As the wind fell, we came to an anchor, for the sea over which we were now sailing was so shallow, that we could anchor in calm weather in almost any part of it.

A boat was lowered, and Mr Hooker invited us to accompany him. As we passed near the Chinese junk the crew hailed us, and Mr Hooker, who understood a little Chinese, remarked that they seemed very angry with us.

"They think, probably, that we have come to search for edible birds' nests, which they themselves are now collecting," he observed.

"Edible birds' nests?" exclaimed Emily and Grace together. "Do you mean to say, Mr Hooker, by that, that there are birds' nests fit to eat?"

"The Chinese not only think them fit to eat, but esteem them great delicacies," observed Mr Hooker. "These junks have come all the way from China to collect them, and if they manage to get back without being plundered by pirates, or sent to the bottom by storms, they will make an enormous profit by the voyage."

Mr Hooker hailed the junk in return, and told the men that they need not be alarmed; that we did not come to interfere with them, but only prompted by curiosity to see what they were about. As we got nearer we saw the entrance to a cavern, into which we pulled. A far from pleasant odour issued from it, while ahead there was an inky darkness, which the keenest eye could not penetrate. As we proceeded, however, we observed a bright light coming from the interior, which showed us a boat with a couple of Chinese in her, one of whom was holding a torch; while another man, by means of a ladder, was mounting up a narrow ledge of rock on the side. Overhead huge bats flitted round us, while on every side the tiny chirp of innumerable birds was taken up and echoed from seemingly a thousand voices throughout the cavern. Above the head of the Chinese appeared a number of nests, something in the shape of large deep spoons without handles, split in half longitudinally, smaller than the ordinary swallow's nest. They were placed, without any order apparently, on every spot where a slight projection of the rock afforded a foundation. The Chinese, like their friends on board the junk, began to abuse us for coming to interfere with their occupation. Mr Hooker, however, soon pacified them, and offered them some money for a few of the nests, that we might examine them. This brought them at once into good humour, and they very readily sold us a dozen or more of the nests, though I thought the price for birds' nests a very high one. A number of birds like swallows were flying in and out of the cavern. They had the flight of swallows; indeed, Mr Hooker said they were a species of swallow. They were about the size of robins or sparrows; their breasts white, their wings grey, and their backs and the feathers of their tails shining black. On examining the nests which we had purchased, we found that they were composed of a gelatinous substance something like isinglass.

"This is the substance," Mr Hooker told us, "that the Chinese make into broth. They are packed, however, just as they are cut from the rock, and carried to China. There they are cleansed from all extraneous substances, and are then boiled or stewed, every particle of dirt being thus more completely removed; and then, with a mixture of spices, they make a transparent, delicate-looking jelly, although, without the spices, they have little or no flavour."

"But where can they obtain this jelly-like substance?" asked Emily.

"I believe it is produced from a mollusc of some sort, on which the birds feed. When they require to build their nests, they disgorge the gelatinous portion for the purpose; and as this substance possesses the nutritive qualities of animal matter, I have little doubt that it is produced from these molluscs," said Mr Hooker.

Not only within the cavern, but on all available and tolerably sheltered spots outside, we saw a number of the sea-swallows' nests. We pulled close under one cliff, where we could distinguish clearly a bird sitting in its nest--we concluded on its eggs--and looking very much at its ease. Another little bird was standing watching its nest. We supposed therefore that its young had been hatched; and as they were in an inaccessible part of the cliff, we hoped they would escape the Chinaman's grasp.

As we had given a good price for the first nests, the Chinese willingly sold us another dozen, with which, wishing them a successful bird's-nesting expedition, we returned on board the _Dugong_. The Malays assert that the bird feeds upon insects and other minute creatures floating on the surface of the sea; and on further examining the nests, we perceived long filaments resembling very fine vermicelli, coiled one part over the other, without any regularity, and glued together by transverse rows of the same material. Mr Hooker told us that the trade in birds' nests employs a large amount of capital and men. However, the loss of life arising from accidents and exposure is very great. It has been asserted that, on an average, two out of every five men employed in bird's-nesting meet with a violent death. In China a "_catty_" or one pound and a quarter English, of the best nests, sells at about 9 pounds sterling. Their value depends chiefly upon their translucent whiteness. Those which have not been lined or used by the birds obtain the highest prices.

Frau Ursula made a small dish of a few of the birds' nests, which, when first put before us, were perfectly tasteless. When, however, she had added certain seasoning, it was pronounced as delicate as any food could be. The Chinese use them chiefly for thickening their soups and ragouts.

The sea-swallow is found along the northern coast of Australia, as well as on the rocks and islands of the sea which we were now navigating. A large number of Chinese junks come every year to procure the nests, which are greatly prized in China.

As we neared the Aru Islands we passed close to a number of boats at anchor, the people from which were continually jumping overboard, diving, and returning to the surface with some creatures in their hands. As on the previous day, the wind was light, and we were able to accompany Mr Hooker, and pulled off in the boat to see what they were about.

"What can they be getting?" I asked.

"The creatures the natives are collecting are the _holothurians_, or sea-cucumbers," answered the naturalist. "There are a great many species of these creatures; but, I believe, those found on banks of coral sand are the most valued."

Emily and Grace, however, when they saw the creatures, could not help expressing exclamations of disgust at their appearance. They were like gigantic slugs, or long black bags with frills at the top. Mr Hooker purchased a basket full of the creatures, which he wished to examine more at his leisure.

"But of what use can those ugly things be?" asked Emily, as we pulled back to the vessel.

"Our omnivorous friends the Chinese would be very much surprised at your asking the question," answered Mr Hooker. "They look upon them as one of their most delicate articles of food, though greatly inferior to the birds' nests we found yesterday. I see it stated that from Macassar alone these creatures are shipped to China to the value of 150,000 pounds; and this is only a very small portion of those used, not only by the Chinese, but the natives of many other parts of the shores of those seas. When taken on shore, their intestines are removed, and they are then boiled in sea-water: in some places with the leaves of the papaw, and in others with the bark of the mangrove-tree, which gives them a bright red colour. After they have been boiled, they are buried in the ground till the next day, when they are spread out to dry in the sun. They are now considered fit for shipment to China, to which the larger number are sent. In some places, however, they are not buried, but smoked over the fire on a framework formed of bamboo. The Chinese make them into soups, sometimes boiling pieces of sugar-cane with them, which is said to neutralise their rank flavour."

Sailing round the north end of the group, we approached its capital, or chief trading settlement, situated off the north-west end. It is called Dobbo. Just as we came off it we sighted a Dutch man-of-war brig, and stood towards her. The wind was light, and she had, apparently, fishing-lines overboard. Mr Hooker hailed her, and asked her where she was bound for. Her commander, who spoke English, replied, "For Ternate."

"How fortunate!" I exclaimed. "We can then write to Captain Davenport, and tell him of our safety."

The commander at once politely offered to convey a letter. "He might however," he observed, "be some little time on the passage, as he was in search of pirates, whose vessels had lately been heard of in those seas, and had committed depredations on the islands under protection of the Dutch."

We all hurried down into the cabin to write our letters, as, of course, I was anxious to give an account of what had occurred to my kind friend. Emily wished to write to Mrs Davenport, as did also Grace to her mother. As there was not much time, we described our adventures as briefly as possible. Mr Hooker had proposed to proceed through the Java Seas to Singapore; while Captain Davenport had arranged, should he be able to obtain a vessel, to go there by way of the Sooloo Archipelago, round the north of Borneo. On returning on deck we saw a great commotion on board the brig--all the sailors rushing aft, and hauling away at a rope overboard. In a short time the snout of a huge fish appeared above the water, struggling violently, and it seemed very likely he would break away. "A shark! a shark!" cried our men. I had scarcely supposed so enormous a creature existed. He was fully twenty-six feet long, and looked capable of swallowing not only a man's leg, but the whole of his body at a gulp. It made me shudder at the thought of falling overboard, and I felt thankful that while struggling in the water no such monster had found me out. "O Walter! how terrible!" exclaimed Emily. The same idea seemed to have crossed her mind. One of the officers stood, harpoon in hand, ready to strike the creature as he was drawn up under the vessel's counter. A "whip" was immediately rigged, and the crew hauling away, the shark, in spite of his struggles, was hoisted up on deck. Scarcely had he reached it, however, than we saw the crew scattering right and left; and it looked as if he had taken the deck from them, so violent were the lashes he gave with his tail as he floundered up and down, and turned and twisted on every side. At length the most daring of the men returned aft, armed with capstan bars and hatchets; but it was not till after many blows, and jumping and leaping to get out of the way of the monster's tail, that he was seen to lie quiet on the deck.

I then went in the boat with our despatches on board the brig. The commander received me very politely, and undertook to deliver them. He warned us to keep a sharp look-out for pirates, as our brig being only slightly armed, they were very likely to attack us should we meet them. He kindly offered me some slices of the shark; but I laughingly declined the gift, saying that we were going on shore, where we might find plenty of beef and mutton. He laughed, however, at that notion, and observed that we were more likely to find pig and kangaroo, as beef and mutton were articles unknown in that region. I bid him and his officers farewell, and returned to the _Dugong_, I felt greatly relieved at the thought that Captain Davenport would now hear of our safety, and hoped before long to meet him and his kind wife at Singapore. I told Mr Hooker that I had been offered some of the shark's flesh, but had declined receiving it.

"Had he presented a Chinese with the fins, he would have been overwhelmed with gratitude, as they are considered almost as delicate morsels as the edible birds' nests," said Mr Hooker. "The creature in many parts is caught for the sake of his fins alone, which are sent to China in large quantities, where they are used in the same way that the birds' nests and tripang are employed, though they rank next to birds' nests in value. They are of the same gelatinous consistency, and are made into soups and ragouts."

Dobbo, being exposed, to the sea-breezes, is healthy, and a good anchorage is found close to it. The place presented an animated appearance, as traders from all parts of the archipelago assemble there. The buildings they inhabited were not, however, pretentious, being composed of bamboo and reeds; while many of the traders considered clothes somewhat superfluous. On the shore a number of prows were hauled up and being refitted for sea. Caulkers were at work on some; painters on others, who were covering them with a thick white lime plaster, making them look very clean and bright. Sailmakers, who looked, however, more like mat-makers, were at work in some places. The tripang--black ugly lumps--was being exposed to the sun to be prepared for loading. In another spot people were busy tying up bundles of mother-of-pearl shell. Carpenters were engaged in squaring timber for repairing vessels; while boats from the islands of Goram and Ceram were unloading their cargoes of sago-cake, with which the traders supply themselves for their homeward voyage. We were amused with the vast number of different cockatoos, lories, and parrots, which were secured by strings on bamboo perches in front of the numerous reed huts, all chattering and talking together, as if carrying on some important consultation; while beautiful metallic-green or white fruit-pigeons were uttering their pleasing coos in all directions. These people are evidently fond of tame creatures, for we saw several beautiful little kangaroos hopping about, quite as tame and as elegant as fawns. Young cassowaries also, striped with black and brown, ran about as tame as barn-door fowls. This is a wingless bird, the body of which is about double the size of that of a large turkey, but its long legs make it five or six feet in height. It is covered with long, coarse, black, hair-like feathers. The skin of the neck is bare, and is of a bright blue and red. Instead of wings it has a group of horny black spines, like porcupine quills. The species I have described is found in the neighbourhood of the island of Ceram. Mr Hooker told us that it feeds chiefly on fallen fruits, and on insects or Crustacea. The female lays from three to five large eggs of a shagreen-green colour, upon a bed of leaves. The male and female sit alternately for about a month upon them. The articles we saw exposed for sale in the fair were chiefly pearl shell and the tripang, known also as the _beche-de-mer_; as also tortoise-shell, edible birds' nests, pearls, and birds of paradise, or rather their stuffed skins. The Malay traders had brought for sale, or to exchange with these articles, guns, swords, knives, choppers, tobacco, plates and basins, handkerchiefs, _sarongs_, calicoes, and arrack in bottles. Tea, coffee, sugar, and wine, were also to be seen; and even fancy goods, such as china ornaments, pipes and purses; umbrellas, razors, and looking-glasses; indeed, it is curious what a number of articles are found in this out-of-the-way spot, and many of them costing no more than they did in England.

These articles are exchanged for English calico, crockery, cutlery, fire-arms, gunpowder, gongs, and elephants' tusks. They not only buy muskets, but small brass guns, on which they set a high value. They also prize tobacco for chewing. We always slept on board, and the sound of the Malays' songs came across the water to a late hour of the night. The musical instruments we heard were tom-toms, Jews'-harps, and frequently fiddles. The Malays are a merry, vivacious people, and fond of several games. The most interesting was a game at football, which was generally played in the evening. The ball is small, made of ratan, hollow, elastic, and light. One of the players dances it for a short time on his foot, sometimes on his arm or thigh, and then striking it with the hollow of his foot, sends it flying high into the air. A player from the opposite side rushes forward, catches it on his foot in the same way, and returns it. The rule appeared to be that the ball should never be touched by the hand, but that the arms, shoulder, or knee may be employed. Far less satisfactory was their custom of cock-fighting. Steel spurs are used, as they were formerly in civilised England; and the spectators, who stand round in a ring, show their savage character by their fearful yells and leaps as they see their cocks likely to win or lose.

We saw shells used here for every purpose. Some of the magnificent volute shells were employed as baskets; while gigantic helmet shells, suspended by ratan handles, formed the vessels in which fresh water was brought from house to house.

I was delighted to find that Mr Hooker had resolved to make an excursion into the interior of the mainland for the sake of obtaining some birds of paradise. As the fatigue might be too great for the young ladies, they remained on board under charge of Frau Ursula; Oliver and I only accompanying him, with two native hunters, a trustworthy guide, and an interpreter who spoke Dutch. The natives of these islands, I should say, are Papuans, and in some parts are said to be very savage. They are expert archers, and are never seen without their bows and arrows. They shoot pigs and kangaroos with them, as well as all sorts of birds. We met some of the natives who came from the south islands, who were even more savage in appearance and manners than the rest. They wore a number of rude ornaments--one of comb, shaped like a horse-shoe, on their foreheads, the ends resting on the temples. The end of this ornament is fastened into a piece of wood, plated in front with tin; above it waves a plume of feathers of a cock's tail.

In the Aru Islands are found a number of birds of paradise, some, indeed, of the most beautiful, which I will describe shortly. _

Read next: Chapter 18. A Search For Birds Of Paradise

Read previous: Chapter 16. Our Perilous Escape

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