CHAPTER XXX.
THE ARU ISLANDS.— RESIDENCE IN DOBBO.
(JANUARY TO MARCH 1857.)
trading settlement of the Bugis and Chinese, who
annually visit the Aru Islands. It is situated on the
small island of Wamma, upon a spit of sand which
projects out to- the north, and is just wide enough to
contain three rows of houses. Though at first sight a
most strange and desolate-looking place to build a village
on, it has many advantages. There is a clear entrance
from the west among the coral reefs that border the land,
and there is good anchorage for vessels, on one side of the
village or the other, in both the east and west monsoons.
Being fully exposed to the sea-breezes in three directions
it is healthy, and the soft sandy beach offers great facilities
for hauling up the praus, in order to secure them from
sea-worms and prepare them for the homeward voyage.
At its southern extremity the sand-bank merges in the
beach of the island, and is backed by a luxuriant growth
of lofty forest. The houses are of various sizes, but are
all built after one pattern, being merely large thatched
sheds, a small portion of which, next the entrance, is used
as a dwelling, while the rest is parted off, and often
divided by one or two floors, in order better to stow away
merchandise and native produce.
As we had arrived early in the season, most of the
houses were empty, and the place looked desolate in the
extreme:—the whole of the inhabitants who received us
011 our landing amounting to about half-a-dozen Bugis and
Chinese. • Our captain, Herr Warzbergen, had promised
to obtain a house for me, but unforeseen difficulties presented
themselves. One which was to let had no roof,
and the owner, who was building it on speculation, could
not promise to finish it in less than a month. Another,
of which the owner was dead, and which I might therefore
take undisputed possession of as the first comer,
wanted considerable repairs, and no one could be found
to do the work, although about four times its value was
offered. The captain, therefore, recommended me to take
possession of a pretty good house near his own, whose
owner was not expected for some weeks; and as I was
anxious to be on shore, I immediately had it cleared out,
and by evening had all my things housed, and was
regularly installed as an inhabitant of Dobbo. I had
brought with me a cane chair, and a few light boards,