h suddenly
changed to north-east, and induced me to turn again southward in the
hopes that this was the commencement of a few days' favourable weather.
We sailed on very well in the direction of Teor for about an hour,
after which the wind shifted to WSW., and we were driven much out of our
course, and at nightfall found ourselves in the open sea, and full
ten miles to leeward of our destination. My men were now all very much
frightened, for if we went on we might be a. week at sea in our little
open boat, laden almost to the water's edge; or we might drift on to
the coast of New Guinea, in which case we should most likely all be
murdered. I could not deny these probabilities, and although I showed
them that we could not get back to our starting-point with the wind
as it was, they insisted upon returning. We accordingly put about, and
found that we could lay no nearer to Uta than to Teor; however, by great
good luck, about ten o'clock we hit upon a little coral island, and lay
under its lee till morning, when a favourable change of wind brought us
back to Uta, and by evening (April 18th) we reached our first anchorage
in Matabello, where I resolved to stay a few days, and then return to
Goram. It way with much regret that I gave up my trip to Ke and the
intervening islands, which I had looked forward to as likely to make up
for my disappointment in Ceram, since my short visit on my voyage to Aru
had produced me so many rare and beautiful insects.

The natives of Matabello are almost entirely occupied in making cocoanut
oil, which they sell to the Bugis and Goram traders, who carry it to
Banda and Amboyna. The rugged coral rock seems very favourable to the
growth of the cocoa-nut palm, which abounds over the whole island to the
very highest points, and produces fruit all the year round. Along with
it are great numbers of the areca or betel-nut palm, the nuts of which
are sliced, dried, and ground into a paste, which is much used by the
betel-chewing Malays and Papuans. All the little children here even
such as can just run alone, carried between their lips a mass of the
nasty-looking red paste, which is even more disgusting than to see them
at the same age smoking cigars, which is very common even before they
are weaned. Cocoa-nuts, sweet potatoes, an occasional sago cake, and the
refuse nut after the oil has been extracted by boiling, form the chief
sustenance of these people; and the effect of this poor and unwholesome