At daylight on the 5th we entered the strait between the greater and lesser Ki, the shores on both sides of which are lined with small patches of cultivation.  During the day we observed several small detached reefs, and at sunset anchored on a reef, extending from the north end of the lesser Ki, in thirteen fathoms.

KI DOULAN.

April 6.

After breakfast, I started with some of the officers to visit Ki Doulan, the principal village in the lesser Ki, and sent another boat to sound towards a small island to the westward.  After leaving the brig we passed a luxuriant grove of coconut trees, extending along the beach, under the shade of which we saw several villages, where the natives were busily employed building boats.

A pull of three miles brought us to the town of Ki Doulan, situated near the beach, and surrounded by a stone wall, which had every appearance of antiquity.  On the sea side, where the wall was in its best state of preservation, there were three gates leading towards the beach, but accessible only by means of ladders four or five feet high, which could easily be removed in case of attack.  The stones forming the sides of the central gateway were ornamented by rude bas-reliefs, representing figures on horseback; and the gate itself, formed of hard wood, and strong enough to keep out any party not provided with artillery, was richly carved.

NATIVES OF KI DOULAN.

Within the walls there was a considerable space in which the houses were built without any regularity, resembling those at Oliliet, with the exception of the carved horns at the gable.  We visited the chief’s, and found it tolerably clean:  it consisted of one storey only; the high-pitched roof being used as a storeroom, to the rafters of which all sorts of miscellaneous articles were suspended.  The chief himself, who was an old man, dressed in the black serge denoting his rank, was very civil, and offered us arrack and cocoa nuts.  The natives of this group differ considerably from those of Arru, and more resemble those of Timor Laut, but are not so much inclined to treachery.  The population is said to amount to 8 or 10,000.

Christianity has not made the same progress here as at Arru, and many of the natives profess the Mahometan faith, to which they have been converted by the Mahometans of Ceram, who have several priests in the islands.

They pay great attention to cultivation, and produce considerable quantities of coconut oil of a superior quality.  Tortoise-shell is also found, but their chief source of trade consists in the number of boats and proas, of various sizes, they build of the timber which abounds in both islands.  Outside the walls we noticed several burial places; and in a small shed, not very highly ornamented, was a rude figure of a man, nearly the size of life, holding a spear in his hand; and near this shed was a building resembling the one at Ki Illi, but much smaller, and very much out of repair.  On the beach two Macassar proas were hauled up to repair, and their crews had erected houses, similar to those at Arru, for the purpose of carrying on their trade.  The boats, of which the natives had great numbers in every stage of construction, were more highly finished than those at Ki Illi, but of the same form.