Having secured a letter of introduction from the government of Ceylon to the sultan, I chartered a schooner of about ninety tons, called the Josephine, and provisioned her for a long trip, as it was very uncertain when I would be able to get back, so treacherous are the currents in these seas. I engaged a European to navigate the schooner; and the native crew consisted of five men and two boys. I had likewise a cook and two boys for our own mess. The cabin was pretty roomy; but it was stuffy and hot, and full of all kinds of creeping things, so that I went into it as seldom as possible, and lived day and night under an awning on the poop. We had an uneventful voyage across, light winds and calms prevailing all the way, the only things that occurred to interest us being the glorious sunrises and sunsets. One night, however, when lying becalmed, we were startled out of sleep by a tremendous swishing of water, and there, two hundred yards from us, we saw a waterspout breaking up. The cloud was close down on the surface of the water, and condensation was so rapid that in twenty minutes it had entirely disappeared. By-and-by we sighted the north end of Mali Atoll; and here we first realised the force of the currents, for on trying to make our entrance into the lagoon, we were carried past the channel, and had to put about sharp, to avoid going on to the reef, on which the heavy swell from the open sea was breaking. We then ran for the channel between Mali and Gafor Atolls; and getting a pilot at the latter, we again tried to work into the lagoon in the former through a narrow opening. Here the schooner missed stays in one of our tacks; and before we could get way on her and try to get her round again, we were on the top of the reef. Luckily, we were in a sheltered position; but the current was running like a sluice, rendering us quite helpless; and the teeth-like points of live coral projecting upwards from the bottom looked very dangerous. Presently we caught on one; and dreading a capsize, we launched the boats at once; for there was not a point of the reef above water for miles, and no swimmer could have reached dry land in such a current. After a few anxious moments, the schooner swung free, and we dropped the anchor in a sort of pool. All the afternoon we were engaged in kedging out into the channel; and finally, after enormous labour, we got into deep water, where we anchored for the night.
The beauty of these coral reefs is something indescribable; nowhere else, either on sea or land, are such colours to be seen. On the inner edge, where there is considerable depth of water, the shade is of the deepest green; and as the water gets shallower towards the sea-face, it is lighter and lighter, till it is almost yellow just where the rollers form a fringe of white foam; and beyond all, there is the deep blue of the open sea. The whole has a sort of metallic sheen, wonderfully weird and unearthly. Curiously, too, it is only when there is a slight ripple that one can see the reefs at a distance from the deck of a vessel. When it is a dead calm, you cannot see them until you are close above them. On Gafor Atoll we saw the wreck of the screw steamer Seagull, lost some years ago, but still standing up on the reef, as when first she struck.
Next day we got into the lagoon, and with a fair wind, made rapid progress for a time; but the navigation was intricate, and it was next evening before we finally cast anchor at the Sultan’s island. The following day, I delivered my letter of introduction, and sent my presents to the sultan and the higher officials. During the next fortnight, whilst we lay at anchor, I received the greatest kindness and hospitality from the Maldivians; official visits were paid and returned, and all the time the sultan’s barge, rowed by sixteen men, was at my disposal. The barge was of great length, but narrow beam; and at the stern was a broad platform, projecting over the sides, with a stout post in the centre to hold on by—a necessary precaution, as the jerk of sixteen oars was very great. When I called at a house, no matter what was the hour, I was obliged to partake of tea and biscuits; and it was rather curious to see, in such remote and unfrequented places, tins of Huntley and Palmer and Peek Frean figuring on the table. After refreshments, capital Manilas were handed round, and Maltese cigarettes. On the officials returning my visits on board the schooner, the teapot was brought out; and it was a treat to see how my preserves and tinned fruits were enjoyed. But what pleased them most of all was a bottle of tonic water; and after tossing off the glass, they would rub their stomachs and say: ‘Pate ka waste bahut achcha hai,’ meaning, ‘Good for the stomach.’
The Maldivians are a quiet peaceable folk, very hospitable, though extremely afraid of Europeans, and averse from having intercourse with them. They are noted for their kindness to shipwrecked mariners; and have repeatedly earned the thanks of the Ceylon government for their conduct in this respect. They are of small stature. The women are rather inclined to plumpness, whilst many of them are very good-looking. In colour they are of a dark olive, and I noticed a good deal of mixture of race among them. They are strict Mohammedans; but the women are not kept in such seclusion as on the continent of India. Children were very numerous; and round, fat, healthy toddling things they were. The town of Mali is fairly well laid out, with good broad streets; and as the soil is pure sand, and only trodden by naked feet, cleanliness is the rule. In the houses, everything looks neat and in good order; but I must admit that I only saw those of the better class. The houses are mostly of wattle and daub, with thatched roofs overhanging the eaves; and the compounds were inclosed by a fence of cocoa-nut leaves, prettily plaited at the top.
The people live mostly on fish and rice. All the atolls swarm with various kinds of fishes, amongst which the bonito predominates; and they are very cheap. For one rupee we got almost as many as we liked to take; and for the same sum, were offered turtles that would have made an alderman’s mouth water. Cocoa-nuts abound of course; but plantains are scarce; and the only other fruits I saw were limes and melons.
The Maldivians are capital boat-builders. I was surprised to see the graceful lines of the smaller craft, and the skilful way they are handled, with the mat-sails, and heavy loads piled up above the gunwale. The sea-going vessels called dhonies are not so handsome; but their huge lateen sail looks very well; and we found that they could go closer to the wind and sail better than our Josephine, smart though she was, and esteemed the fastest schooner in Colombo.
Common cotton cloth is woven on the atolls, and Maldivian mats are justly celebrated for the beauty of their designs and harmonious colours. They are woven with a kind of rush on a warp of coir fibre. The exports from the islands consist principally of dried fish, cocoa-nuts, coir fibre and coir yarn. For imports, rice is the principal item, together with areca nuts, sugar, cotton cloth, &c.
The botany of the Maldives is very simple, the prevailing feature being cocoa-nut trees, which grow wherever there is foothold for them. I saw also the bread-fruit tree, and several members of the Ficus tribe, such as Elastica Indica, Ficus religiosa, banian, &c.; also the common bamboo, sumach, Thespesia propulnea, Plumiera, tapeta, cassava or Manioc colocasias, &c. Roses were cultivated with some success. No doubt, most of the trees have been imported, though the ocean currents must also have conveyed seeds from other countries.
Of animals, there are no indigenous species. The sultan has a few imported cows of the Brahminee kind; and a horse, a present from the Ceylon government some years ago. Goats are plentiful. I saw neither dog nor cat; but a kind of rat is said to commit great havoc among the cocoa-nut trees, which they climb, and destroy the nuts. Lizards swarm in immense numbers; and when going along with a crowd, one could hardly step without putting one’s foot on a fat long-tailed specimen. Of birds there were a great many of the aquatic kind, gulls, gannets, noddies, herons, &c., and among land-birds, of course the ubiquitous crow soon makes its appearance. The kite also is seen sailing about and picking up any garbage that comes in its way. Plovers, sandpipers, &c., are also said to frequent the group; but I saw none of them. Of fishes, sharks are plentiful; and the bonito literally swarms in the lagoons. We saw also several varieties of the perch, the wrasse, &c. Turtles abound.
The configuration of the Maldive group is singular, the northern and southern portions lying in a single line of atolls, whilst in the centre there is a double row. Nearly all are of an oval shape, with the longest axis north and south. They all consist of an annular ring of coral reef, a quarter to half a mile broad, with a lagoon in the centre, of the almost uniform depth of twenty-three to twenty-five fathoms. There are many openings from the open sea to the interior, through which the currents rush with great violence. The soundings on the outer face of the reef are about two hundred and fifty to three hundred fathoms sheer, whilst at a cable’s length from the edge they are still more profound. On the inner edge, the reef drops sheer to the usual depth of the lagoon. In some of the narrow channels between the atolls you get four or five fathoms on one side of the vessel, when you can see the smallest object on the white bottom; and on the other side the line goes down to a hundred fathoms. All through the lagoons there are numerous islands dotted about, forming beautiful objects in the placid blue waters, with their pure white strip of sandy beach; then a margin of scrubby jungle, the centre being filled up with a dense thicket of cocoa-nut trees. There are also numerous patches of reefs, some of them perfect little atolls.