Arru Islands

Arru Islands, a group of over eighty islands in the Dutch East Indies, lying west of New Guinea, with a united area of about 2650 sq. m., and a population of some 15,000. The largest island is Tanna-Besar (77 miles long by 50 broad). The surface is low, and the coasts are steep and inaccessible, on the east side fringed with coral reefs. The soil is covered with the most luxuriant vegetation. The islands are remarkably rich in animal life, especially birds, mostly related to those of New Guinea. The inhabitants resemble the Melanesians of New Guinea more than the natives of the Moluccas. On the ground of this inclination to the Papuan type, in connection with the peculiar formation of the Archipelago, Wallace has advanced the supposition that the Arru Islands formed originally a part of New Guinea. There is an active trade, but not in native hands. Cotton and woollen goods, iron and copper wares, Chinese pottery, knives, rum, rice, opium, and arrack are imported, and bartered for mother-of-pearl, trepang, edible nests, pearls, tortoise-shell, and the skins of birds of paradise.