FEVER AND WRECK

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 133, 2 December 1935, Page 5

FEVER AND WRECK

HAUNT THE MALDIVES

OCEAN ARCHIPELAGO

The Maldive Islands lack a sultan. Until recently this Indian Ocean archipelago had a ruler, Sultan Shamsudeen Iskander, who paid tribute to the British Government of Ceylon, says an overseas paper. Caught trying to substitute an absolute monarchy for the established representative Government of the Maldives, he has been dethroned by King George V.

Dreamers who long for an idyllic island existence would find their dreams punctured by a visit to tho Maldive Islands. Numbering over 2000, they pepper the Indian Ocean 400 miles south-west of Ceylon. Passengers on steamsrs approaching them are amazed to see tall coconut palms, some of them 110 ft high, apparently growing out of the blue water. The reason for this illusion is that most of 'the islands are not more than sft or 6ft above sea level.'

■• Their hot, unvarying temperature and their many marshes and lagoons have made. them notoriously unhealthy. Islanders sutler intermittently from fever : and occasionally from beriberi, elephantiasis, ague, eye diseases, and other afflictions. Tourists are warned against sleeping on the islands, as they, even more than natives, fall prey to, strange complaints. Poor climate,. more than anything else, has hindered the development of j these lands, especially their foreign intercourse. HABITABLE ISLANDS. Only 217 of the 2000 islands are habi*-! able, and not all of these have good drinking water. Much of it is brackish, and natives have to catch rain water whenever possible. On uninhabited Wataru Reef, the water in the wells rises and falls with the tide and is drinkable only at low tide.

The rich black soil of the islands is conducive to growing many crops. Coconuts and bread fruit trees are raised extensively. Sugar cane, almond trees, a small amount of cotton and millet, and several semitropical fruits and vegetables are grown. But even agriculture in the Maldives has its drawbacks. Natives have to fight armies o£ rats which menace their coconut crops. All the rice consumed must be imported, and is so expensive that only the wealthy can afford it.

I The Maldive Islands ai-e sprinkled over an area approximately 470 miles north and south by 70 miles east and west. Many of them have been built up above sea level by centuries of coral activity; a lew have "been uplifted suddenly by earth movement. Encircling most of the nineteen atolls, or clusters of islands, are barrier reefs, coral patches, rocks, and submerged islands, which make navigation difficult. In the deep channels between atolls, currents run with dangerous velocity, especially during the monsoon season. FOUNDED TO PIECES. boats shoot skilfully through narrow openings in reefs to safe anchorage in lagoons, but foreign sail boats and steamers are often flammed on the reefs and in a few hours pounded to pieces by the violent surf. Minicoy Island, 69 miles north of the Maldives proper, is in the direct path of ships sailing from the Red, Sea to the east. In spite of. its lighthouse erected in 1885, Minicoy has been the cause of many wrecks. So frequent are wrecks on this andjather Maldive Islands that the Governor of Ceylon, in granting Ceylon's and therefore Britain's protection to the Maldives, stipulated that in return the islanders must aid all Europeans wrecked on their atolls. In spite of bad climate, bad water, and other obstacles that would discourage most people, the' 80,000 Maldive islanders live fairly comfortably. Most of them are short, dark copper in colour, intelligent, and industrious. They weave their own cloth and make their own boats and nautical instruments. They are skilled, navigators and spend much time on .the water fishing for bonito. Several of the islands maintain training schools for sailors. Maldivians are Mohammedans and occasionally make pilgrim voyages to the * Red Sea. FROM SULTAN'S ISLE. Native products are peddled among the islands in native boats, but all trading with foreign countries is done from* Male Island, capital of the group. Male, or Sultan's island, is one of the nine inhabited islands of a group of 50 which' comprise Male atoll. On its small surface, less than one square mile in extent,, are crowded trees, houses along sandy streets, forts, the Sultan's tomb, and the dethroned Sultan's well-enthroned palace. One thousand of its approximate 5000 inhabitants, are soldiers. ' ' Coral patches and tide rips make one side of Male Island inaccessible, but the harbour on its east side, protected by a rough breakwater, is good. Once a month two-masted sailing vessels leave for Colombo, Ceylon, with mail, reaching there in three days if the monsoon winds are favourable, sometimes not for thirty days, if they unfavourable. In August or September boats leave for Ceylon and Calcutta, India, carrying principally coir i yarn.

Male Island reaches its peak of .activity and excitement when the annual foreign traders call in March. Natives who have brought their products from other atolls gather on the shore to hail with delight ships from Ceylon, Sumatra, and Chittagong, India. Duty, consisting of bags of rice, red handkerchiefs, and other commodities such as onions, coriander seed and cummin seed, was formerly presented to. the Sultan and his Government officials.

To watch Maldivians do their equivalent of Christmas shopping is to witness a colourful sight. Foreign traders purchase from them large quantities of bonito, which is in great demand in Sumatra and Ceylon. They also buy tortoise shells, coconuts, coir yarn, woven grass mats, and cowrie shells used as currency by some Asiatics. In return the islanders receive rice, dates, salt, curry-stuff,'leaf tobacco, and betel nuts. They prize red and white checked handkerchiefs, coarse white cloth, and coloured waist cloths. Chinaware and Indian pottery go over big Although they make a kind of sugar from coconuts, they are glad to get coarse brown sugar. They will also tradgl their cowrie shells for small quantities of steel, thread, and brass wire.