Maldives

“ The Maldives, for example, which lie a little distance to the southwest of Hindostan, form a continuous chain, running due north and south, four hundred and seventy miles in length and fifty miles in breadth. Each successive link in this chain does not consist, as might be supposed, of a single circular reef, but it is rather a ring of small coral islets, sometimes more than a hundred in number, each of which is itself a perfect Atoll or lagoon island such as we have just described. ”

“ The orange-coloured waters, the strong effluvium of the waves intoxicating the brain, the wild headlands of Africa—each the dwelling of a necromancer—the Maldives, filled with mermaids and sea-monsters, the volcanic blaze that guarded the entrance to the Red Sea, the fiery mountains of Aden, the Hadramant, or region of Death, the Babelmandeb, or Gate of Tears, the Isle of Perim, and the Cape of Burials, wild, black, and terrific—fill the Arab imagination with wonders that throw all modern invention to an immeasurable distance. ”

“ The hereditary sultan of the archipelago is tributary to the British government of Ceylon. The population of the Maldives is estimated at 30,000. All are Mahommedans. By Messrs. Gardiner and Cooper they are classed in four ethnological divisions. (1) Those of the atolls north of the Kardiva Channel. Here the reefs are generally less perfect than elsewhere, seldom forming complete central lagoons, and as they were formerly exposed to the constant attacks of the Mopla pirates from India, the people are hardier and more vigorous than their less warlike southern neighbours. ”

“ The rocks of the Maldives are composed of sandstone formed of broken shells and corals, such as may be obtained in a loose state from the beach, and which is seen when exposed for a few days to the air to become hardened. ”

“ Bell's Report on Maldive Islands, Colombo, 1882, p. 93, where there is an account of the preparation. It is the Maldive kalu-bili-mās, 'black-bonito-fish.' The second word corresponds to the Singhalese balayā.
c. 1345.—"Its flesh is red, and without fat, but it smells like mutton. When caught each fish is cut in four, slightly boiled, and then placed in baskets of palm-leaf, and hung in the smoke. When perfectly dry it is eaten. From this country it is exported to India, China, and Yemen. It is called Kolb-al-mās."—Ibn Batuta (on Maldives) , iv. ”

“ Economy Maldives Economy - overview: Tourism, Maldives' largest industry, accounts for 20% of GDP and more than 60% of the Maldives' foreign exchange receipts. Over 90% of government tax revenue comes from import duties and tourism-related taxes. Fishing is a second leading sector. The Maldivian Government began an economic reform program in 1989 initially by lifting import quotas and opening some exports to the private sector. ”

“ In the year 1512, a Portuguese navigator was shipwrecked on the Maldives: he found them already in the occasional possession of the Arabians, who came thither for the cocoa fibres, of which they formed their cordage, and the cowries, which circulated as money from Bengal to Siam. The Portuguese derived from them immense quantities of these cowries, with which they traded to Guinea, Congo, and Benin. On their conquest, they obliged the sovereigns of this island to pay them tribute in cinnamon, pearls, precious stones, and elephants. ”

“ The Laccadives and Maldives are groups of small coral islands, 737 situated along the 73rd meridian at no great distance from the Indian peninsula on which they have a political dependency.
The portion of Asia west of British India excluding Arabia and Syria forms another extensive plateau covering an area as large as that of Tibet though at a much lower altitude. Its southern border runs along the Arabian Sea, the Persian The Nearer East. ”

“ These islands are about 900 miles distant from the Maldives; and as Garcias ab Horto, in the sixteenth century, supposed, the nuts, many of which grow on rocky precipices overhanging the sea, drop into the waves, and are transported by the prevailing currents to other shores. It is a remarkable fact, that the trees will not flourish on any other of the adjacent islands of the Seychelles group. Many have been planted, but they merely vegetate, and are wretchedly inferior to the splendid natural trees of Praslin and Curieuse. ”

“ Maldives does not maintain an embassy in the US, but does have a UN mission in New York; US—the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka is accredited to Maldives and makes periodic visits there; US Consular Agency, Mahduedurage, Violet Magu, Henveru, Male; telephone 2581
Flag: red with a large green rectangle in the center bearing a vertical white crescent; the closed side of the crescent is on the hoist side of the flag
Economy ”

“ In the Low Archipelago one atoll was found, in the space of only thirty-four years, to have been transformed from a mere rock-reef to a lagoon island, fourteen miles in length, with tall trees growing along almost the whole of one side.
As a specimen of the sizes to which coral-buildings reach, the Maldive Archipelago may be named. It is a vast collection of islands and reefs, stretching to a length of four hundred and [p. 172] seventy miles, and in parts fifty miles broad. Barrier-reefs, reaching through many hundreds of miles, are even more remarkable. ”

“ There is one group, among the nearest to India, which through all the changes of Portuguese, Dutch and British occupation has succeeded in maintaining a partial independence. The northernmost of the Maldive islands are only about four hundred miles from the coast of Ceylon, within easy reach not only of the road from Africa and the Seychelles to India, but also of the more important road from Arabia, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf to the Malay Archipelago and the Far East. ”

“ 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. ”

“ We had passed Ceylon, catching a glimpse of the distant island and a whiff of the spicy breeze offshore, and were nearing the treacherous chain of coral reefs known as the Maldive Islands, when I came up from the cabin after dinner for a stroll on deck. The evening sky glowed with the beauty of a rich sunset such as is rarely seen outside the tropics. ”

“ Although the Malay voyagers remain veiled in the twilight which clouds the verge of authentic history, the track of their keels may yet be followed through the conflicting currents of that hitherto unknown ocean which they opened to a future world. The forests and fishing grounds of every coast and island still support the manifold divisions of the nomadic race which forms the substratum of island life, and the star of hope which led them onward, shone for many subsequent adventurers across those Southern seas which aroused the energies and ambitions of later ages. ”

“ The atoll is growing outwards on every side, and at one place rises 19 ft. above sea-level. The population, which numbers about 3000, is sharply divided into five castes, of which the three highest are pure Maldivians, the lower two the same as in the Laccadives. ”

“ A strong breeze carried us quickly along; and one morning, when I came on deck, I found that we were standing through the Straits of Madura, the shore of that island exhibiting a belt of the richest tropical vegetation, white cliffs and lofty rocks appearing here and there above it, while the Java coast seemed very low, and bordered by extensive mangrove swamps. As we approached the anchorage, we saw rows of fishing-stakes projecting half way across the straits, and many boats and prahus, and a considerable number of square-rigged vessels, some of them being Dutch men-of-war. ”

“ To reach the opening into the lagoon you have to run on to the end of the sandbank, where there is a peninsula on which is built the Port Royal so famous in West Indian story. Halfway down among the palms the lighthouse stands, from which a gun was fired as we passed, to give notice that the English mail was coming in. Treacherous coral reefs rise out of the deep water for several miles, some under water and visible only by the breakers over them, others forming into low wooded islands. Only local pilots can take a ship safely through these powerful natural defence works. ”

“ The red road mounts through enchanting vistas of palms and creepers, on the edge of the dark [237] jungle, each turning point bringing a whiff of cooler air, as the evening gold flickers through the velvety fronds of tree-ferns, and the green feathers of spreading bamboos. From the white hotel near the summit, the blue Straits and the flats of Province Wellesley, the English portion of the Malay Peninsula, stand out against the frowning ridge of mountains, for black thunder-clouds continually brood over Malacca. ”

“ A temporary camp for drying the sea-slugs of commerce, a refuge for their crafts when the sudden storms of the tropics broke loose, met all their requirements. It is to the Malay ancestors of the men whose proas are still to be found fishing among the outlying reefs of the north, that we must look for the first discoverers of our island continent, and failing all written record or existing monument of their doings, search amongst the natives themselves for confirmation of the fact. ”

“ Northward, along the leeward coast of Malaita, the Ariel worked her leisurely way, threading the colour-riotous lagoon that lay between the shore-reefs and outer-reefs, daring passages so narrow and coral-patched that Captain Winters averred each day added a thousand grey hairs to his head, and dropping anchor off every walled inlet of the outer reef and every mangrove swamp of the mainland that looked promising of cannibal life. ”

“ When one has driven through the old town of Batavia and seen its crowded bazaars and streets, and has followed the lines of bricked canals, where small natives splash and swim, women beat the family linen, and men go to and fro in tiny boats, all in strange travesty of the solemn canals of the old country, he comes to the broader avenues of the new town, lined with tall tamarind- and waringen-trees, with plumes of palms, and pyramids of blazing Madagascar flame-trees in blossom. ”

“ Delicious the climate, enchanting the scenery, of the islands of the Indian Archipelago! crowded as they are, from the water’s edge to their very summit, with luxuriant foliage, and offering to the vision a richness of tint unknown in other regions; nevertheless, to two youngsters longing for activity, and the free and natural use of their legs, a voyage along the coast-line of Java, cribbed, cabined and confined in a comparatively small craft, and manned by natives, who, either from ignorance or obstinacy, insist upon hugging the shore and never losing sight of land, was very monotonous. ”

“ Instead of the violet mountain peaks, wreathed with flying vapour, the lowlands rich with pineapple, banana, orange, and mango, the picturesque beach bordered by groves of feathery cocoanuts and quaint heavy-fruited pandanus trees, that one finds in such groups as the Society, Navigator’s, Hawaiian, and Cook Islands, Malden consists simply of an immense white beach, a little settlement fronted by a big wooden pier, and a desolate plain of low greyish-green herbage, relieved here and there by small bushes bearing insignificant yellow flowers. Water is provided by great condensers. ”

“ Amphibious tastes suggest picturesque traditions of prolonged voyaging in search of fresh fishing grounds to supply the needs of a rapidly multiplying population. A strong Malay element exists even in far-off Japan, and the wide ramifications of the nomadic stock can be traced to broad rivers encountered on the southward journey, and luring stragglers from the main body by the mysterious glamour of winding water-ways piercing the tangled forests, and pointing to unknown realms of hope or promise. ”

“ These islets or atolls (detached coral reefs,) to the number of at least 12,000, descend into the Indian Ocean from Cape Comorin as far as the equator. The worthy Pyrard relates his shipwreck, the flight of a portion of his companions in captivity in the archipelago, and his long sojourn of seven years upon the Maldive Islands, a stay rendered almost agreeable by the pains which he took to acquire the native language. He had plenty of time to learn the manners, customs, religion, and industries of the inhabitants, as well as to study the productions and climate of the country. ”

“ Before him rise majestic mountains with their luxuriant virgin forests, from which the steep, smooth mountain-tops come peering forth; wide-spreading plains, rich with sugar-cane plantations, bright with green foliage all the year round; and the azure sea, whose foaming waves fringe the coast with a margin of white foam—a wondrous landscape, wanting only a few rivers to make its beauty perfect.
The island does not suffer from want of water, but is too small to possess a real river; this, however, has not prevented the inhabitants from dignifying some of the larger streamlets with that title. ”