CERAM, or Sirang, an island of the East Indian Archipelago, situated to the west of New Guinea, and belonging to the Dutch Government of the Moluccas. It lies between 2° 45' 30" and 3° 30' 30" S. lat., and extends from 128° to 131° 10' E. long.; its greatest length is about 200 miles, its greatest breadth about 50, and its area upwards of 6000 square miles. It is divided into two parts, Great Ceram and Little Ceram or Huvamohel, united by the isthmus of Taruno; and, for administrative purposes, the eastern portion is assigned to the residency of Banda, while the western belongs to that of Amboyna. A chain of mountains traverses the island from east to west, and attains in various parts a height of upwards of 8000 feet. The loftiest summit—Nusa Keli—has an elevation of 9500 feet; and others of mark are Salagor, Trier, and Tomaehe. The coast is for the most part rocky and precipitous; but it is broken in several places by considerable bays, of which the most important are Hatuvi and Savaai on the north, and Huvamohel, Amahay, Nusa Laut, and Selan on the south. The country is well watered with streams, which are of very little use, however, for navigation or systematic irrigation. Several hot springs have been discovered, and earthquakes are not unfrequent. A largo part of the interior is covered with dense and gloomy forests, and except along the coasts the population is very scant. For the naturalist Ceram is a comparatively uninteresting island, without any characteristic species or abundance of specimens. The Bandanese pay occasional visits to shoot bears and deer; there are numbers of wild goats and cattle; and among the .birds are mentioned cassowaries, cockatoos, birds of paradise, and the swallows that furnish the edible nests. A large number of fish are to ...be found in the various rivers; and as early as 1860 no fewer than 213 species were described by Dr Bleeker in the Natuurkundig Tijdschrift υ. N. I. The most valuable timber trees are the iron-wood and the makila. Rice, maize, cocoa-nuts, sugar-cane, and a variety of fruits are grown; but by far the most important production is the sago palm, which grows abundantly in the swampy districts.
especially of Eastern Ceram, and furnishes a vast supply of food, not only to Ceram itself, but to other islands to the east. The Dutch settlers at Amboyna have recently established cocoa plantations at various points, and the Government encourages their formation. The inhabitants are mostly gathered in villages along the coast; they are partly native Alfuroes and partly immigrant Malays, with a considerable intermixture of Buginese, Macassars, Balinese, and other races of the archipelago. Christianity has been introduced in various districts, especially along the southern coast, but as yet with but little practical benefit. A baneful influence has been exerted by a secret society called the Kakian Union, to which pagans, Mahometans, and Christians indiscriminately attached themselves; and it has several times cost the Dutch authorities considerable efforts to frustrate their machinations. A full account of the union will be found in the fifth year of the Tijdschrift van Ned. Ind. The total population is estimated at 195,000, of whom the lands on the south coast contain 65,000, the lands on the north coast 40,000, and the south-western peninsula a large portion of the remainder. There was a Dutch fort at Kambello, on the west side of Little Ceram, as early as 1646. See Wallace’s Malay Archipelago, and Bickmore’s Eastern Archipelago.
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