174

THE MALDIVES.

the thermometer ranges from 80° to 90° F. in the day, and
is generally about 80° at night. There is always a pleasant
gea-breeze, which modifies the sun’s heat very much.
The Maldivians are a quiet hospitable people, though
inclined to be suspicious and reserved with foreigners
until they have become well acquainted with them ; once
their confidence is gained, however, they are extremely hospitable.
 They are generally intelligent-looking, and have a
much more pleasant expression than the inhabitants of
many other Eastern countries : frank, open faces, without
a trace of sullenness. They have a decidedly Arabian
caste of countenance, and are generally of a dark brown
complexion, though the people of Malé, the capital, are
much fairer.
The dress of the men is very simple, consisting generally
of a pair of cotton drawers and a waist cloth; some wear
besides a white shirt. They generally wear a coloured
handkerchief round the head, but the turban is not worn.
The priests and men of high caste generally wear along sort
of dress gown, reaching nearly to the ankles. The women’s
dress is much more elaborate and becoming ; the waist cloth
is of a dark brown colour with a border of black and white
stripes, over which is worn a loose-fitting coloured silk shirt
edged at the neck with gold or silver embroidery ; round the
head they twist a silk handkerchief matching the shirt in
colour.
Their food consists for the most part of rice, fish, and
cocoanut ; the meals are eaten after the manner of Orientals,
in silence, the women waiting first upon the men and afterwards
 taking their own meals separately.
The chief employments of the Maldivians are fishing,
collecting” cowries and tortoise-shell, gathering cocoanuts,
cloth and mat weaving, and turning and twisting eocoanut
fibre into coir yarn.
The trade of the Maldives all passes through Malé, whither
the inhabitants of the other islands bring their produce,
which they exchange for rice and other necessaries. The
exports consist of cocoanuts, coir yarn, dried and salted fish,
cowries, and tortoise-shell ; the imports are mostly articles
of food. The coir yarn from the Maldives is of a bright
golden colour (due to the quality of the water of the lagoons
in which the cotton husks are soaked) and commands a high
price in the market.
The exhibits, obtained from the Colombo Museum, are the
property of the Government of Ceylon.
The Hon. Mr. im Thurn and Mr. John Scott, C.C.S., show
photographs taken in the Maldives.