SOLOR and ALOR ISLANDS, a group of islands between Flores and Timor, an eastward extension of Flores, one of the Lesser Sunda islands, in the Dutch East Indies. They are from west to east Solor, Adunara (both small), Lomblen, Pantar and Alor (the largest). Alor, divided from Timor by Ombai passage, 17 m. wide, is very mountainous (Mt. Kolana in the east, is 6,000 ft. and Mt. Muna, in the south-west, is 4,68o ft., both old vol canoes), and is much broken up by steep ravines, with only one plateau, and some small coastal plains. It is mostly covered with low trees and alang alang grass. The coast is mostly rocky, with few indentations, but on the west coast, Kalabahi bay, 10 m. long and nearly a mile wide, divides a north-western promontory from the rest of the island, with which it is connected by a very low alluvial isthmus about 21 m. wide. Pantar is high (Mt. Laki in the south is 4,45o ft.), with a rugged coast ; Lomblen has moun tains in the north and south (Mt. Kedang in the north-east is 4,979 ft. and Mt. Lamahero in the south is 3,35o ft.), one of which Lobetola (5,400 f t.) is an active volcano; Adunara has a volcano, Ili Buleng (5,446 ft.), in the south-east and a plateau, ringed with hills, reaching 3,00o ft. ; Solor is hilly aim All the islands are attached, administratively, to the residency of Timor and De pendencies. Alor (including Pantar) has a Gezaghebber; the other islands come under the Controleur of East Flores. Alor has a population of about 5o,000, resembling the natives of Timor, a warlike race of strong physique, suspicious of strangers, fond of hunting and fishing (bow and arrow the chief weapon) and leaving agriculture to the women and children, but direct Dutch rule is curbing the warlike spirit. Villages, in the hills, are in well-nigh inaccessible positions, with strong bamboo fences, the houses being on piles, and solidly built ; houses on the coast are better built. Most of the people are pagans (some Mohammedans live in the north-west), the mountain folk being divided into tribes, worship ping animals (snakes and crocodiles), observing pomali (Tabu), growing rice, maize, tobacco, fruit and vegetables, and keeping pigs. Clothing, except at places along the coast, is very primitive. The coastal folk weave sarongs. Many tongues are spoken, differing greatly. Pantar has about 8,000 people, in the northern part of the island, pagans, tall and strongly-built, with Mohammedans on the coast. Conditions of life, etc., resemble those of Alor, but Pantar is poor, and the people often emigrate to Timor. Houses and villages
are scattered and unfenced. As in Alor, many languages are spoken, one an Alorese. The population of Lomblen, Adunara and Solor is estimated at 70,000, the people being Malayo-Papuan (Wallace terms them "of dark Papuan type"), with dark skin, curly hair and strong frame. Agriculture and fishing are practised; many coco-nut trees are found on Lomblen and Adunara; the Lomblen folk weave sarongs and build boats, and all three islands have smiths. Horses, buffaloes and chickens are kept. In coastal villages houses are on the steep hill-side, almost overhanging the water. Inland villages are larger and grouped about a square, in which stands a large tree, and sometimes a round platform, where feasts are celebrated. Under European influence the de fensive method of village- and house-planning tends to disappear, houses being built on flat ground. Each village has its barns and pomali house. Stone-carved seats for graves are known, also stone offering-places. The Adunara people prize very greatly ele phants' teeth, imported, in earlier days, from Further India. Marriage is by dowry, the woman having no freedom of choice, and young girls are so highly prized that kidnapping is known on Lomblen and Adunara. The standard of married morality is high. In one part of Lomblen, some time after burial, the head is dug up and preserved in a shed. The languages spoken vary considerably from those of Alor. There is communication with Dilly, in Portuguese Timor, and with Flores and Macassar, by vessels of the Royal Packet Navigation company, calling at Kalabahi, in Alor and at Waiwerang, in Adunara. A Portuguese claim to Larantuka, in East Flores, and the Solor islands, led the Dutch, in 1757, when there was a fear lest the Portuguese should cede Larantuka to the French, to send an agent to Solor to acquire the island for the Dutch East India company, but Portuguese claims to both Solor and Adunara were not given up until 1848, when a Dutch agent was sent to Lawajong, in Solor, to recruit labour, and the treaty between Holland and Portugal by which Larantuka, Solor, Adunara, Alor and Pantar, were sur rendered was not ratified until, 1859, though Dutch garrisons were placed in Larantuka and Lawajong in 1851. Disturbances at Lawajong in 1889 compelled the Dutch official there to withdraw to Larantuka, and in 1909 armed intervention in Solor became necessary, after which Solor, Adunara and Lomblen were formed into a subdivision and included in the province of the Civil Gov ernor of East Flores. (E. E. L.)