Tell us more about the varieties of the South Sea! Are those their farm names? I love it when I don't guess right-- means I'll learn something!
I wish I knew them all down to the farm but I don't. This is from the Eastern Tradewinds website:
"Tanimbarkei / Kei Islands South Sea Pearls
Tanimbarkei / Kei Islands / Maluku Islands (Moluccas) / Indonesia - The remotest place on earth!
The pristine and mineral rich saltwater of the Kei Islands produces these rare and unusual lustrous colors.
The tiny island of Tanimbarkei is part of the Kei Islands and inhabited by less than 1000 very traditional people. Half of the
population calls themselves Hindus, but in fact are more or less practicing ancestor worship.
The Kai Islands (also Kei Islands) of Indonesia are in the south-eastern part of the Maluku Islands, in Maluku Province.
Inhabitants called the islands Nuhu Evav (Evav Islands) or Tanat Evav (Evav Land), but known as Kei for people from
neighborhood islands. "Kai" is actually a Dutch colonial era spelling, still persisting in books based on old resources. The
islands are south of the Bird's Head Peninsula of New Guinea, west of the Aru Islands, and northeast of the Tanimbar Islands.
The small group called Tayandu Islands (also Tahayad) is just west.
The Kei islands are made up of numerous islands.
Kei Besar is mountainous and densely forested. Kei Kecil has the biggest population, and is flat. Actually it is a lifted coral
reef. The capital is the town of Tual. Kei is famous for the beauty of its beaches and pristine waters.
The Kei islands are part of Wallacea, the group of Indonesian islands that are separated by deep water from both the Asian
and Australian continental shelves, and were never linked to either continent. As a result, the Kei Islands have few native
mammals.
Local history holds that ancestors of contemporary Kei islanders came from Bali, part of the expanding Majapahit kingdom
from the western archipelago. The village of Letvuan on Kei Kecil or Nuhuroa Island was the first place that the Balinese royal
family and the army arrived, where they stayed with the local residents. As a result, Letvuan became a seat of government,
where the local law (Larvul Ngabal) - Red Blood and Balinese Spear - is developed by the initiative of the royal princess Dit
Sakmas. Evidence of these ties on Kei Kecil and especially in Letvuan include an inheritance and a harbor named Bal Sorbay
(Bali Surabaya) that is the place where the royals arrived. It is recognized by kai islanders that some of their ancestors also
came from another places such as Sumbawa Island (Sumbau), Buton (Vutun) in Sulawesi, Seram (Seran) and Gorom (Ngoran)
islands in Central Moluccas, and Sultanates of Jailolo (Dalo) and Ternate (Ternat) as well."
I think it's fascinating that this area is isolated from Asia and Australia by deep water and was never attached to either.
