IN TIMOR'LAUT. m^ 



o 



reputation and witliout the possibility of coinnumicating with 

 civilisation for at least tliree months to come. 



We found the Postholder a native of one of the Mohirciis 



Islands, left here by the Eosident in the boginninj^ of i\lav, 



fairly well house<l ; but he told us he liad sufTered terribly 



from fever. He was good enougli to let us a room, uud to 



allow us to store our baggage under the verandah of his house 



till we should obtain one of our uwn. We then sauutered out 



through the village, wliich is situated on the foreshore against 



aclitT; the houses resembled those fignrod in Captain Owen 



Stanley's narrative already referred to. They were arranged 



more or less in irregular streets, with their gables as a rule to 



the sea, to allow of their praus being run up under tliem, 



though in many cases separate slieds were erected for them. 



All round the village we found a high strong palisade, with a 



portion removable, however, on the shore side in the daytime. 



In attempting to pass out by the landward gateway we wore at 



once restrained by several of the villagers following us, who 



pointed to the ground in an excited manner, demonstrating to 



us its surface everywhere set Avitli sh:irp;;ned bamboo si)Ikes, 



except along a narrow footpath. Their gestures iustantly 



opened our eyes, with an impleasant shock, to the truth that 



we were environed by enemies, and the village was standing 



on its defence. 



Outside the gate we catered under a cocoa-nut forest, among 



ferns {Asplenium, Pteris, and Polt/jjodium), Clcrodendrous, low 

 Solanums and ^lalvaceous shrubs, which grew densely over 

 the coral foreshore of the island, in front of the abrupt (^lifT-^. 

 along whose sunny bases I saw several butterflies unknown to 

 me and new to science; but— not possessing culrassed limbs 

 which could despise the bayonet crop that overspread the 

 ground, from which in that climate even a slight wound pro- 

 duces often the most serious results— many of them defied our 

 deftest attempts to ensnare. The first specimen I netted was 

 a new Swallow-tail butterfly {Papilio ahrrrans), and tlie first 

 beetle a gorgeous golden Buprestid {Ctfphogaalra sj)lendcns). 



Turning in another direction, breaking through gigantic 

 maises an'd walls of sinders' webs, we ascended the IjIuIT of 

 wliichi have spoken, on which grew some Papilionaceons trees 

 of considerable hei<?ht, along with Erythrinas and others I 'lid 



