194 Timor. 



(Borassus flabelliformis), from the leaves of which are con- 

 structed the strong and durable water-buckets in general use, 

 and which are much superior to those formed from any other 

 species of palm. From the same tree, palm-wine and sugar 

 are made, and the common thatch for houses formed of the 

 leaves lasts six or seven years without removal. Close to the 

 town I noticed the foundation of a ruined house below high- 

 water mark, indicating recent subsidence. Earthquakes are 

 not severe here, and are so infrequent and harmless that the 

 chief houses are built of stone. 



The inhabitants of Coupang consist of Malays, Chinese, 

 and Dutch, besides the natives ; so that there are many strange 

 and complicated mixtures among the population. There is 

 one resident English merchant, and whalers as well as Austra- 

 lian ships often come here for stores and water. The native 

 Timorese preponderate, and a very little examination serves 

 to show that they have nothing in common with Malays, but 

 are much more closely allied to the true Papuans of the Aru 

 Islands and New Guinea. They are tall, have pronounced 

 features, large, somewhat aquiline noses, and frizzly hair, and 

 are generally of a dusky brown color. The way in which the 

 women talk to each other and to the men, their loud voices 

 and laughter, and general character of self-assertion, would 

 enable an experienced observer to decide, even without seeing 

 them, that they were not Malays. 



Mr. Arndt, a German, and the Government doctor, invited 

 me to stay at his house while in Coupang, and I gladly accej^t- 

 ed his offer, as I only intended making a short visit. We at 

 first began speaking French, but he got on so badly that we 

 soon passed insensibly into Malay ; and we afterward held long 

 discussions on literary, scientific, and philosophical questions, 

 in that semi-barbarous language, whose deficiencies we made 

 up by the free use of French or Latin words. 



After a few walks in the neighborhood of the town, I found 

 such a poverty of insects and birds that I determined to go 

 for a few days to the island of Semao, at the western extrem- 

 ity of Timor, where I heard that there was forest country with 

 birds not found at Coupang. With some diflSculty I obtain- 

 ed a large dug-out boat with outriggers to take me over, a 

 distance of about twenty miles. I found the country pretty 



