206 Timor. 



could be cheaply transported to the coast. Under such a sys- 

 tem the natives would soon perceive that European govern- 

 ment was advantageous to them. They would begin to save 

 money, and property being rendered secure, they would rapid- 

 ly acquire new wants and new tastes, and become large con- 

 sumers of European goods. This would be a far surer source 

 of profit to their rulers than imposts and extortion, and would 

 be at the same time more likely to produce peace and obedi- 

 ence, than the mocTc-military rule which has hitherto proved 

 most ineffective. To inaugurate such a system would, how- 

 ever, require an immediate outlay of capital, which neither 

 Dutch nor Portuguese seem inclined to make, and a number 

 of honest and energetic officials, which the latter nation at 

 least seems unable to produce ; so that it is much to be feared 

 that Timor will for many years to come remain in its present 

 state of chronic insurrection and misgovernment. 



Morality at Delli is at as low an ebb as in the far interior 

 of Brazil, and crimes are connived at which would entail in- 

 famy and criminal prosecution in Europe. While I was there 

 it was generally asserted and believed in the place that two 

 officers had poisoned the husbands of women with whom they 

 were carrying on intrigues, and with whom they immediately 

 cohabited on the death of their rivals. Yet no one ever 

 thought for a moment of showing disapprobation of the crime, 

 or even of considering it a crime at all, the husbands in ques- 

 tion being low half-castes, who of course ought to make way 

 for the pleasures of their superiors. 



Judging from what I saw myself and by .the descriptions 

 of Mr. Geach, the indigenous vegetation of Timor is poor and 

 monotonous. The lower ranges of the hills are everywhere 

 covered with scrubby Eucalypti, which only occasionally grow 

 into lofty forest-trees. Mingled with these in smaller quanti- 

 ties are acacias and the fragrant sandal- wood, while the high- 

 er mountains, which rise to about six or seven thousand feet, 

 are either covered with coarse grass or are altogether barren. 

 In the lower grounds are a variety of weedy bushes, and open 

 waste places are covered eveiywhere with a nettle-like wild 

 mint. Here is found the beautiful crown lily (Gloriosa super- 

 ba) winding among the bushes, and displaying its magnificent 

 blossoms in great profusion. A wild vine also occurs, bearing 



