94 NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. 



weather delightfully serene, no rain fell, and the 

 barometer seldom varied from 30*0, or the ther- 

 mometer from 82 in the shade. 



It is evident, (and commanders of ships are 

 well aware of the fact,) that a large proportion 

 of the fatal maladies which attack the crews of 

 shipping, employed on the unhealthy coasts of 

 India or the Oriental isles, find an active 

 auxiliary in the potent, and almost poisonous 

 spirit of those countries a kind of whiskey, 

 distilled from rice, and sold at a cheap price 

 under the name of arrack. This liquor our 

 sailors obtain with facility, use with imprudence, 

 and often, when under its influence, expose 

 themselves to the unwholesome breeze and heavy 

 dews of the night, in direct violation of physical 

 laws, whose penalty is suffering and death. The 

 rajah of Soutranha, with a policy worthy of 

 imitation, forbids his people to supply this ardent 

 spirit to the crew of a vessel at anchor in his 

 port, if such prohibition is desired by the 

 commander. 



The natural history of Soutranha is interest- 

 ing in some points, and especially so when com- 

 pared with the natural productions of the Asiatic 

 continent and Polynesia. 



The horses, so numerous on this, as well as 

 on other parts of the coast of Timor, are stout, 



