SAJfDAL-WOOD ISL.VXD. 113 



fiimily. Tlie caj)taiii of au American whale-sliip, 

 whicli was wrecked on one of the soiitliern points, 

 complained to me that the natives stole every thing 

 he brought on shore, and threatened him and his 

 crew with violence ; but I think it was only be- 

 cause he could not speak Malay, and because each 

 party misunderstood the intentions of the other. 



At noon the next day we saw the lofty peak of 

 Mount Romba rising up on Floris. It is said to be 

 only seven thousand feet in height, but it appeared 

 to us as hio-h as Mount Slamat in Java. At the 

 eastern end of the island, opposite Adenara and 

 Solor, is a small Portuguese settlement, called Larun- 

 tuka. The extreme length of the island is about two 

 hundred geographical miles, and its area a fraction 

 larger than Sandal-wood Island. It yields much 

 sandal-wood, and the natives state that copper is 

 found there, but gold and iron are not known to 

 occur. While in this part of the Indian Ocean, gen- 

 erally in the morning, we had strong breezes from 

 the southeast, which moderated at noon, and in- 

 creased again at sunset. They varied considerably 

 in the hour they began, and in their strength and 

 duration, and were quite unlike the steady trades. 



At 2 p. M., on our third day from Macassar, we 

 sighted the island of Semao, off the bay of Kupang. 

 Its northern end is only a rock, sparsely covered 

 with trees. It has no mountains, and most of its 

 l)eaches are composed of coral sand. 



After dark that evening We anchored near the 

 village of Kupang, which is situated on the south side 

 of a gi*eat bay, some twelve miles wide and twenty 



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