LAND AT COEPANG. 185 



ing, " No good, stone, rock big fella, too much, 

 can't walk." Home, after all, is home all the 

 world over, and the dull arid shores of Australia 

 were more beautiful in the eyes of this savage than 

 the romantic scenery of Timor, which excited in him 

 wonder not delii^ht. It was amusing' to see how 

 frightened he was on going ashore the first time. 

 With difficulty could he be kept from treading on 

 our heels, always, I suppose, being in the habit, in 

 his own country, of finding strangers to be enemies. 

 He was instantly recognised by the Malays, who had 

 occasionally seen natives of Australia returning 

 with the Macassar praos from the north coast, as a 

 marega,*' much to his annoyance. 



Being anxious to make the acquaintance of the 

 Resident, who bore the reputation of being a most 

 intelligent person, a party of us paid him a visit 

 the second day after our arrival. The narrow 

 streets, lined with Chinese shops and pedlars of 

 every description, from the long- tailed Chinaman to 

 the thick, crisp-haired, athletic Timoree, were 

 soon passed. We then entered a rich green valley, 

 with some fine houses on the left : the sight 

 was strange and new to us in every way. What we 

 most enjoyed was the vegetation — a feast for our 



* I have never been able to learn the meaning of this word. 

 They told us at Coepang it signified " man-eater ;" which ex- 

 plains the native's annoyance ; and may serve as a clue to the 

 discovery that the aborigines of the northern part of the conti- 

 nent occasionally eat human bodies as they do in the south. 



