188 DUTCH MILITARY FORCE. 



industry of its inhabitants, though it improves in 

 proportion as you retreat from the beach. The foot 

 ol the height on which the fort stands is washed by 

 a small rapid stream that skirts the south side of the 

 town. Its course from the eastward is marked by a 

 deep gorge, on the sides of which a stranger might 

 feast his eyes on the riches of tropical scenery. 

 Here and there above the mass of humbler vegeta- 

 tion, a lofty tapering cocoa-nut troe would rear its 

 graceful form, bowing gently in the passing breeze. 

 On every hill was presented the contrast of redun- 

 dant natural verdure, clothing its sides and summit, 

 and of cultivated fields along the lower slopes. 

 These by irrigation are turned into paddy planta- 

 tions, the winds blowing over which give rise to 

 those insidious fevers, intermittent, I am told, in 

 their character, which are so prevalent at Coepang, 

 as well as dysentery, from which indeed the crew 

 of the Beagle afterwards suffered. 



The whole force the Dutch have at Coepang 

 is sixty soldiers, half of whom, too, are Javanese. 

 Yet the subj action in which this small force keeps 

 the natives, is beyond belief. A sergeant is the 

 commandant at Rottee, and such power has he over 

 the inhabitants, that he can at any time raise a 

 thousand armed men in the course of a few hours. 

 Many of the largest ponies used at Coepang, are 

 brought from Rottee. Their origin no one could 

 give me any information about ; all agree in saying 

 they were found with the island, and the natives have 

 no traditions. 



