M^niVE AT TIMOR. 365 



through Samow Strait,* we anchorcfl in 13 fathoms 

 off Coepang ; the flag-staff of Fort Concordia bear- 

 ing S. S. E. a quarter of a mile. 



Arrangements were immediately made for Avater- 

 ing the ship, by having the barecas filled and carried 

 to the boats by persons from the shore, thereby 

 saving our crew from exposure in this, I believe at 

 all times, unhealthy climate. When our stock was 

 completed, with the additional casks procured at 

 Port Essington, we had sufficient for eighty days. 



We found the Resident, Mr. Gronovius, as usual, 

 very communicative ; he was much astonished at the 

 size of some bananas I gave him from Port Essington. 



I may take this opportunity of giving some ad- 

 ditional information respecting the Timorees. It 



* The tides in Samow Strait run from one to two knots an 

 hour, eight hours to the northward, and four in the opposite 

 direction. The time of high water at Coepang at the full and 

 change is half- past eleven, when the rise is twelve feet. On the 

 north side of Timor, between it and Orabaye, the current sets 

 to the westward at the rate of from two to four knots an hour, 

 in the south-east monsoon ; but close to the Timor shore it 

 sets to windward. Ships make the passage to the eastward 

 during its prevalence by keeping close to the north sides of the 

 Lomblen, Pantar, and Orabaye Islands, where they find a favour- 

 able current, and winds from the southward drawing through 

 the straits separating the islands. There is no anchorage 

 between Pantar and Ombaye; but on the south side of Timor, 

 at the mouth of the Naminie River, and twenty-five miles further 

 eastward, and also at the east point, inside the small island of 

 Pulo Jackie, there are good anchorages in from 10 to 15 

 fathoms. The southern coast of Timor is washed by a heavy 

 surf in either monsoon. 



