366 TIMOREES. 



appears that after killing an enemy they, like the 

 New Zealanders, preserve the head by baking it ; 

 and, during meals, place food in the raouth of their 

 bodiless foe. On the death of a Rajah, a fa- 

 vourite slave or two is killed and buried with him; 

 some weapons, also, are laid in the grave, in order 

 that the deceased may not want for any thing in the 

 next world ; this clearly shews that they have an 

 idea of a future state. 



The mode in which trade is carried on with the 

 wild natives of Timor is extremely singular. The 

 goods intended for barter are left in parcels on the 

 shore ; the natives come down and place against 

 them, generally, bees' wax, and a kind of cotton 

 cloth, to the amount which they conceive to be the 

 value, when they also retire. The trader returns, 

 and if satisfied, takes the native's goods, leaving his 

 own ; if not, he goes away without touching either. 

 The natives ag^ain come down and weioh the rela- 

 tive value of the heaps of merchandize, and either 

 consent to the proffered bargain or take away 

 their own property. Neither party ever comes in 

 sight of the other ; and the strictest honour is pre- 

 served in the transaction. Most of my readers will 

 recollect that a similar method of trading is attri- 

 buted to one of the nations of antiquity. 



A tribe of Sumbawa,* who call themselves the 



* I may here mention, that when the great eruption took place 

 on this island, the report of it was heard at Macassar, nearly 

 three hundred miles distant, and the motion was felt by the ships 

 at anchor there. 



