SAIL FROM COEPANG. 3()7 



Danga people, have a custom worth mentioning. 

 They are the only tribe on that island not Mahom- 

 medans, and worship the evil spirit, to appease 

 whom they frequently leave a roasted pig, with rice, 

 at a well near a tree, a species of wild mango ; the 

 priest, of course, reaps the benefit of this pious 

 offering. A similar custom prevails among the 

 natives of Eastern Pataoonia. 



By the morning of September 24th the rough 

 charts were completed, and tracings, with other 

 despatches, being deposited with the Resident, to 

 be forwarded to England, we sailed from Coepang. On 

 the 26th the first lieutenant, the surgeon, and the 

 master, were seized with a violent attack of cholera, 

 which lasted twenty-four hours — another evidence 

 of the unhealthiness of Timor. 



The work that now lay before us was, perhaps, 

 one of the most interesting features of the N. W. 

 coast —a remarkable indentation, south of Roebuck 

 Bay, many parts of which had never been seen. 

 Its peculiar configuration naturally suggested the 

 idea that a river must exist there ; and it was ac- 

 cordingly with great anxiety that we looked forward 

 to the result. I had intended to examine the eastern 

 part of Scott's Reef in the way ; but westerly 

 winds, which were, however, favourable for reaching 

 our destination, prevented us. The track we pur- 

 sued was entirely new, and in order to see if any 

 shoals existed, we sounded every twenty miles, with- 

 out, however, getting bottom, at nearly 200 fathoms, 



