j 



142 W. Doherfcy — The Butterflies of Sumha and Samhawa, 8fc. 



civilization. In Sambawa* there are four Muhammadan kingdom^ 

 considerable age, while a few tributary heathen tribes, but little inf erio. 

 to them in refinement, inhabit the mountains. In part of Flores, the 

 governing race is a tribe of Muhammadan slave-traders, the curse of all 

 that region, and the pagan mountaineers are in a more or less savage 

 state. In Sumba and Timor there are independent heathen tribes. In 

 Solor, Savu (better written Sau or Sawu), and Roti a large part of the 

 population is Christian. The Dutch have no possessions in these 

 islands, except the town of Boleling in Bali, the fort at Bima in Sam- 

 bawa, and the neighbourhood of Kupang in Timor. But owing to their 

 command of the sea, they have a considerable, and I believe an increas- 

 ing influence with the trading community, and with many of the native 

 princes. At the present moment they are trying to get possession o£ 

 Middle Flores, where tin has been discovered, and, if successful, the 

 occupation must have the happiest effect on all the surrounding islands. 



From the philologist's standpoint, all the dialects from Bali to 

 Kupang belong to the Javanese branch of the Polynesian family. In 

 Eastern Timor and the islands beyond, some of the languages are of a> 

 totally different type, probably that of the original Kegrito inhabitants. 



As regards race, no part of the world excels these islands in in- 

 terest. In and east of Timor, the prevalence of wavy or frizzly -haired 

 tribes, generally of low stature, indicates the Negrito as the first occu- 

 pant. In Sumba the Polynesians are still numerous, and form the 

 ruling race, while traces of them occur in Samba wa,'f and even in the 

 mountains of the Celebes. The people of Roti are a strikingly hand- 

 some tribe looking somewhat like the better class of Tamils or Telugus, 

 and their origin is certainly a puzzle. Mr. Wallace suggests that they 

 may be of Portuguese blood, introduced by some unrecorded, shipwreck. 

 But they themselves say they came from Serang (Ceram). A some- 

 what similar race occurs at Melolo in Eastern Sumba, and, I hear, in 

 Flores. In Savu, the people have an obvious strain of Kegrito blood, 

 but some resemble the Rotinese, while universal tradition ascribes their 



* So pronounced, also sometimes pronounced Sembawa, or, if written in the 

 Honterian manner, Sambawa. The Dutch call it Soembawa, which ia not only 

 incorrect, but confuses it, with Sumba (Soemba). It is remarkable that the in- 

 habitants of the island have no name for it, Sambawa being simply the name of the 

 western sultanate. Nothing could more stirprise a native of Bima, than to be told 

 that Bima and Sambawa are on the same island. The same is true of Mores, for 

 that pretty word is purely European, and there is no native name for the whole 

 island. I see that the island Dutch propose to call it "Soenda" so that these 

 three great neighbouring islands are to stand as Soenda, Soemba, and Soembawa ! 



•f" Lengota, the glarang or headman of Kala in the mountains of Sambawa, is a 

 fine example of a Polynesian. 



