chap, xni.] SOIL AND VEGETATION. 311 



severe that most of the streams dry up in the plains before 

 they reach the sea ; everything becomes burnt up, and the 

 leaves of the larger trees fall as completely as in our winter. 

 On the mountains from two to four thousand feet elevation 

 there is a much moister atmosphere, so that potatoes and 

 other European products can be grown all the year round. 

 Besides ponies, almost the only exports of Timor are 

 sandal-wood and bees'-wax. The sandal-wood (Santalum 

 sp.) is the produce of a small tree, which grows sparingly 

 in the mountains of Timor and many of the other islands 

 in the far East. The wood is of a fine yellow colour, and 

 possesses a well-known delightful fragrance which is won- 

 derfully permanent. It is brought down to Delli in small 

 logs, and is chiefly exported to China, where it is largely 

 used to burn in the temples, and in the houses of the 

 wealthy. 



The bees'-wax is a still more important and valuable 

 product, formed by the wild bees (Apis dorsata), which 

 build huge honeycombs, suspended in the open air from 

 the under-side of the lofty branches of the highest trees. 

 These are of a semicircular form, and often three or 

 four feet in diameter. I once saw the natives take a 

 bees' nest, and a very interesting sight it was. In the 

 valley where I used to collect insects, I one day saw three 

 or four Timorese men and boys under a high tree, and, 

 looking up, saw on a very lofty horizontal branch three 



