PREFACE. 



Me. a. E. Wallace's ' Malay Archipelago ' is so accurate and 

 exhaustive an account of the Eastern Isles, that there have 

 been left but few gleanings for those who have followed him 

 to gather. Most of the islands visited by me were also visited 

 by him ; but my route has in each island been altogether 

 different from his. In as far as it refers to islands visited by 

 both of us, I should desire this volume, which is a mere 

 transcript of what I have thought the more interesting of 

 the field notes made during my wanderings, to be considered 

 in the light of an addendum to — unfortunately without any 

 of the literary elegance and finish of — that model book of 

 travel. 



No detailed account of the Timor-laut Islands has appeared 

 before the present ; and very little has been published on the 

 inhabitants of the interior of Timor.* In the chapters devoted 

 to these lands I have contributed some ethnological notes which 

 I trust may be found new and of interest. 



Before I allow this volume to leave my hands, I have the 

 pleasant task of acknowledging my indebtedness to many 

 friends. Besides those whose kindness I have referred to in 

 the body of this work, I have in the first instance to beg their 

 Excellencies Van Lansberge and 'Sjacob, the two Governors- 

 General of Netherlands India during my stay in the Archi- 

 pelago, to accept my grateful acknowledgments for their many 



* 'As PossessSes Portugezas na Oceania, por Affoaso do Castro, membro da 

 Sociedade de Sciencias e Artes de Batavia ; Deputado da naf ao, &c., ex- 

 Governador de Timor : Lisboa, 1867,' contains an interesting account of some 

 of the customs of the people of B. Timor. 



