IN TIMOR. 443 



Uma-LuU ; and near the residence of the rajah there is always 

 one large one, which is the Uma-LuU of the kingdom. As a 

 rule, however, the tribal Uma-LuU is flanked by two others, or 

 occasionally by more, if the kingdom is large. These edifices 

 almost invariably stand in a cleared space, surrounded by a 

 thick fence, as here within a grove of trees on some elevated spot. 

 Within this fence no twig or branch may be broken or cut, no 

 blade of grass plucked, and no stone overturned under the fear 

 of the vengeance of the luli ; no tobacco is permitted to be 

 taken within the sacred boundaries, ard no horse or buffalo may 

 stray within it. The buildings themselves are large, carefully 

 built and tended structures of bamboo, raised above the ground 

 on pillars, and possessing two doors, one at the side and one at 

 the end. The Luli house can be at once recognised, were it 

 by nothing else than by the buffalo crania with which it is 

 decorated on the outside. 



An officer who holds one of the highest, and certainly the 

 most influential position in the kingdom, has charge of the 

 buildings, and presides over the sacred rites which are con- 

 ducted in them. He is known as the JJato-Luli, or Bai- 

 Luli. In times of peace, and on all ordinary occasions, an old 

 man or woman lives in the building, as a sort of care-taker ; 

 such a person is named the Luliata. Sometimes an old man 

 and his wife reside all day in it, but they may not both — 

 being of opposite sexes — remain all night. 



It is not very easy to obtain a good idea of the interior 

 arrangements of the JJma-LuU, as it is impossible for heretics 

 to get wdthinit, or often very near it. Even natives of Timor 

 who have become nominally Sirani (Christian) are prohibited 

 from entering it; but by sedulously questioning those who 

 knew, I was able to gather that of the two doors (whose direc- 

 tion does not seem to be a matter of importance), one is re- 

 served for the Bato-Luli, or chief priest, and the other for the 

 persons consulting the fates to enter. By the Date's door no 

 one but himself may enter ; it opens into a portion railed off 

 by ornamented wooden pillars from the larger portion of 

 the building, into which the people have entrance. In the 

 smaller part are preserved different articles of veneration — the 

 cranium of a buffalo, a spear, a shield, a chopper, a gun (almost 

 falling to pieces, and of an old, old pattern, my guide told me, 



