IN TIMOS. 429 



district being notorious for robbers, we picketed the horses 

 at dark within a quadrangle of fires — not an unnecessary pre- 

 caution; for in the middle of the night we heard very sus- 

 picious low whistle-calls several times repeated, which gave 



9IGNAtrL£»a FIFE. 



vigour to the " Alerto ! * ' of our guard. The Timorese are very 

 clever horse-stealers, I understand, and, by abducting them 

 off from the very side of their owners, the astuter thieves 

 among them have obtained the reputation of being SwangieB^ 

 who have the pow-er of making their botlies invisible. 



