m TIMOR. 



449 



CHAPTER III 



IN TELE KINGDOM OF BIBI^tJyr. 



LeaTO for Bibi 91 if a— Bridles — A trio of BmireB— War and its attentkTit 

 ceremomes — RaJioitiftU-— LuU ground — Bjhi\uir;n— Harvest-tields— ( 'iilti- 

 votion — Take the law into cdy qwsx hands — Cormubial relaticfris— Water- 

 fiill — Birds— flerbari urn — Disfjuieting news — ^Moti nt Kabalaki — Mme 

 forward to Salitlti — M'fttive murket— Dencrlpfion «»(' natives seen there — 

 Onrnmenti— Dyes — An enraged Timorese— Reil-hdi mi race— Timorese 

 a mixed race — Up the Staktilala River— Gold — (Jercmonies of gold- 

 gathering — Arriv© at the Rajah of Saluki'd. 



Fridaif, April 6ih. — At dayliglit began the loading of tlie 

 horses and men ; but findiiig that the herbarium gathered at 

 Turskain would from its size hamper our progress very much, 

 1 had it packed up and sent by special measangera to Fatunaba 

 to A. About seven o'clock we got under weigh for the Bajah 

 of Bibi^iigu*8 by a south-east course towards the sharp peak of 

 Tahaohit, The horse I now rode was furniskt^d with a native 

 saddle, composed of long pads on each side of the spine, 

 secured by cords instead of bands, and with neat wooden 

 pulleys in place of buckles. The Timorese in riding place 

 only the great toe in the stirrup, consequently these were 

 merely little blocks of wood at the end of a cord, with a hole 

 for the insertion of the digit ; or, often more simply still, a 

 small wooden disk for the support of the first two toes, between 

 which the stirrup cord is grasped. The bridle-bit— a fearful 

 instrument of torture from the sharp spikes with which it was 

 armed — was of brass, of native manufacture and good work- 

 manship, cast, as I was told, in separate pieces in a mould of 

 wax, lined with very fine clay. 



On one of the hill-tops on our way we passed three men who 

 had come from a neighbcmring hut to see our cavalcade. Jfy 

 servant, who was a native of the kingdom we were approach- 



2 a 



