CHAP, xni.] 



A VALUABLE ISLAND. 



197 



officials oppress and rob the native** as much as tliey can, 

 and yet there is no caie taken to render the town de- 

 fensible shoidd the Timorese attempt to attack it So 

 ignorant are the military officers, that having received a 

 small mortar and some shelb, no one conld be found who 

 knew how to use them ; and during an insurrection of the 

 natives (%vhile I was at Delli) the oiHcer who expected to 

 be sent against the insurgents was instantly taken ill I and 

 tliey were allowed to get jtossession of an important pass 

 within three miles of the town, where they could defend 

 themselves against ten times the force. The result was 

 that no provisions were brougiit down from the hills; 

 a famine was imminent, and the Governor liad to send 

 off to beg for supplies &om the Dutch Governor of 

 Amboynfu 



In ita present state Timor is more trouble than profit to 

 its Dutch and Portuguese rulers, and it will continue to 

 be so unless a dilTerent system is pursued. A few good 

 roads into the elevated districts of the interior; a con- 

 ciliatory policy and strict justice towards the natives, and 

 the introduction of a good system of cultivation as in 

 Java and Northyrn Celebes, might yet make Timor a 

 producti\'e and valuable island, llice grows well on the 

 marshy flats which often fringe the coast, and luaize 

 thrives in all the lowlands, and is the common food of 

 the natives as it was when Dampier visited the island 

 in 1699. The small quantity of coffee now giown is of 

 very superior quality, and it might be increased to any 

 extent. Sheep ihri\'e, and would always he valuable as 

 fresh food for whalei-s and to supply the adjacent islands 

 with mutton, if not for their wool although it is pi-obalile 

 that on the mountains this product might soon be obtained 

 by judicious breeding. Horses thrive amazingly; and 

 enough wheat might be grown to supply the whole 

 Archipelago if there were sufiGcient inducements to the 

 natives to extend its cultivation, and good roads by wliich 

 it could be cheaply transported to the coast. Under such 

 a system the natives would soon perceive that European 

 government was advimtageous to them. They would begin 

 to save money, and property being rendered secure they 

 would rapidly acquire new wants and new tastes, and 



