CHAP. XL.] IN mr. MALAF ARClilPEUaO, 5SJ) 



The universal drt^ss Ls a long cloth twisted round the waist, 

 the fringed ends of which below the knee. The 



people are said to l>e greai thieves, and the tribes are 

 always at war witli euch other, but they are not very 

 couragpous or blood tliirsty. The custom of " tiibu," called 

 here " pornali/' is very geneml, fruit trcea, hous^es, crops, 

 and property of all kinds being protocted from depre- 

 dation by this ceremojiy, the reverence for which is very 

 great A palm branch stuck across an oj>en door, showing 

 that the house is tabooed, is a more eflectual giiar<l against 

 robbeiy than any amount of locks and bars. The housea 

 in Timor are different fnnn those of most of the other 

 islands; they seem all roof, the thatch overhanging thf 

 low walls and reaching the ground, except where it is cut 

 away for an entrance. In some parts of the west end of 

 Timor, and on the little island of JSemau, the houses more 

 resemble those of the Hottentots, Ijcing egg-shaped, ver}' 

 small, and with a door only about tliree feet liigli. These 

 are built on the ground, while those of the eastern districts 

 are raised a few teet on posts. In their excitable disposi- 

 tion, loud voices, and fearless demeanour, the Tiraoreao 

 closely resemble the people of New Guinea. 



In the islands west of Timor, as far as Mores and 

 Sandalwood Island, a very similar race is found, which 

 also extends eastward to Timor-lant, where the true 

 Papuan race begins to appear. The small islands of 

 Savu and Eotti, however, to the west of Timor, are very 

 remarkable in possessing a diilerent and, in some respects, 

 peculiar race. These people are very handsome, with 

 good features, resembling in many characteristics tlie 

 race produced by the mbiture of the Hindoo or Arab 

 with the Malay. They are certasidy distinct from the 

 Timorese or Papuan races, and must be classed in the 

 western rather than the eastern ethnulogical division of 

 the Archipelago. 



Tlie whole of the great island of New Guinea, the Ke 

 and Aru Islands, with Mysol, Sahvatty, and Waigion, are 

 inhabited almost exclusively by the typical Papuans, 1 

 found no trace of any other tribes inhabiting the in- 

 terior of New Guinea, but the coast people are in some 

 nlaces mixed with tlie browner races of the Moluccas. 



