ON CORAL REEFS A» A CAUSB OF FEYER. 
434 
Singapore, 10th April, 1848, 
My dear Sir, 
I have much pleasure in answering your 
queries regarding Timor and the adjacent islands, and shall 
be happy if any information I may be possessed of will 
be of service to you in elucidating the enquiries you are now 
promoting. First, with regard to Dilli; the town is situa¬ 
ted on the South side of Timor, the lee side during the 
South East trade winds which prevail in these parts dur¬ 
ing 8 or 9 months of the year; the harbour is formed by 
a coral reef of considerable breadth which extends along 
the shore at a distance of about | of a mile from the beach, 
the intermediate space having sufficient depth of water to af¬ 
ford anchorage for vessels of the largest size. The reef, through 
which there are two narrow channels, dries at three quarter 
ebb and therefore remains exposed from three to four hours 
each change of tide, that is to say twice in the 24 hours. The 
beach is composed of sand and broken coral. The Govern¬ 
ment buildings and the houses of the principal residents 
are erected along the beach a little above high water mark. 
The extent of the town inland isjinconsiderable ;—at the back 
of the town is a level plain which during the westerly or rainy 
monsoon becomes a fresh water marsh ; at other seasons it is 
dry except at certain spots where the water is retained in la¬ 
goons or shallow ponds. Behind this again is a range of hills 
rising abruptly from the plain and forming a semicircle about 
the town, which it thus encloses on three sides. 
Owing to the peculiar positions of the north and northwest 
coasts of Timor, with ranges of lofty mountains extending 
immediately behind and obstructing the course of the trad* 
wind, calm weather prevails throughout the year except in 
January, February and March, when strong breezes from the 
northwest are occasionally experienced, at other limes the 
atmosphere is seldom agitated except by a light sea breeze 
in the afternoon, the land wind at night being scarcely per¬ 
ceptible. Dilli is subject to fevers both remittent and inter¬ 
mittent at all times of the year, there being no peculiarly 
healthy or unhealthy season. The natives of the interior 
who visit Dilli suffer even more than Europeans, and indivi¬ 
duals residing on board of vessels in the roads are as liable 
to attacks as those who reside on shore. Throughout the 
entire north west coast of Timor the immediate vicinity of 
the sea shore is considered to be unhealthy, and the same 
may be said with regard to those of the adjacent islands with 
which I am acquainted. Dilli however, whether justly or not, 
i# considered more unhealthy than any spot in the eastern 
J J j 
