L e n g t h .
N a t i v e s .
fpicy iflands, o f which they have the. moft extreme jealoufy;
for there is nothing they apprehend fo much as the intercourfe
o f other nations with their ufurpations in thefe parts, Timor
yields fo little profit, that, except for the reafon juft given, it
would have been long iince abandoned. The length of this
ifland is near two hundred miles, the breadth about lix ty ; it is
divided into many kingdoms, fuch as Cupang and others. In
Dampier's time there were many Portuguefe fettlements, or rather
o f the mixed breed; the principal is at Lapbao, on the
northern fide ; but even there he faw but three white men, the
reft were copper-colored, with lank black hair ; they-fpoke Portuguefe,
were o f the Roman catholick religion, I and would be
very angry i f they were not thought PortugUefe, as they value
themfelves greatly on their mongrel defcent.
T h e natives are faid to be the braveft o f any in all this vaft
archipelago, but at the fame time the moft favage. They conceal
their nakednefs by a fort o f ihort apron, made o f many
narrow ftripes; have bracelets round their arms, and collars o f
ihells round their necks, and their hair Hands’eredt. Their wea-'
pons are vaft fabres, made o f fandal wood ; with which, it is
faid, they can cut a man afunder at one blow. Mr. Nieuhoffft'
gives the figures of the different wild foldiery of the iflands.
C a p t a i n Cook palled under a confiderable part o f the fouthern
fide of Timor, in his return from his firft voyage. The land appeared
very high, mountain above mountain rifing in Hopes
from the Tea, chiefly clothed with forefts. In fome parts were
fwamps and mangrove-trees ; in others cleared land, the marks
* Churchillj voL ii. p. 316.
Of
o f inhabitants; and in other places groves and coco-palms, that
reached a mile inland, and clofe to them houfes and plantations
innumerable.
T h e domeftic.animals o f Timor feem to have been introduced A n im a l s .
there by the Europeans, except the hogs and buffaloes. Mon-
kies are numerous, but I believe very few other native animals.
Here are infinite varieties o f birds. The woods abound with
bees, which produce quantities of honey and wax ; and the fea
with fifties and fhell-fifh ; and as to the vegetable kingdom, it
yields moft o f the tropical trees, fruits, and plants.