100 PHYSICAL CHARACTERS OP
the Island of Letti. Still the basis of their language and
customs is decidedly Polynesian, although they have pecm*
liarities in both, which, I havé no doubt, are of Papuan origin.-
fa I discovered among the Timorians many of the traits
and customs of the Dayak tribes of Borneo, which, in addition
to a rather close resemblance in personal appearance;
leads mé to believe that they must have had the same origin.
I have no reason foFsupposing that the Timorians ever go to
war for the sole purpose of obtaining human heads ; but those
of their enemies slain in battle are retained as- trophies, and
the defeated party, if not too closely pressed, themselves cut
off the heads of their dead and wounded companions, to pre*
vent-them from falling into the hands of the conquerors. . I
am now alluding more particularly to the natives of Timor,
Human sacrifice is also common throughout Timor, and it is
still continued by. the natives of Sermattan, one of the Ser-
watty Islands, and probably by those of Timer Laut and
Baha; but with respect to the natives of Sermattan, I can
speak with confidence from circumstances that,occurred while
I was present, at these islands, and I should not like to accuse
any people of this practice upon mere report. That singular
Dayak instrument, the sampit-an, a long tube through which
small darts are projected by the breath, is common among
the Timorians ; and they are also subject to that singular
disease of the skin called ! dayak% by the Malays—hence
the name applied to the aborigines of Borneo-^which gives it
a white and leprous appearance. The custom of tattooing
the skin, which is practised among some of the Dayak tribes,
is not, as far as I am aware, common among the Timorians.
I have certainly seen individuals marked in this manner
on the face and body ; but these were generally slaves, and
I suspect that it had been done by their owners for the purpose,
of distinguishing them in case they should escape.
f* At Kissa I found that a distinction of caste existed, and I
have little doubt but that it extends throughout these groupes.
The chief caste is the Mama. The chiefs and priests are
invariably selected from this caste, and if it becomes extinct
in any particular tribe, the chief authority is given to a Marna
of some neighbouring state in which the caste happens to be
t h e t im o r ia n is l a n d e r s .
more numerous. The second caste is the uhur or proprietor
class,- a numerous and influential body in general. Individuals
of these Pastes d o , occasionally intermarry,,but the offspring,
is-not admittej^rjpto the,,superior cs^e, that is to say, not
generally, for I. did hear of, an instance <to the contrary, ^pt
under, very peculiar circumstances. The athird caste js the
ahka or serf; the ata of the Bughis, and probably the tang’ata
or ta’ata of,the. §outh Sea Islands.’