would have been a losing concern. Gold also occurs, but very sparingly and of
poor quality. A fine spring of pure petroleum was discovered far in the interior,
where it can never be available until the country is civilized. The whole affair
was a dreadful disappointment to the Portuguese Government, who had
considered it such a certain thing that they had contracted for the Dutch mail
steamers to stop at Delli and several vessels from Australia were induced to
come with miscellaneous cargoes, for which they expected to find a ready sale
among the population at the newly-opened mines. The lumps of native copper
are still, however, a mystery. Mr. Geach has examined the country in every
direction without being able to trace their origin; so that it seems probable that
they result from the debris of old copper-bearing strata, and are not really more
abundant than gold nuggets are in Australia or California. A high reward was
offered to any native who should find a piece and show the exact spot where he
obtained it, but without effect.
The mountaineers of Timor are a people of Papuan type, having rather slender
forms, bushy frizzled hair, and the skin of a dusky brown colour. They have the
long nose with overhanging apex which is so characteristic of the Papuan, and so
absolutely unknown among races of Malayan origin. On the coast there has been
much admixture of some of the Malay races, and perhaps of Hindu, as well as of
Portuguese. The general stature there is lower, the hair wavy instead of frizzled,
and the features less prominent. The houses are built on the ground, while the
mountaineers raise theirs on posts three or four feet high. The common dress is a
long cloth, twisted around the waist and hanging to the knee, as shown in the
illustration (page 305), copied from a photograph. Both men carry the national
umbrella, made of an entire fan-shaped palm leaf, carefully stitched at the fold of
each leaflet to prevent splitting. This is opened out, and held sloping over the
head and back during a shower. The small water-bucket is made from an entire
unopened leaf of the same palm, and the covered bamboo probably contains
honey for sale. A curious wallet is generally carried, consisting of a square of
strongly woven cloth, the four corners of which are connected by cords, and
often much ornamented with beads and tassels. Leaning against the house behind
the figure on the right are bamboos, used instead of water jars.
A prevalent custom is the "pomali," exactly equivalent to the "taboo" of the
Pacific islanders, and equally respected. It is used on the commonest occasions,
and a few palm leaves stuck outside a garden as a sign of the "pomali" will
preserve its produce from thieves as effectually as the threatening notice of man-
traps, spring guns, or a savage dog would do with us. The dead are placed on a
stage, raised six or eight feet above the ground, sometimes open and sometimes