covered with a roof. Here the body remains until the relatives can afford to make
a feast, when it is buried. The Timorese are generally great thieves, but are not
bloodthirsty. They fight continually among themselves, and take every
opportunity of kidnapping unprotected people of other tribes for slaves; but
Europeans may pass anywhere through the country in safety. Except for a few
half-breeds in the town, there are no native Christians in the island of Timor. The
people retain their independence in a great measure, and both dislike and despise
their would-be rulers, whether Portuguese or Dutch.
The Portuguese government in Timor is a most miserable one. Nobody seems
to care the least about the improvement of the country, and at this time, after
three hundred years of occupation, there has not been a mile of road made
beyond the town, and there is not a solitary European resident anywhere in the
interior. All the Government officials oppress and rob the natives as much as
they can, and yet there is no care taken to render the town defensible should the
Timorese attempt to attack it. So ignorant are the military officers, that having
received a small mortar and some shells, no one could be found who knew how
to use them; and during an insurrection of the natives (while I was at Delli) the
officer who expected to be sent against the insurgents was instantly taken ill!
And they were allowed to get possession of an important pass within three miles
of the town, where they could defend themselves against ten times the force. The
result was that no provisions were brought down from the hills; a famine was
imminent; and the Governor had to send off to beg for supplies from the Dutch
Governor of Amboyna.
In its present state Timor is more trouble than profit to its Dutch and
Portuguese rulers, and it will continue to be so unless a different system is
pursued. A few good roads into the elevated districts of the interior; a
conciliatory policy and strict justice towards the natives, and the introduction of
a good system of cultivation as in Java and northern Celebes, might yet make
Timor a productive and valuable island. Rice grows well on the marshy flats,
which often fringe the coast, and maize thrives in all the lowlands, and is the
common food of the natives as it was when Dampier visited the island in 1699.
The small quantity of coffee now grown is of very superior quality, and it might
be increased to any extent. Sheep thrive, and would always be valuable as fresh
food for whalers and to supply the adjacent islands with mutton, if not for their
wool; although it is probable that on the mountains this product might soon be
obtained by judicious breeding. Horses thrive amazingly; and enough wheat
might be grown to supply the whole Archipelago if there were sufficient
inducements to the natives to extend its cultivation, and good roads by which it