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
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 could be cheaply transported to the coast.
Under such a system the natives would soon perceive that European
government was advantageous to them. They would begin to save money,
and property being rendered secure they would rapidly acquire new
wants and new tastes, and become large consumers of European goods.
This would be a far surer source of profit to their rulers than
imposts and extortion, and would be at the same time more likely to
produce peace and obedience than the mock-military rule which has
hitherto proved most ineffective. To inaugurate such a system would
however require an immediate outlay of capital, which neither Dutch
nor Portuguese seem inclined to make, and a number of honest and
energetic officials, which the latter nation at least seems unable to
produce; so that it is much to be feared that Timor will for many
years to come remain in its present state of chronic insurrection and
misgovernment.
Morality at Delli is at as low an ebb as in the far interior of
Brazil, and crimes are connived at which would entail infamy and
criminal prosecution in Europe.
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