to import, it 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"
166