The Malay archipelago : the land of the orang-utan ... - Wallace Online

142 THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. [chap.capital of the Portuguese possessions in the eastern part ofthe island.The whole neighbourhood of Coupang appears to have beenelevated at a recent epoch, consisting of a rugged surface ofcoral rock, which rises in a vertical wall between the beach andthe town, whose losv white red-tiled houses give it an appearancevery similar to other Dutch settlements in the East. The vegetationis everj^where scanty and scrubby. Plants of the familiesApocynacese and Euphorbiacece abound ; but there is nothingthat can be called a forest, and the whole country has a parchedand desolate appearance, contrasting strongly with the loftyforest trees and perennial verdure of the Moluccas or of Singapore.The most conspicuous feature of the vegetation was theabundance of fine fan-leaved palms (Borassus flabelliformis),from the leaves of which are constructed the strong and durablewater-buckets in general use, and which are much superior tothose formed from any other species of palm. From the sametree, palm-wine and sugar are made, and the common thatchfor houses formed of the leaves lasts six or seven yeai's withoutremoval. Close to the town I noticed the foundation of a ruinedhouse below high-water mark, indicating recent subsidence.Earthquakes are not severe here, and are so infrequent andharmless that the chief houses are built of stone.The inhabitants of Coupang consist of ^Malays, Chinese, andDutch, besides the natives ; so that there are many strange andcomplicated mixtures among the population. There is oneresident English merchant, and whalers as well as Australianships often come here for stores and water. The nativeTimorese preponderate, and a very little examination serves toshow that they have notliing in common with Malays, but aremuch more closely allied to the true Papuans of the Aru Islandsand New Guinea. They are tall, have pronounced features,large, somewhat aquiline noses, and frizzly hair, and are generallyof a dusky brown colour. The way in wliich the women talk toeach other and to the men, their loud voices and laughter, andgeneral character of self-assertion, would enable an experiencedobserver to decide, even without seeing them, that they werenot Malays.Mr. Ai'ndt, a German and the Government doctor, invited meto stay at his house while in Coupang, and I gladly acceptedhis offer, as I only intended making a short visit. We at firstbegan speaking French, but he got on so badly that we soonpassed insensibly into Malay ; and we afterwards held long discussionson literary, scientific, and philosophical questions, inthat semi-barbarous language, whose deficiencies we made upby the free use of French or Latin words.After a few walks in the neighbourhood of the town, I foundsuch a poverty of insects and birds that I determined to go fora few days to the island of Semao at the western extremity ofTimor, where I heard that there was forest country with birds