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

XIII.] TIMOR. 153trees fall as completely as in our winter. On the mountainsfrom two to four thousand feet elevation there is a muchmoister atmosphere, so that potatoes and other Europeanproducts can be grown all the year round. Besides ponies,almost the only exports of Timor are sandal-wood and bees'-wax. The sandal-wood (Santalum sp.) is the produce of asmall tree, w^hich grows sparingly in the mountains of Timorand many of the other islands in the far East. The wood is ofa fine yellow colour, and possesses a well-known delightfulfragrance which is wonderfully permanent. It is broughtdown to Delli in small logs, and is chiefly exported to China,where it is largely used to burn in the temples, and in thehouses of the wealthy.The bees'-wax is a still more important and valuable product,formed by the wild bees (Apis dorsata), which build hugehoneycombs, suspended in the open air from the under-side ofthe lofty branches of the highest trees. These are of a semicircularform, and often three or four feet in diameter. I oncesaw the natives take a bees' nest, and a very interesting sightit was. In the valley where I used to collect insects, I one daysaw three or four Timorese men and boys under a high tree,and, looking ujj, saw on a very lofty horizontal branch threelarge bees' combs. The tree was straight and smooth-barkedand without a branch, till at seventy or eighty feet from theground it gave out the limb which the bees had chosen fortheir home. As the men were evidently looking after the bees,I waited to watch their operations. One of them firstproduced a long piece of w'ood apparently the stem of a smalltree or creeper, which he had brought with him, and begansplitting it through in several directions, which showed that itwas very tough and stringy. He then wrapped it in jialmleaves,which were secured by twisting a slender creeper roundthem. He then fastened his cloth tightly round his loins, andproducing another cloth wrapped it round his head, neck, andbody, and tied it firmly round his neck, leaving his face, arms,and legs completely bare. Slung to his girdle he carried a longthin coil of cord ; and while he had Ijeen making these preparationsone of his companions had cut a strong creeper or bushropeeight or ten yards long, to one end of which the woodtorchw-as fastened, and lighted at the bottom, emitting asteady stream of smoke. Just above the torch a choppiugknifewas fastened by a short cord.The bee-hunter now took hold of the bush-rope just abovethe torch and passed the other end round the trunk of the tree,holding one end in each hand. Jerking it u^) the tree a littleabove his head he set his foot against the trmik, and leaningback began walking up it. It was wonderful to see the skillwith which he took advantage of the slightest irregularities ofthe bark or obliquity of the stem to aid his ascent, jerking thestiff creeper a few feet higher when he had found a firm hold