They Are The Common Bare-Lipped Monkey
(Macacus Cynomolgus), Which Is Found All Over The Western Islands Of
The Archipelago, And May Have Been Introduced By Natives, Who Often
Carry It About Captive.
There are also some deer, but it is not quite
certain whether they are of the same species as are found in Java.
I arrived at Delli, the capital of the Portuguese possessions in
Timor, on January 12, 1861, and was kindly received by Captain Hart,
an Englishman and an old resident, who trades in the produce of the
country and cultivates coffee on an estate at the foot of the hills.
With him I was introduced to Mr. Geach, a mining-engineer who had been
for two years endeavouring to discover copper in sufficient quantity
to be worth working.
Delli is a most miserable place compared with even the poorest of the
Dutch towns. The houses are all of mud and thatch; the fort is only a
mud enclosure; and the custom-house and church are built of the same
mean materials, with no attempt at decoration or even neatness. The
whole aspect of the place is that of a poor native town, and there is
no sign of cultivation or civilization round about it. His Excellency
the Governor's house is the only one that makes any pretensions to
appearance, and that is merely a low whitewashed cottage or bungalow.
Yet there is one thing in which civilization exhibits itself -
officials in black and white European costume, and officers in gorgeous
uniforms abound in a degree quite disproportionate to the size or
appearance of the place.
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