A Palm Branch
Stuck Across An Open Door, Showing That The House Is Tabooed, Is
A More Effectual Guard Against Robbery Than Any Amount Of Locks
And Bars.
The houses in Timor are different from those of most of
the other islands; they seem all roof, the thatch overhanging the
low walls and reaching the ground, except where it is cut away
for an entrance.
In some parts of the west end of Timor, and on
the little island of Semau, the houses more resemble those of the
Hottentots, being egg-shaped, very small, and with a door only
about three feet high. These are built on the ground, while those
of the eastern districts art, raised a few feet on posts. In
their excitable disposition, loud voices, and fearless demeanour,
the Timorese closely resemble the people of New Guinea.
In the islands west of Timor, as far as Flores and Sandalwood
Island, a very similar race is found, which also extends eastward
to Timor-laut, where the true Papuan race begins to appear. The
small islands of Savu and Rotti, however, to the west of Timor,
are very remarkable in possessing a different and, in some
respects, peculiar race. These people are very handsome, with
good features, resembling in many characteristics the race
produced by the mixture of the Hindoo or Arab with the Malay.
They are certainly distinct from the Timorese or Papuan races,
and must be classed in the western rather than the eastern
ethnological division of the Archipelago.
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