Volume 14 Australasia - dana ward's homepage

TIMOR. 211fourteentli century, and soon made tbemselves masters, everywhei-e imposinod3-nastiessupposed to owe a certain vague allegiance to the Sultan of Ternate.The first European arrivals were the Portuguese, who appear to have secured afooting at Lifau, towards the middle of ihe north coast, about the year 1520.Soon after they raised a fort at Kupang, now the chieffirst made their appearance in 1613.station or the Dutch, whoThe desolating wars of the two rival powersand their native alKes were continued almost uninterrupted!}' down to the presentcentury, when they were replaced by diplomatic negotiations, the treaty of 1859finally settling the question of the frontier line between the respective states.According to the partial explorations round the coast and in the interior, Timorseems to present a backbone of mountains and plateaus, consisting mainh' of schists,sandstones and limestones ; but on both slopes these older formations underliechalks and argillaceous deposits of great thickness. The coral reefs fringing thesouth-west coast have gradually been upheaved several hundred yards above thepresent sea-level. In some places the rocks of the primitive system tower upabove the surrounding formations in the form of obelisks and citadels, one of which,Mount Leeu, in the south-west, attains an elevation of 4,000 feet. Farther eastfollow stdl more lofty peaks, although within the Dutch or western province noneof the summits reach an altitude of over 6,500 feet.In the Portuguese•division the surface is of a more rugged aspect, and herethe Kabalaki peak, visited by H. 0. Forbes, exceeds 10,000 feet, while MountAlias, close to the frontier and near the south coast, is said to rise 11,500 feet abovethe Indian Ocean. The existence of true volcanoes has not yet been placedbeyond doubt, although mention is made of a Mount Ilun-bano in the west, whichwas the scene of an eruption in 1856, while Bibiluto in the Portuguese territory issaid to have ejected ashes the following year.In several districts porphyries andserpentines have cropped out above the sedimentary rocks, and the islet ofKambing, between Samau and the south-west extremity, terminates in a sort ofcrater, within which are several mud volcanoes, 10 to 30 feet high, resembling theSicilian maccahde. Mud volcanoes also occur in Landu, between Samau andEotti.In Timor the seasons are much more sharply defined than in the large islandsof Western Indonesia. During the south-east monsoon, prevailing from May toOctober, the winds blowing from the neighbouring Australian continent bring nomoisture, the vegetation withers, and wherever the slopes are covered with grasses.or scrub, they assume red, yellow, or greyish tints. The brooks and even therivers run dry, and are not again flushed till the return of the western monsoon,when vegetation revives and the land resumes its verdant aspect. The northernslope of the island enjoys the most copious rainfall, and consequently here thestreams are most voluminous, the forests most extensive, and the population mostnumerous and prosperous. But the southern slope is far from being so arid orunproductive as it has been described by travellers who have visited it only duringthe dry season.The same contrast between the two slopes is also presented by the respectivep2