The boats in use here are a kind of proa.
This island was settled by the Portuguese almost as soon as they first found their way into this part of the ocean; but they were in a short time supplanted by the Dutch. The Dutch however did not take possession of it, but only sent sloops to trade with the natives, probably for provisions to support the inhabitants of their spice islands, who applying themselves wholly to the cultivation of that important article of trade, and laying out all their ground in plantations, can breed few animals: possibly their supplies by this occasional traffic were precarious; possibly they were jealous of being supplanted in their turn; but however that be, their East India Company, about ten years ago, entered into a treaty with the Rajas, by which the Company stipulated to furnish each of them with a certain quantity of silk, fine linen, cutlery ware, arrack, and other articles, every year; and the Rajas engaged that neither they nor their subjects should trade with any person except the Company, without having first obtained their consent, and that they would admit a resident on behalf of the company, to reside upon the island, and see that their part of the treaty was fulfilled: they also engaged to supply annually a certain Quantity of rice, maize, and calevances. The maize and calevances are sent to Timor in sloops, which are kept there for that purpose, each of which is navigated by ten Indians; and the rice is fetched away annually by a ship which brings the Company’s returns, and anchors alternately in each of the three bays. These returns are delivered to the Rajas in the form of a present, and the cask of arrack they and their principal people never cease to drink, as long as a drop of it remains.
In consequence of this treaty, the Dutch placed three persons upon the island: Mr. Lange, his colleague, the native of Timor, the son of an Indian woman by a Portuguese, and one Frederick Craig, the son of an Indian woman by a Dutchman. Lange visits each of the Rajas once in two months, when he makes the tour of the island, attended by fifty slaves on horseback. He exhorts these Chiefs to plant, if it appears that they have been remiss, and observes where the crops are got in, that he may order sloops to fetch it; so that it passes immediately from the ground to the Dutch store-houses at Timor. In these excursions he always carries with him some bottles of arrack, which he finds of great use in opening the hearts of the Rajas with whom he is to deal.
During the ten years that he had resided upon this island he had never seen a European besides ourselves, except at the arrival of the Dutch ship, which had sailed about two months before we arrived; and he is now to be distinguished from the natives only by his colour and his dress, for he sits upon the ground, chews his betele, and in every respect has adopted their character and manners: he has married an Indian woman of the island of Timor, who keeps his house after the fashion of her country; and he gave that as a reason for not inviting us to visit him, saying, that he could entertain us in no other manner than the Indians had done; and he spoke no language readily but that of the country.
The office of Mr. Frederick Craig is to instruct the youth of the country in reading and writing, and the principles of the Christian religion; the Dutch having printed versions of the New Testament, a catechism, and several other tracts, in the language of this and the neighbouring islands. Dr. Solander, who was at his house, saw the books, and the copy-books also, of his scholars, many of whom wrote a very fair hand. He boasted that there were no less than six hundred Christians in the township of Seba; but what the Dutch Christianity of these Indians may be, it is not perhaps very easy to guess, for there is not a church, nor even a priest, in the whole island.
While we were at this place, we made several enquiries concerning the neighbouring islands, and the intelligence which we received is to the following effect.
A small island to the westward of Savu, the name of which we did not learn, produces nothing of any consequence but areca-nuts, of which the Dutch receive annually the freight of two sloops, in return for presents that they make to the islanders.
Timor is the chief, and the Dutch residents on the other islands go thither once a year to pass their accounts. The place is nearly in the same state as in Dampier’s time, the Dutch having there a fort and storehouses; and, by Lange’s account, we might there have been supplied with every necessary that we expected to procure at Batavia, salt provisions and arrack not excepted. But the Portuguese are still in possession of several towns on the north side of the island, particularly Laphao and Sesial.
About two years before our arrival, a French ship was wrecked upon the east coast of Timor; and after she had lain some days upon the shoal, a sudden gale broke her up at once, and drowned the Captain, with the greatest part of the crew: those who got ashore, among whom was one of the lieutenants, made the best of their way to Concordia; they were four days upon the road, where they were obliged to leave part of their company through fatigue, and the rest, to the number of about eighty, arrived at the town. They were supplied with every necessary, and sent back to the wreck, with proper assistance for recovering what could be fished up: they fortunately got up all their bullion, which was in chests, and several of their guns, which were very large. They then returned to the town, but their companions who had been left upon the road were missing, having, as it was supposed, been kept among the Indians, either by persuasion or force; for they are very desirous of having Europeans among them, to instruct them in the art of war. After a stay of more than two months at Concordia, their number was diminished nearly one half by sickness, in consequence of the fatigue and hardship which they had suffered by the shipwreck, and the survivors were sent in a small vessel to Europe.
Rotte is in much the same situation as Savu; a Dutch factor resides upon it to manage the natives, and look after its produce, which consists, among other articles, of sugar. Formerly it was made only by bruising the canes, and boiling the juice to a syrup, in the same manner as toddy; but great improvements have lately been made in preparing this valuable commodity. The three little islands called the Solars are also under the influence of the Dutch settlement at Concordia: they are flat and low, but abound with provisions of every kind, and the middlemost is said to have a good harbour for shipping. Ende, another little island to the westward of the Solars, is still in the hands of the Portuguese, who have a good town and harbour on the north-east corner of it, called Larntuca: they had formerly a harbour on the south side of it, but that being much inferior to Larntuca, has for some time been altogether neglected.