VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY OF SOUTHERN LANDS.

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Laftly, the conquerors of the Portuguefe inhabit thefe fhores themfelves, with dif-ficulty upholding the ancient glory of the Batavian name, and preferving no longer,but by dint of policy, and by the forbearance of the people, the dominion earned by fomany feats of bravery and heroifm.

In midft of all thefe interefting objects, I negleCted nothing to render of utility ourrefidence at Timor . I collected the different materials for the general topography ofthis great Aland ; I moreover paid particular attention to the hiftory of the Aboriginesof the Afiatic archipelago, the veftiges and monuments of whom are found in the in-terior of the majority of the large iflands of this archipelago, in Sumatra, Borneo , Ma-caffar, Timor, Ceylon, Mayindanao, the Philippines , &c. But this portion of mylabours being intended for a diftinCt publication, I fhall confine myfelf in this chapterto prefenting fuch details only as more immediately pertain to our hiftory.

As we have noticed, the French nation was unknown to the people of Timor ; and noindividual remembered ever having feen before a French flag at Coopang: our com-munication with the natives, confequently, began under the moft unfavourable aufpices;and miftruft uniting againft us, with the proud referve natural to the Malays, we re-mained for fome days in a manner infulated among them ; but they were fhortly en-abled to judge from the deference and refpeCt fhewn us by the Dutch governor and hisofficers, that we belonged to a powerful and refpect able nation ; this reflection becamethe firft pledge of the friendfhip we cemented with them. The frank and generouscharacter which we never ceafed difplaying in all our intercourfe with them, com-pleted the hold which refpeCt had begun on their affeCtions; and we venture to affirm,that the French name will long be cherifhed by thefe brave men, to whom we firft madeit known.

The 25th of Auguft, in the morning, I went down to the fhore ; it was low water,and numerous groupes of Malays were employed in collecting the different animals leftby the tide. Never had I feen before inftances of fuch great fecundity : fifh, mollufcse,teftaceous and cruftaceous animals, all feemed equally multiplied on thefe fhores,but nothing could furpafs the beauty and Angularity of the fpeCtacle prefented by thefolid zoophytes, vulgarly termed madrepores. The whole fhore was formed of them;all the rocks on which we walked then without wetting the feet, were alive, animated,and fhewed themfelves under forms fo whimfical and Angular, of fuch various, rich,and bright colours, that the eye was even dazzled. Here, the tubipora mufica, proudof the fplendour of its manAon, fpread out its green and fringed feelers j on feeing thelarge femi-globular mafies it forms above the waves, one would imagine them fo manygreen-fwards on a bed of coral: in other parts, enormous madreporic rocks, from Ax-

greatly encreafed confumption, the tonnage annually employed for this purpofe is perhaps equal to whatwa6 then employed, and if her trade with the Brazils be included, is more than doubled. Then, as toher grandeur, her dominions are the fame, but increafed in population, her profperity as great, and herchildren as brave, yes, even as when Henriquez annihilated the Moors. If this be difputed, let the readerreflect that, affilted by England, they have withftood the whole might of the continent of Europe ,proftrate at the feet of the fovereign of France : have for two years withftood, and thinned the ranks ofthofe armies, headed by thofe generals, which in a few months fubdued Italy , Pruffia, Aultria, and Ruf*fia j and that thofe armies, after the two years, poflefs no more than a few towns, beyond the groundthey Hand on, in the country. Was it more glorious for the Portuguefe to have overcome the Moors thanit is to defy the Lord of Continental Europe, backed by all his means and might ? Has Portugal at anyperiod afl’umed a more grand or admirable pofture ? Then, if commerce and profperity be taken as a bafeof grandeur, Portugal is more commercial, her adventures more diffufed, now than at any period, and herpofitive profperity equal, if not fuperior. Nor has fhe fuffered viciflitude, nor her affairs a revolution, un-lefs in the brain of ignorance, or irrefleffion. Tr.

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