When a king dies a large feast is made to which all the inhabitants are invited.  The body after a few days is put into a coffin which is closed up and kept three years before it is interred.

The Dutch have been at some pains to establish Christianity among the natives:  but it has not gained much ground, except in the neighbourhood of Coupang.  The present king was christened by the name of Barnardus.  His Indian name is Bachee Bannock.  The scriptures are translated into the Malay language and prayers are performed in the church at Coupang by a Malay clergyman, in that language.

I met at Timor with most of the fruits that are described in Captain Cook’s first voyage as natives of Batavia, except the mangosteen.  The breadfruit tree, called by the Malays soccoom, likewise grows here with great luxuriance and appears to be as much a native of this island as it is of Otaheite.  The fruit is exactly of the same kind but not so good.  A breadfruit of Timor weighs half as much more as one of equal size at Otaheite.  It is not used here as bread but generally eaten with milk and sugar.  At Backennassy I saw about twenty of the trees, larger than any I have seen at Otaheite.  Here is also a sort of breadfruit tree that produces seeds not unlike Windsor beans and equally palatable either boiled or roasted.  No other part of the fruit is eatable and, though the tree I am told is to all appearance the same as the other, the fruits have but little resemblance, the fruit of this being covered with projecting points nearly half an inch in length.

I received a present of some fine plants from the governor, which I was afterwards unfortunately obliged to leave at Batavia for want of proper room to take care of them in the packet by which I returned to Europe.  Mr. Wanjon likewise favoured me with some seeds for His Majesty’s garden at Kew which I had the good fortune to deliver safe on my return:  and some of the mountain rice cultivated at Timor on the dry land, which was forwarded to His Majesty’s botanic garden at St. Vincent, and to other parts in the West Indies.

A resemblance of language between the people of the South Sea islands and the inhabitants of many of the islands in the East Indies has been remarked in Captain Cook’s first voyage.  Here the resemblance appeared stronger than has yet been noticed; particularly in their numerals.  But besides the language I observed some customs among the people of Timor still more striking for their similarity.  They practise the tooge-tooge* of the Friendly Islands which they call toombock:  and the roomee of Otaheite which they call ramas.  I likewise saw, placed on their graves, offerings of baskets with tobacco and betel.

(Footnote.  The tooge-tooge is described in Captain Cook’s last voyage Volume 1 page 323; and the roomee in the same voyage Volume 2 page 64.)