Captain de Freycinet's late
voyage round the world, estimates the inhabitants of Coepang at 1500, of
which 1000 are slaves, and 300 Chinese.)

The town is situated principally on the east bank of the river; which,
rising in the mountains, runs through a torrent-worn course until it
reaches the valley in which the town is built; here the tide meets it,
and at low water its bed is nearly dry: it communicates with the sea by a
shoal bar immediately under a rocky eminence on which the Fort of
Concordia is constructed. This fort, from its favourable situation,
protects the harbour and outer anchorage, as well as commands the town.

From the anchorage, Coepang presents a very picturesque and lively
appearance. The houses, a few of which are built of stone, are roofed
either with red tiles or thatch, and are shaded from the heat of the sun
by thick groves of trees; among which the breadfruit-tree, the Jaca, and
a species of hibiscus, were observed. The principal street, as is common
in most Dutch towns, is shaded by an avenue of trees, which forms an
agreeable walk, and is a great ornament to the place: at the upper end of
this street is the Company's garden, but its ruinous state shows that it
has long since ceased to be cultivated for the purpose for which it was
originally intended.

From the crowds of people in the streets a stranger would imagine it to
be a place of great trade, but the only employments of the inhabitants
seem to be those of fishing, making straw hats and carrying water; the
last occupation is principally performed by the women, who convey it in
vessels made of the broad part of the leaf of the fan palm, each
containing from two to three gallons. At the door of every house was seen
either a man or a woman plaiting straw hats, but this might only have
been occasioned by our great demand for them, for we purchased all that
could be made whilst we remained.

The detail of the coasts of the island, particularly of its south-eastern
side, on which there are many indentations and bays, is very little
known; the natives are reported generally to be favourably inclined to
Europeans, but it would be dangerous for an unarmed vessel to place too
much reliance upon the faith of a Timorean, whose thirst for powder might
induce him to commit any mischievous act to obtain it. The mountaineers
are described to be a warlike race of men, but since the cession of the
island to the Dutch by the King of Ternate, to whom i