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Updated: June 11, 2025
Aboh put his thumbs up above his head, and then with his hands described a fat animal with long hair, and made a bellowing noise. "Ah, he means buffalo, there is no doubt about that," observed Charley. "Tell our friend we shall be happy to accompany him, and if he can show us the buffalo, we will do our best to shoot them." Ombay, on this answer being interpreted to him, appeared well satisfied.
Nothing further of any importance occurred until, having worked our way slowly up past the west and north-west coast of Australia, we found ourselves to the northward of the Ombay Passage, the entrance of which or, rather, Savou Island, which may be said to lie in the fairway of the southern entrance I hit off to a hair, much to my own secret gratification and the admiration of the boatswain and carpenter.
"To make a long story short, he put the 'Speedwell' ashore in Ombay Pass, on a voyage from Singapore to New York, and abandoned her as she lay. Within a month after sailing, he was back again in Singapore with his ship's company in three long boats and a tale of a lost vessel. No hint of scandal was raised against the affair.
They did not live in tribes, but generally in pairs, and that the male built a house for himself, and the female for herself, close on a neighbouring tree. Next day as we were travelling along, through a thick part of the forest, we came upon some shrubs bearing a pretty sort of wild berry. Prince Ombay at once said we should find some Nshiegoes not far off.
At first the corvette sailed rapidly along the north coast of Timor, for the purpose of making a survey, but when she had reached the narrowest part of the Channel of Ombay, she encountered such violent currents that the winds being slight and contrary it was only with great difficulty she was able to regain the course which she had lost during the calm.
As we wished to rejoin Prince Ombay as soon as possible, and put him out of suspense, we begged Tom to get ready to march at once.
Without waiting for a signal from Ombay, we rose to our knees and fired. The two animals at which we had aimed leapt into the air at the same moment, and fell over dead. Ombay, who had not expected us to make such excellent shots, on this shouted with delight. The rest of the herd of course galloped off, and were soon lost to sight amid the trunks of trees on the opposite side of the prairie.
Prince Ombay was constantly describing to us the curious creatures of the country, and among others he mentioned some huge apes which he said were like wild men, and built houses for themselves in the trees, and were almost as big as men. When I expressed doubt on the subject, Ombay said he would show us the houses, and the apes also. He called the animal "Nshiego."
In no other part of Timor do there appear to be any recent igneous rocks, so that it can hardly be classed as a volcanic island. Indeed its position is just outside of the great volcanic belt, which extends from Flores through Ombay and Wetter to Banda.
This excursion derived greater interest from the circumstance of the island of Ombay having been up to that time rarely visited by Europeans; and the few vessels that had effected any landing brought mournful accounts of the warlike and ferocious temper of the natives, and even in some instances of their cannibal propensities.
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