The custom of "tabu," called here "pomali," is very general, fruit trees, houses, crop, and property of all kinds being protected from depredation by this ceremony, the reverence for which is very great.

A palm branch stuck across an open door, showing that the house is tabooed, is a more effectual guard against robbery than any amount of locks and bars.

The houses in Timor are different from those of most of the other islands; they seem all roof, the thatch overhanging the low walls and reaching the ground, except where it is cut away for an entrance.

In some parts of the west end of Timor, and on the little island of Semau, the houses more resemble those of the Hottentots, being egg-shaped, very small, and with a door only about three feet high.

These are built on the ground, while those of the eastern districts art, raised a few feet on posts.
In their excitable disposition, loud voices, and fearless demeanour, the Timorese closely resemble the people of New Guinea.
In the islands west of Timor, as far as Flores and Sandalwood Island, a very similar race is found, which also extends eastward to Timor-laut, where the true Papuan race begins to appear.