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Aviation History
1941
1941 - 1327.PDF
JUNE I2TH, 1941. FLIGHT FLIGHT TO DILLI An Old-world Colonial Town Now on British Empire Air Route 1 ••••.- PORTUGUESE OUTPOST : Cambria circles before alighting on the lagoon at Dilli. steeply behind the narrow coastal plain. In the background the mountains rise DILLI, town of an old-world colony founded by thePortuguese explorers of the 16th century, has beencaught up in the flight of progress. On the north coast of the Island of Timor, an island of fertile soil and high mountains, Dilli is the capital of the Portuguese part of the island. The other part is Dutch, and the town of Koepang, well known to travellers on the Empire Air Route, is near the southern tip. For many years Dilli has been left in peace to its natives and its colonisers, and they have grown their crops and lived their simple lives undisturbed by the clash of "isms" and the flash of coloured shirts elsewhere in the world. '-• jrf Perhaps they will continue to be undisturbed, but there '0 is evidence of increasing interest in Dilli, and that town ' now finds itself only three days from Tokyo, one and a half days from Batavia, and two from Sydney. Air travel has brought it closer to the major powers. Japanese Influence Formerly an erratic, once-weekly service by a small boat of the K.P.M. shipping line connected Dilli to the Dutch East Indies, and the inhabitants had very little connection with the outside world. Then the Japanese sent boats on occasional visits, and Japanese residents arrived and started trading. Their influence was increased by the Japanese purchase of a substantial part of the Portuguese Sociedade Agricola, which controlled much of the agriculture of the colony and had a monopoly ot the coffee crop, the most important export. But as well as coffee there are prunes, mulberries, peaches, oranges, figs and pineapples grown on the island. Rice, tobacco, sandal- wood and cotton arc also grown in small quantities The native population is Belonese, and numbers half a million, while the Europeans total about 400. In addition there are about 70 Portuguese " deportados," a word which needs no translation. There is very little manufacture ot goods, and then only for the use of the population itself. Crafts such as needlework are taught in the missionary schools run by the Dominicans and Franciscans. Other wise the colony is untouched by "civilisation," and Dilli has no cinema, no newspapers, no ice, and only a small electricity plant. This is insufficient to run a radio set, and in any case only works at night. The town of Dilli is a pretty place, with trees coming right down to the foreshore and a row of hills behind. The harbour is protected by a coral reef through which are two entrances, one of which could be used by flying-boats. The population consists of 100 Portuguese, 1,500 Chinese. 20 Japanese, two British (one an airways official), and 5,000 natives. Living is cheap. The patacca is the token ot exchange, and is worth about is. gd. Residence with full board at the solitary hotel costs about 5 pataccas a day; a bottle of the best Portuguese cognac costs the same. A flagon of excellent imported red wine, equal to six large bottles, costs about n pataccas. The beer is Japanese, costs one patacca a bottle, and is an acquired taste. Flowers grow profusely in Dilli; roses, lilies, chrysanthe- mums grow wild, and there is a typical Portuguese boule- vard lined with trees from the old world. After the service at the cathedral on Sundays the Governor drives down the boulevard with his three daughters, aged 13, 13 and 11, meets his ministers and holds an open-air cabinet meeting. There is a small army of about 400, equipped with Winchester rifles. The Portuguese residents are versa tile ; in the mornings they are government officials, in the afternoons school teachers, and in the evenings officers in the Reserve. The new-found interest in Dilli reached a climax when Cambria, piloted by Captain Hussey, of Qanras Empire Airways, touched down on the circular lagoon—which is the harbour—on January 16th of this year. This has added a new country to the 25 already served by British Overseas Airways and its associated companies. Now there is a regular call once a fortnight in each direction. The other services continue to call at Koepang, in Dutch Timor. Dilli's new-found popularity does not end then;. Already a Dutch Fokker monoplane had begun a weekly flight from Dilli to Koepang so as to link with the K.N.I.L.M. service from Batavia to Sydney. And the Japanese have suddenly shown an interest in the place. The excitement
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