2015Portugal and Timor-Leste - 500 Years - Souvenir Sheet

The island of Timor, and likewise the islands to the east of the Strait of Malacca, has been referenced by Portuguese seafarers since the early sixteenth century. The pilot Francisco Rodrigues was the first Portuguese explorer to draw the map of the island; working between 1512 and 1513, he limited his meticulous sketch to the northern coast of the territory which he identified as follows: «this is the island of Timor where sandalwood is born» — precious information considering the importance of the international trade of this wood, highly valued in China and India. Hence, during the fifteen hundreds, this remote island was reputed only for its abundant sandalwood forests, a fame thus immortalised by Luís de Camões in Canto Ten of Os Lusíadas (1572): «And here is Timor, with its forests/ Of scented, invigorating sandalwood./ Look at Java, so vast [...]1».