Travels in the East Indian archipelago

by Albert S. Bickmore

CHAPTER VII.
BANDA.

Two months had now passed since I arrived at Amboina, and I had not only collected all the shells figured in Rumphius’s “Rariteit Kamer,” which I had come to seek, but more than twice as many species besides. I was therefore ready to visit some other locality, and turn my attention to a different branch of natural history. During all the time I had been gathering and arranging my collection, Governor Arriens had frequently honored me with a visit, and, as I was finishing my work, he called again, this time to give me a pleasant surprise. He had a fine steam-yacht, of three or four hundred tons. It was necessary that he should go to Banda, and he took it for granted that I would accompany him. If I had planned for myself, what could I have desired more; but he added that, when his yacht, the Telegraph, returned, there would be an item of business for her to do on the north coast of Ceram, which I should also visit, though alone, and that, when she returned to Amboina a second time, we would go together to Ternate, and, taking the Resident stationed there, proceed to the north coast of Papua—a royal programme.

Sept. 7th.—At 5 P. M. steamed down the beautiful bay of Amboina for Banda. Our company is composed of the governor, who is going on a tour of inspection, our captain, myself, an “officer of justice,” and a lieutenant with a detachment of soldiers in charge of a native of Java, who is sentenced to be hanged as soon as we reach our port. The worst of the rainy season is now over, and this evening is cool, clear, and delightful.

Early the next morning Banda appeared on the horizon, or more correctly the Bandas—for they are ten in number. The largest, Lontar, or Great Banda, is a crescent-shaped island, about six miles long and a mile and a half wide in the broadest parts. The eastern horn of its crescent turns toward the north and the other points toward the west. In a prolongation of the former lie Pulo Pisang, “Banana Island,” and Pulo Kapal, “Ship Island.” The first is about two-thirds of a mile long, and half as wide; the last is merely a rock about three hundred feet high, and somewhat resembling the poop of a ship, hence its name. Within the circle of which these islands form an arc, lie three other islands. The highest and most remarkable is the Gunong Api,[34] or “Burning Mountain,” a conical, active volcano, about two thousand three hundred feet high. Between Gunong Api and the northern end of Lontar lies Banda Neira, about two miles long and less than a mile broad. Northeast of the latter is a small rock called Pulo Krakka, or “Women’s Island.”

The centre of the circle of which Lontar is an arc falls in a narrow passage called Sun Strait, which separates Gunong Api from Banda Neira. The diameter of this circle is about six miles. Without it, another concentric circle may be drawn, which will pass through Pulo Ai, “Water Island,” on the west, and Rosengain in the southwest; and outside of this a third concentric circle, which will pass through Swangi, “Sorcery or Spirit Island,” on the northwest, Pulo Run (Rung), “Chamber Island,” on the west, and the reef of Rosengain on the southwest. The total area of the whole group is seventeen and six-tenths geographical square miles.

The first European who reached these beautiful and long-sought islands was D’Abreu, a Portuguese, but he cannot correctly be styled their discoverer, for the Arabs and Chinese, and probably the Hindus, had been trading here for years before his arrival, as De Barros informs us D’Abreu, while on his way, touched at Gresik, in Java, to procure “Javanese and Malay pilots who had made this voyage,” and he farther adds: “Every year there repair to Lutatam” (Lontar) “Javanese and Malays to load cloves, nutmegs, and mace; for this place is in the latitudes most easily navigated, and where ships are most safe, and as the cloves of the Moluccas are brought to it by vessels of the country, it is not necessary to go to the latter in search of them. In the five islands now named” (Lontar, Rosengain, Ai, Run, and Neira), “grow all the nutmegs consumed in every part of the world.” A proof of the correctness of a part of De Barros’s statements is seen in the names of the different islands, which are all of Malay or Javanese origin. The population at that time was given at fifteen thousand, which, if correct, would have made this group far more densely peopled than any island or number of islands in the whole archipelago is at the present day. Their personal appearance and form of government are thus minutely described by De Barros: “The people of these islands are robust, with a tawny complexion and lank hair, and are of the worst repute in these parts. They follow the sect of Mohammed, and are much addicted to trade, their women performing the labors of the field. They have neither king nor lord, and all their government depends on the advice of their elders; and as these are often at variance, they quarrel among themselves. The land has no other export than the nutmeg. This tree is in such abundance that the land is full of it, without its being planted by any one, for the earth yields without culture. The forests which produce it belong to no one by inheritance, but to the people in common. When June and September come, which are the months for gathering the crop, the nutmegs are allotted, and he who gathers most has most profit.”[35] The fact that the natives were Mohammedans may be regarded as a proof that they were in advance of the other nations, who continued in heathenism, and their daring and determination are well shown in their long contest with the Dutch.

For nearly a hundred years the Portuguese monopolized the trade of these islands, and appear to have generally kept on good terms with the natives, but in 1609 the Dutch appeared with seven hundred troops, as large a force—Mr. Crawfurd pointedly remarks—as Cortez had with which to subjugate all Mexico. The admiral commanding this expedition, and forty-five of his companions, were taken by an ambuscade, and all slain. The Dutch then began a war of extermination, which lasted eighteen years, and was only brought to an end by a large expedition from Java, conducted by the governor-general in person. During this long contest the natives are said to have lost three thousand killed and a thousand prisoners, or more than a fourth part of what has been stated as their whole number when the Dutch arrived. All who were left alive fled to the neighboring islands, and not a vestige of their language or peculiar customs is known to exist at the present time.

The Dutch were thus left sole possessors of the coveted prize, but there were no natives to cultivate the nutmeg-trees, and they were therefore obliged to import slaves to do their labor. When slavery was abolished in the Dutch possessions, convicts were sent from Java to make up the deficiency, and at this time there are about three thousand of them in all these islands. Most of them are in Lontar and Neira. They are a most villanous-looking set, and have nearly all been guilty of the bloodiest crimes. They are obliged to wear around the neck a large iron ring, weighing a pound or a pound and a half. It is bent round, and then welded, so that it can only be taken off by means of a file. It is not so heavy that it is difficult for them to carry, but is designed, like the State-prison dress in our country, to show that they are common felons. The one on board our ship, who will be executed on our arrival, killed a secretary of the government—a European—in cold blood, at Banda, where he had already been banished for murder, like most of his fellows. The secretary, having occasion to arrange some papers in a box at the farther end of his room, noticed this common coolie disturbing some letters on his desk, and naturally ordered him to let them alone, and then leaned forward to continue his work. Instantly the Javanese, without further provocation, sprang forward, and, striking him on the back of the head with a heavy cleaver, killed him on the spot. Afterward, when this villain was seized and tried, he could assign no other reason for his committing the murder than the order from his superior to attend to his own business. When he heard that he was sentenced to death, he coolly remarked that he cared very little, as they would hang him, and not take off his head, so that what he had done would in no way affect his entering Paradise!