Voyages of the Dutch brig of war Dourga

by D. H. Kolff

Ghissa is a low, sandy, uninhabited island, surrounded on all sides by reefs, which extend farthest to seaward from the south end. In the centre of the island is a lagoon, communicating with the sea by a channel on the north side, which absolutely swarms with various kinds of fish, while its shores abound with ducks and snipes. Ghissa was once inhabited; but a war having broken out between the people and those of Kilwari, the latter obtained the upper hand, and drove the others from their island, forcing them to take refuge on Ceram-Laut and the adjacent places, while everything they left behind was destroyed. From this period the island had remained unoccupied. A small portion of the former population still resided on Ceram-Laut, under the rule of a chief in subjection to the people of Kilwari, the latter treating them in a most barbarous manner.

Having anchored close to the villages on Kilwari, a gun was fired from the brig as a signal that a vessel of war had arrived, and that the chiefs were required to come on board.

This group of islands is known among the natives by the name of Pulo Ceram, (though each has a separate name), from the inhabitants being either descendants of the people of Great Ceram, or fugitives from that island, and following the Ceramese laws and customs. The inhabitants of this range of islands are all Mohammedans, and bear much resemblance in every particular to the professors of the same religion at Amboyna, and the other Molucca Islands.

Kilwari is a small sandy island, overspread with houses, lying to the west-north-west of Ceram-Laut, to which it is joined by a sand-bank. The inhabitants are under the rule of the Raja of Kilwari, and the Commandant Kaltaay, the subjects of the latter forming a small portion only of the population residing on the west side of the island. The two villages are separated from each other by a stone wall, six feet high, and two in thickness, a similar defence surrounding the island. The houses, which are usually raised three or four feet from the ground, have a very poor and neglected appearance, but those of natives of consequence are enclosed by a substantial stone wall.

Coral reefs extend for a considerable distance from the island, rendering it difficult of approach to ships. The village appeared to me to be within reach of our guns, and should it be necessary to attack them, it would be possible to approach within musket-shot. The best landing-place, on such an occasion, would be a bay on the north side of the island; but boats could easily pass over the reefs. The place could easily be taken by a single square-rigged vessel, and some small craft. It is owing only to their defenceless position that the natives, who are naturally turbulent and rapacious, show any respect for the commands of our Government. Being aware of the mildness of our rule, they often take advantage of it, and enter into the smuggling trade in nutmegs and cloves, which they exchange for gunpowder and arms, as will be seen hereafter.

We had not long been at anchor when the Raja of Kilwari, with all his chiefs, came on board with much solemnity to pay his respects, at the same time testifying his joy at the kindness of the Government in offering to be the mediator between the contending parties. He expressed his willingness to abide by my decision, and to cease hostilities against Keffing, should I command it.

I sent my clerk with an interpreter to the Major of Keffing, the chief of part of that thickly populated island, to invite him on board, with promise of safe conduct, on which he came to the ship. I subsequently returned the visit of both chiefs at their villages, and was received with great state. The war had ceased from the moment of my arrival. On enquiry it appeared to me, that the people of Kilwari had been the aggressors, and it was arranged that they should pay a fine, on which I caused both parties to meet at the village of Kelu on Keffing, and reconciled them in the Ceramese mode. I was engaged until the 13th in deciding their differences, and although their state of civilization is higher than that of most of the tribes I visited during my previous voyage, the decision of disputes nowhere cost me more difficulty or required more patience. I will refrain from giving a full account of the causes of these disputes, as they would occupy too much space, and will merely give the outline. Several months previous to our arrival, the chiefs of Keffing and Kilwari fell out, the quarrel arising from mutual jealousy, which found vent in taunts, the usual mode in which the natives manage to create dissensions among themselves. They had already met with their flotillas of korra-korras, and had fought, after their manner, with great obstinacy and bloodshed. The people of Kilwari had been the attacking party, for which reason they were adjudged to pay a fine of two cannons, an elephant's tusk, and some other trifles. According to the custom of the Ceramese, the payment of a fine, coupled with an acknowledgment of having done wrong, puts an end to hostilities; the punishment for all sorts of offences, robbery, and even murder, being commutable to a payment of elephants' tusks, lelahs, gongs, cloth, &c. Some villages possess a peculiar hereditary right connected with the payment of fines, which are respected by the others. For example, as a fine for the same offence, Kilwari would pay to Keffing two bagians or proportions, while Keffing would disburse to Kilwari only one bagian. All these usages are called Adat Ceram, and those who do not respect them draw upon themselves the enmity of all parties. Their differences are often settled by a meeting of the other chiefs; but such a devouring jealousy obtains among them, that nothing gives greater satisfaction than punishment inflicted by our Government on one of the parties. A threat made by me to call in the assistance of the neighbouring chiefs, and punish the Raja of Kilwari, if he continued obstinate, had the greatest effect upon him, and gave much satisfaction to the other chiefs.

The power of the native chiefs is more or less in proportion to their riches. An ancient Ceramese saying is to this effect:—"If he is a Raja, I am one also. While I have vessels, slaves, lelahs, powder and shot, with money to pay warriors, I will make war on the first chief who offends me, and if I gain the victory all Rajas will come and kiss my feet."

The chiefs take care that none of their subjects shall collect too much property, as they know well how to reduce his wealth by imposing fines, and other modes of extortion. The contributions, or as they are called here, as well as by us, the tithes paid to the chiefs by the people, forms by no means so ample a portion of their income as that derived from the hereditary services performed by them, such as building their houses, and keeping them in repair, and from the presents of stock, fruit and other productions wrung from the unwilling hands of the peasants. These extortions, which render the native rule so burthensome to the people, are enforced, indeed, throughout India.

Ceram-Laut is encompassed by several smaller islands, the whole being surrounded by an extensive coral reef, on the edge of which, at low water, is found a depth of from two to four fathoms. The reef runs steep off, there being an unfathomable depth a little beyond it, which renders it dangerous of approach. The centre, which is also the largest of the islands, is high and hilly. An exceedingly high tree upon it, under which the chiefs of Kilwari are interred, raises itself far above the others, and forms a good land-mark for seamen. The population is small. The fugitives from Ghissa are settled on the west side, and over the face of the island are scattered some natives of Tehor (an island about midway between Ceram and the Ki Islands), who have been driven from their country by their powerful neighbours, together with a number of other unfortunates who have been forced to leave their native island, Sumbawa, from the destruction caused by the eruption of the Timboro Mountain in 1814. The condition of these strangers is little better than that of slaves to the people of Kilwari, to whom they are obliged to deliver the fruits of their labour, consisting of rice, Indian corn, oil, &c.; while they are also forced to attend their oppressors as rowers in their prahus, whenever they fit out their flotillas for a warlike excursion. The slaves obtained from the adjacent coasts of New Guinea, who are not quickly sold at Kilwari, are also kept upon Ceram-Laut until the state of the market becomes more favourable.[42]