BANDA NEIRA.
Banda Neira, the next in point of size, is the residence of the government officers, the troops, and the convicts. It is not so high as Great Banda, and does not produce a single nutmeg. The third island is called the Gounung Api, or Burning Mountain; and is, as its name implies, a volcano, from which more or less smoke, impregnated with sulphur, is constantly issuing; during the westerly monsoon, this smoke is blown over the town, which it renders very unhealthy. One of the small islands is inhabited entirely by lepers, who are sent there to prevent the disease from spreading among the inhabitants.
Banda is used as a penal settlement by the Dutch Government, and, at the period of our visit, there were from 3000 to 4000 convicts, guarded by about 300 soldiers, most of whom were natives of Celebes and Amboyna, being commanded by European officers. The town of Banda is clean, and contains, besides the houses of the Government officers, ample storehouses for the reception of the nutmegs grown upon Great Banda; together with very commodious barracks for the troops, and an airy and well appointed hospital. In addition to the Government officers and troops, a considerable number of Chinese have settled in Banda Neira. They reside in a part of the town by themselves; and some of them, judging from the appearance of their houses, seem to be prospering in the world.
The harbour is well sheltered in both monsoons, and is easy of access, but it is closed against foreign merchant vessels.* We found two merchant vessels under Dutch colours, at anchor; one was commanded by an Englishman, and the other, the property of a rich Chinaman living in Banda, by an old friend, who piloted us last year into Dobbo Harbour.
(*Footnote. A shoal extends from Great Banda towards the Gounung Api, leaving a deep passage of not more than a quarter of a mile wide. Upon this shoal, a considerable portion of which is dry at low-water, extensive bamboo fish-weirs are erected, which seem to be very productive. The natives also use fish-pots formed of bamboo, resembling in principle the common drum-net, which they leave down in shoal water during the night, and generally find a good supply in the morning. On another part of the shoal we observed a number of large stones, which are said to have been projected from the volcano, during a violent eruption some years ago.)
ADVENTURES OF A JAVANESE.
His history was a strange one. He was a half-caste, born in Java, who, after various adventures in different parts of the world, had been pressed into our naval service, and served some time on board a man-of-war, where he learned the English language. On his discharge from her, he was for some time in distress in London, and eventually he found his way back to his native country, where his enterprise, knowledge of seamanship, and facility in acquiring languages, of which he spoke seven or eight, soon got him employment.
The commandant of the troops, Captain De Stuers, nephew to the Governor-General of the Moluccas, who had very civilly pointed out the best anchorage to us, and given us every information in his power, on our first arrival, finding that we were interested in the manners and customs of the natives, very kindly invited us to see a menado dance performed by some of the native soldiers of the garrison. We landed with him in his Oram-bay, a large native boat, pulled by twelve men, who kept time by striking their round-bladed paddles against the gunwale between every stroke.
NATIVE DANCE.
On landing, the prettiest sight possible awaited us. The barrack-square, a green grass field of considerable extent, was covered with the native soldiers, all dressed in their gayest holiday costume, and decorated with scarves and handkerchiefs of the brightest colours, which streamed loosely from their elbows. Some of the men were armed with narrow bamboo shields, others with wooden swords, and the remainder with the light stems of the sago-palm, which were to be used as javelins. Each of these warriors came dancing up to us in turn, to make his obeisance, as we advanced to the spot where seats had been prepared for us. As soon as we were all seated the dance commenced. At first the spear-men advanced towards each other, holding the spear in the right hand, and the bamboo shields in the left, keeping time to the rude music of a couple of drums with very great accuracy, and dancing quite as much with their arms as their legs, in the most graceful manner possible. When they had approached sufficiently near to each other, one threw his spear with great force and dexterity, still keeping time to the music, and the other parried the weapon with his bamboo shield. I only saw one instance of failure, and then the unfortunate man received the blunt spear full on his breast with such force that it sent him rolling head-over-heels, much to the amusement of the spectators, and equally to his own discomfiture.