A few details on the roadstead of Amboyna, and the manners and customs of the native population, will not be out of place.
"Amboyna roadstead," says La Billardière, "forms a channel some thirteen or fourteen miles in length, and about two and a half miles in breadth. It affords good anchorage, although the bottom is partly of coral.
"The fort, called Victory Fort, is built of bricks; the governor and some of the members of government reside there. It was at this time falling into ruins, and every discharge of cannon did evident damage.
"The garrison consisted of about two hundred men, of which the natives of the island composed a considerable part; the remainder consisted of a few retired European soldiers and a small detachment of a Wurtemberg regiment.
"The mortality amongst officers living in the Indies makes the lives of those who have been some time in the climate precious; the Dutch Company is therefore seldom true to its promise to allow them to return to Europe at the expiration of their time of service. I met with several of these unfortunate men who had been detained for more than twenty years, when, according to agreement, they ought to have been freed long before.
"The language of the natives of Amboyna is Malay. It is very soft and musical. The country produces spices, coffee, which is inferior to that of Reunion Island, and sago; the latter is largely cultivated in the marshy districts.
"The rice consumed at Amboyna is not indigenous to the soil, but still it might be successfully cultivated in the low lands. The Dutch Company, however, prohibit the growth of this article of commerce, because its sale enables them to keep back a part of the sum which they are obliged to pay for cloves furnished by the blacks. They thus prevent the increase of pay, and obtain the fruits of native labour at a moderate price.
"Thus the company, consulting their own interest only, discourage all industry in the population, by forcing them, as it were, to relinquish everything but the cultivation of spices.
"The Dutch are careful to limit the cultivation of spices within the compass of ordinary consumption. Their efforts, which are destructive of all enterprise, chime in with the nonchalant character of the natives."
On the 23rd of "Vendémiaire"1 of the year 1, if we conform to the new style, as Bougainville does, the two vessels left Amboyna, amply provisioned with fowls, ducks, geese, pigs, goats, potatoes, yams, bananas, and pumpkins. Meat, however, they obtained in but small quantities, the flour was of a bad quality, and the sailors could never accustom themselves to the sago which was shipped in its stead; bamboos, cloves, and arrack may be added to the list of shipments.