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THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO
THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO ALFRED RUSSELL WALLACE VOLUME II
By
ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE.
CHAPTER XXI
THE MOLUCCAS--TERNATE.
ON the morning of the 8th of January 1858 I arrived at Ternate
the fourth of a row of fine conical volcanic islands which shirt
the west coast of the large and almost unknown n island of
Gilolo. The largest and most perfectly conical mountain is
Tidore which is over four thousand Feet high--Ternate being very
nearly the same height but with a more rounded and irregular
summit. The town of Ternate is concealed from view till we enter
between the two islands when it is discovered stretching along
the shore at the very base of the mountain. Its situation is
fine and there are grand views on every side. Close opposite is
the rugged promontory and beautiful volcanic cone of Tidore; to
the east is the long mountainous coast of Gilolo terminated
towards the north by a group of three lofty volcanic peaks while
immediately behind the town rises the huge mountain sloping
easily at first and covered with thick groves of fruit trees but
soon becoming steeper and furrowed with deep gullies. Almost to
the summit whence issue perpetually faint wreaths of smoke it
is clothed with vegetation and looks calm and beautiful
although beneath are hidden fires which occasionally burst forth
in lava-streams but more frequently make their existence known
by the earthquakes which have many times devastated the town.
I brought letters of introduction to Mr. Duivenboden a native of
Ternate of an ancient Dutch family but who was educated in
England and speaks our language perfectly. He was a very rich
man owned half the town possessed many ships and above a
hundred slaves. He was moreover well educated and fond of
literature and science--a phenomenon in these regions. He was
generally known as the king of Ternate from his large property
and great influence with the native Rajahs and their subjects.
Through his assistance I obtained a house; rather ruinous but
well adapted to my purpose being close to the town yet with a
free outlet to the country and the mountain. A few needful
repairs were soon made some bamboo furniture and other
necessaries obtained and after a visit to the Resident and
Police Magistrate I found myself an inhabitant of the earthquake-
tortured island of Ternate and able to look about me and lay
down the plan of my campaign for the ensuing year. I retained
this house for three years as I found it very convenient to have
a place to return to after my voyages to the various islands of
the Moluccas and New Guinea where I could pack my collections
recruit my health and make preparations for future journeys. To
avoid repetitions I will in this chapter combine what notes I
have about Ternate.
A description of my house (the plan of which is here shown) will
enable the reader to understand a very common mode of building in
these islands. There is of course only one floor. The walls are
of stone up to three feet high; on this are strong squared posts
supporting the roof everywhere except in the verandah filled in
with the leaf-stems of the sago-palm fitted neatly in wooden
owing. The floor is of stucco and the ceilings are like the
walls. The house is forty feet square consists of four rooms a
hall and two verandahs and is surrounded by a wilderness of
fruit trees. A deep well supplied me with pure cold water a
great luxury in this climate. Five minutes' walk down the road
brought me to the market and the beach while in the opposite
direction there were no more European houses between me and the
mountain. In this house I spent many happy days. Returning to it
after a three or four months' absence in some uncivilized region
I enjoyed the unwonted luxuries of milk and fresh bread and
regular supplies of fish and eggs meat and vegetables which
were often sorely needed to restore my health and energy. I had
ample space and convenience or unpacking sorting and arranging
my treasures and I had delightful walks in the suburbs of the
town or up the lower slopes of the mountain when I desired a
little exercise or had time for collecting.
The lower part of the mountain behind the town of Ternate is
almost entirely covered with a forest of fruit trees and during
the season hundreds of men and women boys and girls go up every
day to bring down the ripe fruit. Durians and Mangoes two of the
very finest tropical fruits are in greater abundance at Ternate
than I have ever seen them and some of the latter are of a
quality not inferior to any in the world. Lansats and Mangustans
are also abundant but these do not ripen till a little later.
Above the fruit trees there is a belt of clearings and cultivated
grounds which creep up the mountain to a height of between two
and three thousand feet above which is virgin forest reaching
nearly to the summit which on the side next the town is covered
with a high reedy grass. On the further side it is more elevated
of a bare and desolate aspect with a slight depression marking
the position of the crater. From this part descends a black
scoriaceous tract; very rugged and covered with a scanty
vegetation of scattered bushes as far down as the sea. This is
the lava of the great eruption near a century ago and is called
by the natives "batu-angas"(burnt rock).
Just below my house is the fort built by the Portuguese below
which is an open space to the peach and beyond this the native
town extends for about a mile to the north-east. About the centre
of it is the palace of the Sultan now a large untidy half-
ruinous building of stone. This chief is pensioned by the Dutch
Government but retains the sovereignty over the native
population of the island and of the northern part of Gilolo. The
sultans of Ternate and Tidore were once celebrated through the
East for their power and regal magnificence. When Drake visited
Ternate in 1579 the Portuguese had been driven out of the
island although they still had a settlement at Tidore. He gives
a glowing account of the Sultan: "The King had a very rich canopy
with embossings of gold borne over him and was guarded with
twelve lances. From the waist to the ground was all cloth of
gold and that very rich; in the attire of his head were finely
wreathed in diverse rings of plaited gold of an inch or more in
breadth which made a fair and princely show somewhat resembling
a crown in form; about his neck he had a chain of perfect gold
the links very great and one fold double; on his left hand was a
diamond an emerald a ruby and a turky; on his right hand in
one ring a big and perfect turky and in another ring many
diamonds of a smaller size."
All this glitter of barbaric gold was the produce of the spice
trade of which the Sultans kept the monopoly and by which they
became wealthy. Ternate with the small islands in a line south
of it as far as Batchian constitute the ancient Moluccas the
native country of the clove as well as the only part in which it
was cultivated. Nutmegs and mace were procured from the natives
of New Guinea and the adjacent islands where they grew wild; and
the profits on spice cargoes were so enormous that the European
traders were glad to give gold and jewels and the finest
manufactures of Europe or of India in exchange. When the Dutch
established their influence in these seas and relieved the
native princes from their Portuguese oppressors they saw that
the easiest way to repay themselves would be to get this spice
trade into their own hands. For this purpose they adopted the
wise principle of concentrating the culture of these valuable
products in those spots only of which they could have complete
control. To do this effectually it was necessary to abolish the
culture and trade in all other places which they succeeded in
doing by treaty with the native rulers. These agreed to have all
the spice trees in their possessions destroyed. They gave up
large though fluctuating revenues but they gained in return a
fixed subsidy freedom from the constant attacks and harsh
oppressions of the Portuguese and a continuance of their regal
power and exclusive authority over their own subjects which is
maintained in all the islands except Ternate to this day.
It is no doubt supposed by most Englishmen who have been
accustomed to look upon this act of the Dutch with vague horror
as something utterly unprincipled and barbarous that the native
population suffered grievously by this destruction of such
valuable property. But it is certain that this was not the case.
The Sultans kept this lucrative trade entirely in their own hands
as a rigid monopoly and they would take care not to give their
subjects more than would amount to their usual wages while: they
would surely exact as large a quantity of spice as they could
possibly obtain. Drake and other early voyagers always seem to
have purchased their spice-cargoes from the Sultans and Rajahs
and not from the cultivators. Now the absorption of so much
labour in the cultivation of this one product must necessarily
have raised the price of food and other necessaries; and when it
was abolished more rice would be grown more sago made more
fish caught and more tortoise-shell rattan gum-dammer and
other valuable products of the seas and the forests would be
obtained. I believe therefore that this abolition of the spice
trade in the Moluccas was actually beneficial to the inhabitants
and that it was an act both wise in itself and morally and
politically justifiable.
In the selection of the places in which to carry on the
cultivation the Dutch were not altogether fortunate or wise.
Banda was chosen for nutmegs and was eminently successful since
?; continues to this day to produce a large supply of this spice
and to yield a considerable revenue. Amboyna was fixed upon for
establishing the clove cultivation; but the soil and climate
although apparently very similar to that of its native islands
is not favourable and for some years the Government have
actually been paying to the cultivators a higher rate than they
could purchase cloves elsewhere owing to a great fall in the
price since the rate of payment was fixed for a term of years by
the Dutch Government and which rate is still most honourably
paid.
In walking about the suburbs of Ternate we find everywhere the
ruins of massive stone and brick buildings gateways and arches
showing at once the superior wealth of the ancient town and the
destructive effects of earthquakes. It was during my second stay
in the town after my return from New Guinea that I first felt
an earthquake. It was a very slight one scarcely more than has
been felt in this country but occurring in a place that lad been
many times destroyed by them it was rather more exciting. I had
just awoke at gun-fire (5 A.M.) when suddenly the thatch began
to rustle and shake as if an army of cats were galloping over it
and immediately afterwards my bed shook too so that for an
instant I imagined myself back in New Guinea in my fragile
house which shook when an old cock went to roost on the ridge;
but remembering that I was now on a solid earthen floor I said
to myself "Why it's an earthquake" and lay still in the
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