John Lort Stokes

“ As one of the Port Essington natives, a very fine active man, had accompanied us on shore, we persuaded him, with some difficulty, to join in the dance, thinking that the quickness of eye, so common to all savages, would enable him to avoid the spear ”

“ The Banda group consists of three large islands and two smaller ones. The nutmegs, which form the only export of the place, are all grown upon Great Banda, the largest of the three islands. It averages 500 feet in height, and is luxuriantly wooded.
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 ”

“ 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. ”

“ The nutmegs are then placed on long bamboo platforms, under sheds built for the purpose, where they are dried by means of wood fires. When sufficiently dry, they are handed over to the Government (who monopolize the whole produce of the island) and are then placed in the Government stores, where they are heated with quick-lime, which has the effect of preserving them from insects: they are then ready for exportation. ”

“ The annual produce of the island is said to average from 300,000 to 400,000 pounds of nutmegs; and about one-fourth that quantity of mace. Nutmegs are the only produce of Banda. Cloves are grown upon the island, but are considered to be so much inferior in quality to those produced at Amboyna, that they are not exported. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Wamma, though nearly forty miles in circumference, contains only between 200 and 300 inhabitants, who are scattered along the coast in little villages, each containing about half a dozen houses. The eastern islands are said to be more thickly inhabited. ”

“ The natives appear to be a harmless race; and though their country is so rich in produce, the greater portion are in a state of poverty. This is to be attributed to the immoderate use of spirituous liquors, large quantities of which are brought by the traders from Java and Macassar. From their language and personal appearance, the natives appear to be a mixture between the Malayan race and the Polynesian negro. ”

“ On landing, I was most kindly received by the Governor-General of the Moluccas, Colonel de Stuers, who gave me a most pressing invitation to take up my abode at his delightful residence a short distance out of the town, which was gladly accepted. ”

“ We found the natives had been suffering most severely from famine, occasioned by a long-continued drought that had dried up everything on the island, to such an extent, that the rice crops, upon which they chiefly depend for food, had entirely failed ”