Maluku Islands

“ From hence to the Malucas it is all islands, and on the south side are many uniting with those of Banda and Amboyna, where the Dutch carry on a trade. We came to the islands of Bachian, which are the first Malucas, where we found a Theatine, with about one hundred Christians in the country of a Mahometan king friendly to us, who begged me to subdue one of the Ternate islands inhabited by revolted Mahometans, to whom Don Pedro de Acunha had given pardon in Your Majesty’s name, which I had maintained ”

“ For Nau-hau, in sullen volcanic rage, was ripe to erupt at the slightest opportunity. And, so strolling, Van Horn was given to see what few white men have seen, for Langa-Langa and her sister islets, beautiful beads strung along the lee coast of Malaita, were as unique as they were unexplored.
Originally these islets had been mere sand-banks and coral reefs awash in the sea or shallowly covered by the sea. Only a hunted, wretched creature, enduring incredible hardship, could have eked out a miserable existence upon them. ”

“ As to the second, we assert that the Malucos fall many degrees within their Majesties' demarcation. In verification of this assertion it is to be noted, that, since the sphere has a circumference of three hundred and sixty degrees, this number should, of necessity, correspond to the distance, demonstrated by the deputies of the King of Portugal, to be comprised between the meridian of the island of La Sal and the Malucos, plus our assertion of the distance westward to the same Malucos. ”

“ It is said that there are many people there who, when pacified, will need, according to the report made, at least eighty ministers for the conversion of those natives. This said island lies to the south. It produces a great quantity of cinnamon, which, if cultivated, will prove a source of great profit to the royal exchequer of your Highness. This island is quite near those of Maluco, and the occupation of it will be very advantageous, because of what is said of the trade and commerce of the said Malucas Islands, of which we would thus gain practical knowledge. ”

“ Therefore if the king our lord take Maluco for his own (for people say that his Majesty has a right to it) , the ships sent out will be able to carry out two commissions in one voyage, taking on a cargo of cloves and of cinnamon, for Maluco lies in the course, and is a very good port, where they must of necessity touch. I have called attention to what I have seen in this island. Finally, I shall now speak of all the others which are on terms of peace, at least as far as concerns those where the Spaniards have been. The second is the island of Negros, which is absolutely peaceful. ”

“ Perhaps the traffic with Maluco may prove of advantage to the town, for there is no other place in its vicinity with which any commerce could be carried on. Its neighborhood is poor, and all the vast district round about lacks gold mines or gold-placers, except in the island of Mindanao—and that but little—as will be described later. The island of Çubu produces a small quantity of rice, borona, and millet and little or no cotton; for the cloth which the natives use for their garments is made from a kind of banana. ”

“ It is a remarkably high island, and pretty well inhabited by Malays, as are all the Molucca Islands. It is surrounded by shoals almost on every side, and some of these stretch a league and a half from the shore, so that it is very dangerous to come near, unless with very good charts, or with an experienced pilot. ”

“ But the application of the name has been extended to all the islands under Dutch rule, between Celebes and N. Guinea. There is a Dutch governor residing at Amboyna, and the islands are divided into 4 residencies, viz. Amboyna, Banda, Ternate and Manado. The origin of the name Molucca, or Maluco as the Portuguese called it, is not recorded; but it must have been that by which the islands were known to the native traders at the time of the Portuguese discoveries. The early accounts often dwell on the fact that each island (at least three of them) had a king of its own. ”

“ Our religious have printed books in the languages of the islands, concerning the matters of our religion. In the Malucas, they have a very pretty method of writing [290] to their friends. They collect flowers of various colors, and make a bouquet of them; and he who receives the bouquet understands, on beholding the varieties of flowers and their colors, as if they were so many different characters, the thoughts of his friend. They have not sufficient capacity to apply themselves to learning, and they content themselves with being good carpenters, and with working gold and iron well. ”

“ From the extremity of this island of Malaita we saw another island, which lies east and west from this cape 8 leagues, to which we went, arriving in the night. We anchored in front of a town on [221] the coast, which has a small river; and whilst we were anchoring, two canoes came off to see us, but they soon returned. At dawn we sent the people on shore to get water: and the natives came out peacefully with their women and their sons. They are all naked like the others. The women carry in their hands some things like fans, which they sometimes place before them. ”

“ Of the Islands of Maluco With the lure of the cloves and drugs which are found in these Malucas Islands, more and more ships from foreign nations are continually coming to them; [60] The French have built a factory in Macasar and have at present four ships there. Between the English and the Hollanders there is constant strife. In Jaba and Sumatra the English have twenty galleons; the Dutch general set out for that place with sixteen galleons which he had collected, but it is not known how the affair has ended, although it is known that there has been war between the two nations. ”

“ The Chinese have come here on trading expeditions, since our arrival, for we have always tried to treat them well. Therefore during the two years that we have spent on this island, they have come in greater numbers each year, and with more ships; and they come earlier than they used to, so that their trade is assured to us. Those that come here are, like the people of this land, almost naked, on account of the hot climate. They do not bring to sell the silks and beautiful things that they take to Malaca. ”

“ It is rare that the population of an island is without clear, definite, and not very distant affinities with that of the nearest part of the nearest continent. The Cingalese of Ceylon can be traced to India; the Sumatrans to the Malayan Peninsula; the Kurile Islanders to the Peninsula of Sagalín; the Guanches of Teneriffe to the coast of Barbary. The nearest approach to isolation is in the island of Madagascar, where the affinities are with Sumatra, the Moluccas and the Malay stock rather than with the opposite parts of Africa, the coasts of Mozambique and Zanguibar. ”

“ Among these islands there are certain currents which flow more rapidly than those of any river. One cannot believe this unless one actually sees it. And as the archipelago is so extensive, at the doubling of each promontory it is needful to choose a different time for sailing. For this reason we need vessels with oars. Meanwhile, unless your Majesty orders it, we shall not go to Maluco. If we had to go there, it would be better to locate in that village in Mindanao, which is well supplied with provisions and where there are people. It is more than one hundred leagues nearer than Maluco. ”

“ In this land also we found iron, china bells, and other things, by which we knew we were near the Malucas; and so we ran along this coast above 130 leagues, where it comes to a termination fifty leagues before you reach the Malucas. There is an infinity of islands to the southward, and very large, which for the want of provisions we did not approach; for I doubt if in ten years could be examined the coasts of all the islands we descried. We observed the variation in all this land of New Guinea to the Molucas ”

“ Men and women betoken in their dress the natural haughtiness of their disposition. The variety of their languages is not little. It may happen that one village cannot understand the language of the next. Malay, being most easy to pronounce, is most common. From the variety of languages it is inferred that these islands have been populated by different nations. Antiquity, and the art of navigating in those districts, is ascribed to the Chinese. Others affirm that the Malucos are descended from the Javanese, who, attracted by the sweetness of the odors wafted by the spices, stopped at Maluco. ”

“ On account of these troubles, it is sailing straight for Maluco, in order to construct a fort to fight with the natives. Another galleon, the "San Juan," under Captain Martin Alfonso, a noble, is in Malaca, and is about to go to Anbon; and it must go by way of Jaba, opposite the coast of Borney. With the few men whom it can take, and those whom it can secure at Anbon, it must go with them all to Maluco to aid the said captain Pedro Lopez to oppose the inhabitants of Maluco. ”

“ These islands are in five and one-half degrees of latitude north, and one hundred and forty-nine degrees of longitude from the meridian of Tenerife; the seas about them are difficult of navigation, on account of being in the midst of a large and widespread bank [placer] of shoals which lie on all sides. They share the reputation of Maluco, not only for the warlike nature of their inhabitants, but for many spice-bearing trees, of clove and nutmeg; but in other means of support that country is very poor. This prince was received by the governor with much honor ”

“ I argue the matter thus, that I may not seem to be actuated only by affection for my own country, instead of making a just estimate. It must be considered that people cannot go to Maluco from India more than once a year, on account of the weather; this is well known to all those who sail on those seas. From Manila the voyage can be made almost the whole year; whence it follows that Maluco could not be reënforced so conveniently [if the Filipinas were abandoned] , especially in cases of great need. ”

“ We are located in the best center of the country although there is no other advantage in this island than that it is well settled, and consequently we can maintain ourselves until your Majesty have us informed of what is best for your royal service and that we should support ourselves. We are stationed here at the gateway of great kingdoms and Maluco is very near, where our holy faith will be exalted and your royal patrimony increased, for there is a natural fitness for it. ”

“ There are no low-lying marshes; the position and high surface render this one of the healthiest islands in the Malay Archipelago.
The Dutch have had settlements here for more than two centuries; and their wise and just treatment of the natives has made the island famous for peace and prosperity. Except a few tribes of the interior, all the islanders are at least partly civilized. The natives who live in the coast regions are intelligent and industrious. Paganism and corrupted Muhammadanism are the prevailing religions, but Christianity has secured a firm hold in a few places. ”

“ Of the many islands round about, which are also called Malucas, ... the following are remarkable for the abundance of their spice, namely—beginning at the north-Ternate, Tydore, Motiel, Maquien, and Bacham. In the time of their former pagans they were called Cape, Duco, Moutil, Mara, and Seque ... The inhabitants differ from one another, as it were, by the miraculous kindness of nature. The women are light-complexioned and beautiful, while the men have a complexion somewhat darker than a quince. The hair is smooth, and many anoint it with fragrant oils. ”

“ Relief was sent this year to the Malucas Islands, as has usually been done in past years, in several pataches and a galley. The Dutch enemy had at their Malayo fort (which is almost within sight of our fort at Terrenate) , a very powerful ship which passed in front of our fort several times discharging their artillery as if defying us to come out and fight. After this bravado our men and Pedro de Heredia, governor of those fortifications, armed two pataches and the galley (a force much inferior to that of so powerful a ship) and went out to meet the enemy. ”

“ Malacca is inhabited by the Portuguese and by natives of the country, called Malays. The Portuguese have here a fortress, as at Mozambique, and there is no fortress in all the Indies, after those of Mozambique and Ormuz, where the captains perform their duty better than in this one. This place is the market of all India, of China, of the Moluccas, and of other islands around about—from all which places, as well as from Banda, Java, Sumatra, Siam, Pegu, Bengal, Coromandel, and India—arrive ships which come and go incessantly, charged with an infinity of merchandises. ”

“ Commencing with the Malucas Islands, they are at present in the best condition that they have experienced, from our standpoint; for the Dutch enemy are spent, inasmuch as no succor has been sent to them from Holanda for many years—it appearing that the wars which they have had there must have hindered them. Consequently, it has been recognized that, when the war ceases, their ships will come here in multitudes; and we shall enjoy war, and Flandes peace. The king of Tidore, who was very aged, and was always our friend, died this year. ”