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The Malay Archipelago

B >> by Alfred Russell Wallace >> The Malay Archipelago



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The Malay Archipelago by Alfred R. 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
ü; 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
pleasing expectation of another shock; but none came, and this
was the only earthquake I ever felt in Ternate.

The last great one was in February 1840, when almost every house
in the place was destroyed. It began about midnight on the
Chinese New Year's festival, at which time every one stays up
nearly all night feasting at the Chinamen's houses and seeing the
processions. This prevented any lives being lost, as every one
ran out of doors at the first shock, which was not very severe.
The second, a few minutes afterwards, threw down a great many
houses, and others, which continued all night and part of the
next day, completed the devastation. The line of disturbance was
very narrow, so that the native town a mile to the east scarcely
suffered at all. The wave passed from north to south, through the
islands of Tidore and Makian, and terminated in Batchian, where
it was not felt till four the following afternoon, thus taking no
less than sixteen hours to travel a hundred miles, or about six
miles an hour. It is singular that on this occasion there was no
rushing up of the tide, or other commotion of the sea, as is
usually the case during great earthquakes.

The people of Ternate are of three well-marked races the Ternate
Malays, the Orang Sirani, and the Dutch. The first are an
intrusive Malay race somewhat allied to the Macassar people, who
settled in the country at a very early epoch, drove out the
indigenes, who were no doubt the same as those of the adjacent
mainland of Gilolo, and established a monarchy. They perhaps
obtained many of their wives from the natives, which will account
for the extraordinary language they speak--in some respects
closely allied to that of the natives of Gilolo, while it
contains much that points to a Malayan origin. To most of these
people the Malay language is quite unintelligible, although such
as are engaged in trade are obliged to acquire it. "Orang
Sirani," or Nazarenes, is the name given by the Malays to the
Christian descendants of the Portuguese, who resemble those of
Amboyna, and, like them, speak only Malay. There are also a
number of Chinese merchants, many of them natives of the place, a
few Arabs, and a number of half-breeds between all these races
and native women. Besides these there are some Papuan slaves, and
a few natives of other islands settled here, making up a motley
and very puzzling population, till inquiry and observation have
shown the distinct origin of its component parts.

Soon after my first arrival in Ternate I went to the island of
Gilolo, accompanied by two sons of Mr. Duivenboden, and by a
young Chinaman, a brother of my landlord, who lent us the boat
and crew. These latter were all slaves, mostly Papuans, and at
starting I saw something of the relation of master and slave in
this part of the world. The crew had been ordered to be ready at
three in the morning, instead of which none appeared till five,
we having all been kept waiting in the dark and cold for two
hours. When at length they came they were scolded by their
master, but only in a bantering manner, and laughed and joked
with him in reply. Then, just as we were starting, one of the
strongest men refused to go at all, and his master had to beg and
persuade him to go, and only succeeded by assuring him that I
would give him something; so with this promise, and knowing that
there would be plenty to eat and drink and little to do, the
black gentleman was induced to favour us with his company and
assistance. In three hours' rowing and sailing we reached our
destination, Sedingole, where there is a house belonging to the
Sultan of Tidore, who sometimes goes there hunting. It was a
dirty ruinous shed, with no furniture but a few bamboo bedsteads.
On taking a walk into the country, I saw at once that it was no
place for me. For many miles extends a plain covered with coarse
high grass, thickly dotted here and there with trees, the forest
country only commencing at the hills a good way in the interior.
Such a place would produce few birds and no insects, and we
therefore arranged to stay only two days, and then go on to
Dodinga, at the narrow central isthmus of Gilolo, whence my
friends would return to Ternate. We amused ourselves shooting
parrots, lories, and pigeons, and trying to shoot deer, of which
we saw plenty, but could not get one; and our crew went out
fishing with a net, so we did not want for provisions. When the
time came for us to continue our journey, a fresh difficulty
presented itself, for our gentlemen slaves refused in a body to
go with us; saying very determinedly that they would return to
Ternate. So their masters were obliged to submit, and I was left
behind to get to Dodinga as I could. Luckily I succeeded in
hiring a small boat, which took me there the same night, with my
two men and my baggage.

Two or three years after this, and about the same length of time
before I left the East, the Dutch emancipated all their slaves,
paying their owners a small compensation. No ill results
followed. Owing to the amicable relations which had always
existed between them and their masters, due no doubt in part to
the Government having long accorded them legal rights and
protection against cruelty and ill-usage, many continued in the
same service, and after a little temporary difficulty in some
cases, almost all returned to work either for their old or for
new, masters. The Government took the very proper step of placing
every emancipated slave under the surveillance of the police-
magistrate. They were obliged to show that they were working for
a living, and had some honestly-acquired means of existence. All
who could not do so were placed upon public works at low wages,
and thus were kept from the temptation to peculation or other
crimes, which the excitement of newly-acquired freedom, and
disinclination to labour, might have led them into.


CHAPTER XXII.

GILOLO.

(MARCH AND SEPTEMBER 1858.)

I MADE but few and comparatively short visits to this large and
little known island, but obtained a considerable knowledge of its
natural history by sending first my boy Ali, and then my
assistant, Charles Allen, who stayed two or three months each in
the northern peninsula, and brought me back large collections of
birds and insects. In this chapter I propose to give a sketch of
the parts which I myself visited. My first stay was at Dodinga,
situated at the head of a deep-bay exactly opposite Ternate, and
a short distance up a little stream which penetrates a few miles
inland. The village is a small one, and is completely shut in by
low hills.

As soon as I arrived, I applied to the head man of the village
for a house to live in, but all were occupied, and there was much
difficulty in finding one. In the meantime I unloaded my baggage
on the beach and made some tea, and afterwards discovered a small
but which the owner was willing to vacate if I would pay him five
guilders for a month's rent. As this was something less than the
fee-simple value of the dwelling, I agreed to give it him for the
privilege of immediate occupation, only stipulating that he was
to make the roof water-tight. This he agreed to do, and came
every day to tally and look at me; and when I each time insisted
upon his immediately mending the roof according to contract, all
the answer I could get was, "Ea nanti," (Yes, wait a little.)
However, when I threatened to deduct a quarter guilder from the
rent for every day it was not done, and a guilder extra if any of
my things were wetted, he condescended to work for half an hour,
which did all that was absolutely necessary.

On the top of a bank, of about a hundred feet ascent from the
water, stands the very small but substantial fort erected by the
Portuguese. Its battlements and turrets have long since been
overthrown by earthquakes, by which its massive structure has
also been rent; but it cannot well be thrown down, being a solid
mass of stonework, forming a platform about ten feet high, and
perhaps forty feet square. It is approached by narrow steps under
an archway, and is now surmounted by a row of thatched hovels, in
which live the small garrison, consisting of, a Dutch corporal
and four Javanese soldiers, the sole representatives of the
Netherlands Government in the island. The village is occupied
entirely by Ternate men. The true indigenes of Gilolo, "Alfuros"
as they are here called, live on the eastern coast, or in the
interior of the northern peninsula. The distance across the
isthmus at this place is only two miles, and there, is a good
path, along which rice and sago are brought from the eastern
villages. The whole isthmus is very rugged, though not high,
being a succession of little abrupt hills anal valleys, with
angular masses of limestone rock everywhere projecting, and often
almost blocking up the pathway. Most of it is virgin forest, very
luxuriant and picturesque, and at this time having abundance of
large scarlet Ixoras in flower, which made it exceptionally gay.
I got some very nice insects here, though, owing to illness most
of the time, my collection was a small one, and my boy Ali shot
me a pair of one of the most beautiful birds of the East, Pitta
gigas, a lame ground-thrush, whose plumage of velvety black above
is relieved by a breast of pure white, shoulders of azure blue,
and belly of vivid crimson. It has very long and strong legs, and
hops about with such activity in the dense tangled forest,
bristling with rocks, as to make it very difficult to shoot.

In September 1858, after my return from New Guinea, I went to
stay some time at the village of Djilolo, situated in a bay on
the northern peninsula. Here I obtained a house through the
kindness of the Resident of Ternate, who sent orders to prepare
one for me. The first walk into the unexplored forests of a new
locality is a moment of intense interest to the naturalist, as it
is almost sure to furnish him with something curious or hitherto
unknown. The first thing I saw here was a flock of small
parroquets, of which I shot a pair, and was pleased to find a
most beautiful little long-tailed bird, ornamented with green,
red, and blue colours, and quite new to me. It was a variety of
the Charmosyna placentis, one of the smallest and most elegant of
the brush-tongued lories. My hunters soon shot me several other
fine birds, and I myself found a specimen of the rare and
beautiful day-flying moth, Cocytia d'Urvillei.

The village of Djilolo was formerly the chief residence of the
Sultans of Ternate, till about eighty years ago, when at the
request of the Dutch they removed to their present abode. The
place was then no doubt much more populous, as is indicated by
the wide extent of cleared land in the neighbourhood, now covered
with coarse high grass, very disagreeable to walk through, and
utterly barren to the naturalist. A few days' exploring showed me
that only some small patches of forest remained for miles wound,
and the result was a scarcity of insects and a very limited
variety of birds, which obliged me to change my locality. There
was another village called Sahoe, to which there was a road of
about twelve miles overland, and this had been recommended to me
as a good place for birds, and as possessing a large population
both of Mahomotans and Alfuros, which latter race I much wished
to see. I set off one morning to examine this place myself,
expecting to pass through some extent of forest on my way. In
this however I was much disappointed, as the whole road lies
through grass and scrubby thickets, and it was only after
reaching the village of Sahoe that some high forest land was
perceived stretching towards the mountains to the north of it.
About half-way we dad to pass a deep river on a bamboo raft,
which almost sunk beneath us. This stream was said to rise a long
way off to the northward.

Although Sahoe did not at all appear what I expected, I
determined to give it a trial, and a few days afterwards obtained
a boat to carry my things by sea while I walked overland. A large
house on the beach belonging to the Sultan was given me. It stood
alone, and was quite open on every side, so that little privacy
could be had, but as I only intended to stay a short time I made
it do. Avery, few days dispelled all hopes I might have
entertained of making good collections in this place. Nothing was
to be found in every direction but interminable tracts of reedy
grass, eight or ten feet high, traversed by narrow baths, often
almost impassable. Here and there were clumps of fruit trees,
patches of low wood, and abundance of plantations and rice
grounds, all of which are, in tropical regions, a very desert for
the entomologist. The virgin forest that I was in search of,
existed only on the summits and on the steep rocky sides of the
mountains a long way off, and in inaccessible situations. In the
suburbs of the village I found a fair number of bees and wasps,
and some small but interesting beetles. Two or three new birds
were obtained by my hunters, and by incessant inquiries and
promises Í succeeded in getting the natives to bring me some land
shells, among which was a very fine and handsome one, Helix
pyrostoma. I was, however, completely wasting my time here
compared with what I might be doing in a good locality, and after
a week returned to Ternate, quite disappointed with my first
attempts at collecting in Gilolo.

In the country round about Sahoe, and in the interior, there is a
large population of indigenes, numbers of whom came daily into
the village, bringing their produce for sale, while others were
engaged as labourers by the Chinese and Ternate traders. A
careful examination convinced me that these people are radically
distinct from all the Malay races. Their stature and their
features, as well as their disposition and habits, are almost the
same as those of the Papuans; their hair is semi-Papuan-neither
straight, smooth, and glossy, like all true Malays', nor so
frizzly and woolly as the perfect Papuan type, but always crisp,
waved, and rough, such as often occurs among the true Papuans,
but never among the Malays. Their colour alone is often exactly
that of the Malay, or even lighter. Of course there has been
intermixture, and there occur occasionally individuals which it
is difficult to classify; but in most cases the large, somewhat
aquiline nose, with elongated apex, the tall stature, the waved
hair, the bearded face, and hairy body, as well as the less
reserved manner and louder voice, unmistakeably proclaim the
Papuan type. Here then I had discovered the exact boundary lice
between the Malay and Papuan races, and at a spot where no other
writer had expected it. I was very much pleased at this
determination, as it gave me a clue to one of the most difficult
problems in Ethnology, and enabled me in many other places to
separate the two races, and to unravel their intermixtures.

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