I Shall Again Refer To This Subject In My Chapter On
Ternate, One Of The Most Celebrated Of The Old Spice-Islands.
The natives of Banda are very much mixed, and it is probable that
at least three-fourths of the population are mongrels, in various
degrees of Malay, Papuan, Arab, Portuguese, and Dutch.
The first
two form the bases of the larger portion, and the dark skins,
pronounced features, and more or less frizzly hair of the Papuans
preponderates. There seems little doubt that the aborigines of
Banda were Papuans, and a portion of them still exists in the Ke
islands, where they emigrated when the Portuguese first took
possession of their native island. It is such people as these
that are often looked upon as transitional forms between two very
distinct races, like the Malays and Papuans, whereas they are
only examples of intermixture.
The animal productions of Banda, though very few, are
interesting. The islands have perhaps no truly indigenous
Mammalia but bats. The deer of the Moluccas and the pig have
probably been introduced. A species of Cuscus or Eastern opossum
is also found at Banda, and this may be truly indigenous in the
sense of not having been introduced by man. Of birds, during my
three visits of one or two days each, I collected eight kinds,
and the Dutch collectors have added a few others. The most
remarkable is a fine and very handsome fruit-pigeon, Carpophaga
concinna, which feeds upon the nutmegs, or rather on the mace,
and whose loud booming note is to be continually heard. This bird
is found in the Ke and Matabello islands as well as Banda, but
not in Ceram or any of the larger islands, which are inhabited by
allied but very distinct species. A beautiful small fruit-dove,
Ptilonopus diadematus, is also peculiar to Banda.
CHAPTER XX.
AMBOYNA
(DECEMBER 1857, OCTOBER 1859, FEBRUARY 1860.)
TWENTY hours from Banda brought us to Amboyna, the capital of the
Moluccas, and one of the oldest European settlements in the East.
The island consists of two peninsulas, so nearly divided by
inlets of the sea, as to leave only a sandy isthmus about a mile
wide near their eastern extremity. The western inlet is several
miles long and forms a fine harbour on the southern side of
which is situated the town of Amboyna. I had a letter of
introduction to Dr. Mohnike, the chief medical officer of the
Moluccas, a German and a naturalist. I found that he could write
and read English, but could not speak it, being like myself a bad
linguist; so we had to use French as a medium of communication.
He kindly offered me a room during my stay in Amboyna, and
introduced me to his junior, Dr. Doleschall, a Hungarian and also
an entomologïst. He was an intelligent and most amiable young man
but I was shocked to find that he was dying of consumption,
though still able to perform the duties of his office. In the
evening my host took me to the residence of the Governor, Mr.
Goldmann, who received me in a most kind and cordial manner, and
offered me every assistance. The town of Amboyna consists of a
few business streets, and a number of roads set out at right
angles to each other, bordered by hedges of flowering shrubs, and
enclosing country houses and huts embossed in palms and fruit
trees. Hills and mountains form the background in almost every
direction, and there are few places more enjoyable for a morning
or evening stroll than these sandy roads and shady lanes in the
suburbs of the ancient city of Amboyna.
There are no active volcanoes in the island, nor is it now
subject to frequent earthquakes, although very severe ones have
occurred and may be expected again. Mr. William Funnell, in his
voyage with Dampier to the South Seas in 1705, says: "Whilst we
were here, (at Amboyna) we had a great earthquake, which
continued two days, in which time it did a great deal of
mischief, for the ground burst open in many places, and swallowed
up several houses and whole families. Several of the people were
dug out again, but most of them dead, and many had their legs or
arms broken by the fall of the houses. The castle walls were rent
asunder in several places, and we thought that it and all the
houses would have fallen down. The ground where we were swelled
like a wave in the sea, but near us we had no hurt done." There
are also numerous records of eruptions of a volcano on the west
side of the island. In 1674 an eruption destroyed a village. In
1694 there was another eruption. In I797 much vapour and heat was
emitted. Other eruptions occurred in 1816 and 1820, and in 1824 a
new crater is said to have been formed. Yet so capricious is the
action of these subterranean fires, that since the last-named
epoch all eruptive symptoms have so completely ceased, that I was
assured by many of the most intelligent European inhabitants of
Amboyna, that they had never heard of any such thing as a volcano
on the island.
During the few days that elapsed before I could make arrangements
to visit the interior, I enjoyed myself much in the society of
the two doctors, both amiable and well-educated men, and both
enthusiastic entomologists, though obliged to increase their
collections almost entirely by means of native collectors.
Dr. Doleschall studied chiefly the flies and spiders, but also
collected butterflies and moths, and in his boxes I saw grand
specimens of the emerald Ornithoptera priamus and the azure
Papilio Ulysses, with many more of the superb butterflies of this
rich island. Dr. Mohnike confined himself chiefly to the beetles,
and had formed a magnificent collection during many years
residence in Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Japan, and Amboyna. The
Japanese collection was especially interesting, containing both
the fine Carabi of northern countries, and the gorgeous
Buprestidae and Longicorns of the tropics.
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