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.
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