When These Hill Malays Take Any Prisoners, They Never Give
Quarter; But, After Detaining Their Prisoners A Few Days, Without Meat
Or Drink, They Are Produced In Public, And Have Their Breasts Ripped
Open, And Their Hearts Taken Out, All The Malays Present Making Great
Rejoicings.
The heads of these slaughtered prisoners are then embalmed
with spice, and those who can shew the greatest number of Dutch heads
are held in highest honour.
In retaliation, when the Dutch take any of
these hill Malays, they load them with irons, and after keeping them
some days in prison, they cut off their ears and noses, and after being
kept some time longer in prison, they are publicly racked to death.
When any of the Malays, living under the Dutch government, are found
guilty of thieving, their ears and noses are cut off, and a great iron
chain is fastened to their legs, in which condition they are made slaves
for life. While we were there, about 500 poor wretches were in this
condition, who were kept constantly employed, in sawing timber, cutting
stones for building, carrying burdens, or other work. They are let out
of prison at sunrise, the men being kept in one prison and the women in
another, and are kept hard at work till noon, when they return to prison
for an hour, being allowed for dinner a pint of coarse boiled rice for
each. They return again to work at one o'clock, and return to prison at
six in the evening, when they have a similar allowance for supper. Soon
afterwards they are locked up in their lodgings, where they lie on the
bare boards, having only a piece of wood for a pillow. Sometimes these
poor wretches make shift to escape, but are used with great severity if
again caught. One of the female slaves having escaped, and being
retaken, cut her own throat to avoid the severe punishment awaiting her,
when she was dragged out by the hair all round the town, and then hung
on a gibbet by the feet. Such as are in debt, and cannot satisfy their
creditors, are turned over by their creditors to the Dutch company, who
send them to work among their slaves, having the same allowance of
boiled rice with the rest, with two-pence a day towards paying their
debts; but they seldom get free till carried out dead.
Though the poor natives are thus harshly treated, the Dutch wink at the
faults of their countrymen, who are seldom punished for any crime,
unless it be for murder, as in any other case they get off for a small
sum of money, even for a great fault. The women slaves belonging to the
free Dutch burgesses have all reasonable indulgence, but are obliged to
find their own clothes and provisions, and pay an acknowledgement of
about a sixpence daily, in default of which they are severely used. If
they bring the daily tribute, they may whore or steal, and have no
questions asked, provided no complaint is made against them. The chief
products of this island are cloves, ginger, pepper, rattans, canes, and
a few nutmegs.
The clove-tree is rather slender, and is from twelve to thirty or even
forty feet high, having small branches, with tapering leaves about five
inches long and two broad, which smell strong of cloves, when rubbed
between the fingers. The cloves grow out at the tips of the branches,
ten, twelve, or fourteen in a cluster, being white at first, then green,
and lastly of a dark copper colour, in which state they are ripe and fit
for gathering. At this period, they spread cloths or sheets on the
ground round the bottom of the tree to a good distance, and shake the
tree, when all the ripe cloves fall down. This is repeated every six or
seven days for four or five times, till all the cloves have ripened and
are shaken off. The usual time of gathering is October and February,
those got in October, which is the end of their winter, being called
winter cloves, and are not accounted so strong and good as the others.
These are commonly preserved in small jars of about a quart each, of
which great quantities are sent to various parts of the world. Those
gathered in February are termed summer cloves, being better and stronger
than the others, as ripening in the best part of the summer; whereas the
former have not above a month of fair weather, all the rest of their
winter season, which is our summer, being rainy and cloudy, so that the
cloves want sun to ripen them. It is a common opinion, but extremely
erroneous, that cloves, nutmegs, and mace grow all on one tree. One
clove-tree commonly produces sixty, seventy, or eighty pounds of cloves
in one season; and every sixth year they are sure to have a double crop.
There are a vast number of clove-trees on this island, which are
carefully looked after, and a register of them is kept in the books of
the company, being all numbered once every year, and they are not
allowed to increase beyond a certain limited number, for fear of
lessening the price, all beyond being cut down. All these trees belong
to the Company, or the free burgesses, every burgess having only a fixed
number; and if any one is found to have more than his allowance, he is
severely fined, and all his trees forfeited to the company. Besides, the
burgesses are bound to deliver the whole produce of their trees to the
company at six-pence the pound. If any freeman or other is convicted of
having sold or conveyed cloves from the island, to the value of ten
pounds, his whole property is forfeited to the company, and he becomes a
slave for life. The inhabitants used formerly to cheat the Dutch in the
sale of their cloves, in the following manner.
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