Proceeding On The Voyage, They Saw Batochina On The 8th Of February, An
Island Near Gilolo, In The Lat.
Of 1 deg.
N. The 14th of that month they
fell in with eleven or twelve small flat low islands, almost level with
the sea, in lat. 3 deg. 10' S. near the Moluccas. March 1st, having passed
the straits between Java Major and Java Minor, they anchored under the
S.W. part of Java Major, where they saw some people fishing in a bay
under the island. The admiral sent a boat to them, in which was a negro
who could speak the Moresco[58] language, which is much used in Java.
But, being frightened at the approach of the boat, they all got on shore
and ran away into the woods. One of them, however, came back to the
shore, on being called to by the negro, and directed where to find fresh
water; besides which, he undertook to carry a message to the king of
that part of the island from the admiral, certifying that he had come to
purchase victuals, or any commodities the country afforded. In
consequence of this message, nine or ten canoes belonging to the king
came off, on the 12th March, loaded with all sorts of provisions as deep
as they could swim; bringing oxen, hogs, hens, geese, eggs, sugar,
cocoa-nuts, plantains, oranges, lemons, wine, and arrack.
[Footnote 58: Probably the Malay is here meant, and called Moresco or
Moors, an ordinary term for Mahometans. - E.]
At the same time two Portuguese came off to visit Candish, and to
enquire about their king, Don Antonio, then residing in England. These
persons gave him a full account of the manners and customs of the people
of this island. The king of this part was held in prodigious awe by his
subjects, over whom he exercised absolute power, insomuch that no man
was permitted to make a bargain without his leave, on pain of death. He
had an hundred wives, and his son fifty; who may possibly be happy
enough while he lives; but when he dies, and his body is burnt, and the
ashes collected into an urn, the tragedy of his wives begins five days
afterwards. They are then all conducted to an appointed place, where the
favourite wife throws a ball from her hand, and where it stops marks the
place of their deaths. Being come there, and turning their faces to the
east, they all draw their daggers and stab themselves to the heart;
after which they smear themselves with their own blood, and thus die.
The men of this island are excellent soldiers, being hardy, valiant, and
desperate to the last degree, sticking at nothing commanded by their
king, however dangerous; and, should he even command them to plunge a
dagger into their own breast, or to leap from a precipice, or into a den
of wild beasts, they instantly obey: For the displeasure of their
sovereign is as certain death as the point of a sword, or the fangs of a
beast of prey.
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