2 THE BANDA NUTMEG PLANTATIONS. 



The one-storied houses, which stretch near the seashore, are very 

 solidly walled, but lightly roofed, in order to resist earthquakes, and 

 each has a small Bungalow at the rear, for refuge during these tremen- 



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dons visitations. The bungalows have strong foundation-walls, three 

 feet thick, on which the light structure, composed generally of the leaf- 

 stems of the Sago Palm, is reared. The last severe earthquake in 1852 

 levelled almost every dwelling in Banda and Neira, destroyed the dry- 

 ing-houses of the Parkineers, and unroofed the church, since which time 

 only slight undulations have occurred. Besides the chance of being 

 buried under the ruins of their houses, the people of the Banda group 

 are in constant peril of sharing the fate of Herculaneum and Pompeii; 

 for G-unong Api, with its crater, nearly 2000 feet above them, is only 

 a few hundred yards distant, and, by frequent puffs of smoke from its 

 numerous craters, gives constant warning that its slumbering fires may, 

 at any moment, rush into dreadful activity. This volcano is placed on 

 the most active part of the Great Volcano Belt, which, commencing 

 in Kaintchatka, stretches through the Philippines, Celebes, Java, Su- 

 matra, etc., to the Bay of Bengal. It is to be hoped, however, that 

 the subterranean fires, having found a vent in the late dreadful eruption 

 in the Sangir Islands, north of Menado, when 2800 lives were lost, 

 may remain tranquil for awhile, and thus Banda will enjoy temporary 

 safety. The island of Neira would be secured from a torrent of lava 

 by the intervening strait* but a shower of ashes might instantly destroy 



M 



the whole place. The soil and rocks of these islands, formed of succes- 

 sive layers of pumice and basalt, sufficiently show their origin. 



On the three islands which I have mentioned, there are, in all, thirty- 

 four Parks, containing 320,000 bearing Nutmeg-trees, and their total 

 produce last year was 4030 piculs of Nutmeg and 1008 of Mace. This 

 gives little more than one catty and a half of spice to each tree, but 

 many causes diminish the produce: the height of the trees makes 

 much of the fruit inaccessible; some trees grow in places of difficult 

 access ; and the wind blows down the nutmegs in such quantities, that 

 I have seen hundreds of thousands strewn on the ground and ruined. 

 A large kind of pigeon feeds extensively on the fruit, rejecting the kernel 

 after digesting the Mace ; and field-rats devour the nuts, etc. Alto- 

 gether, the losses are very considerable. 



The Nutmeg-parks or plantations are private property, and can be 

 sold or bequeathed by the owner. Great Banda contains twenty-five, 



