364 Brief Account of the JJlaiids of Banda. 



(hort or woolly as the one, nor fo long and bufhy as the 

 other; but in their features they bear a refemblance to both. 

 In the la(l account of the Bamla and fouth-weft iflands, 

 all of which are under the fame government, the numbers of 

 all defcripiions of people were as follow * : The iflands of 

 Banda contain 5763 inhabitants, of which 119 are Europe- 

 ans; and the fouth-weft iflands contain 38,266, of whom 

 2322 were natives, who have been converted to the Chriftian. 

 faith. From this ftatement it appears that the population of 

 the fouth-weft iflands is very confiderable, though the Dutch 

 derived little benefit from them. Although fo great a number 

 of the inhabitants of thefe iflands have embraced Chriftianity, 

 yet it feems to have had very little effect in promoting civili- 

 zation among them ; and, unlefs the Dutch kept polieflion 

 of thofe iflands, in order to prevent other European powers 

 from eftabl ifhing themfelves in any fituation that might open 

 an avenue of communication between them and the Spiee 

 iflands, the difperfing their troops and extending their potTef- 

 iions to fuch inconvenient, unprofitable, and hazardous di- 

 itances, cannot well be accounted for, 



• However, as it is no lefs oppofite to the policy than unfuit- 

 able to the difpofition of the Englifh to extend their conquefts 

 from fuch a motive, or form eftablifhments on fuch princi- 

 ples, it is unneceiTary to take thefe iflands under our confi- 

 tleration in the following fuggeftions, whieh we throw out for 

 the better management of the fpice trade in Banda. 



The circumftance of Banda having been hitherto a diftinc~l 

 government, has at different times produced very inconve- 

 nient effe&s ; and the great diftance of Banda from the fu- 

 premc government of Batavia has rendered it difficult to de- 

 tect thofe delinquencies whieh are faid to have exifted for fe- 

 deral years paft in the adminiftration of that ifland. Hence 

 the governors being left without checker control, and their 

 council pofleffing merely a nominal power, they attended to 

 nothing but their own private advantage, and made no other 

 ufe of the authority with which they were inverted, but to 

 defraud the company from whom they derived it : they not 

 onlv fent fpices to the neighbouring iflands on their own ac- 

 count, but even fupplied the natives of them with fire-arms 

 and military ftores at the very time when thefe people were 

 ar with the government of Atnboyna. If, therefore, we 

 confider the value of the Banda iflands, together with the 

 evils which have arifen from the manner in which they have 



" The Aron illands, though alfo dependent on the government of Banda, 

 ■i~ no; included in this account of the population, 



been 



