318 cook's first voyage dec. 



them and the conquered kings of all the other islands, 

 stipulated, that they should have only a certain num- 

 ber of trees in their dominions ; and in future quar- 

 rels, as a punishment for disobedience and rebellion, 

 lessened the quantity, till at last they left them no 

 claim to any. Nutmegs have in a manner been ex- 

 tirpated in all the islands except their first native soil, 

 Banda, which easily supplies every nation upon earth, 

 and would as easily supply every nation in another 

 globe of the same dimensions, if there was any such 

 to which the industrious Hollander could transport 

 the commodity ; it is, however, certain, that there 

 are a few trees of this spice upon the coast of New 

 Guinea. There may perhaps be both cloves and 

 nutmegs upon other islands to the eastward; forthose, 

 neither the Dutch, nor any other European, seem to 

 think it worth while to examine. 



The principal tame quadrupeds of this country are 

 horses, cattle, buffalos, sheep, goats, and hogs. The 

 horses are small, never exceeding in size what we call 

 a stout galloway, but they are nimble and spirited, 

 and are reported to have been found here when the 

 Europeans first came round the Cape of Good Hope. 

 The horned cattle are said to be the same species as 

 those in Europe, but they differ so much in appear- 

 ance, that we were inclined to doubt it : they have 

 indeed the palearia or dewlap, which naturalists make 

 the distinguishing characteristic of the European 

 species, but they certainly are found wild, not only 

 in Java, but several of the eastern islands. The flesh 

 of those that we eat at Batavia had a finer grain than 

 European beef, but it was less juicy, and miserably 

 lean. Buffalos are plenty, but the Dutch never eat 

 them, nor will they drink their milk, being prepos- 

 sessed with a notion that both are unwholesome, and 

 tend to produce fevers ; though the natives and 

 Chinese eat both, without any injury to their health. 

 The sheep are of the kind which have long ears that 

 hang down, and hair instead of wool : the flesh of 



