P E E F A C E , 



The object of my voyage to Amboina was simply 

 to re-collect tlie shells figured in Rumphins's " Rari- 

 teit Kamer," and the idea of writing a volume of 

 travels was not seriously entertained until I arrived 

 at Batavia, and, instead of being forbidden by the 

 Dutch Government to proceed to the Spice Islands, 

 as some of my warmest fi'iends feared, I was honored 

 by His Excellency, the Governor-General of " the 

 Netherlands India," with the order given on page 

 40. 



Having fully accomplished that object, I availed 

 myself of the unexampled facilities to travel af- 

 forded me in every part of the archipelago, and all 

 except the first six chapters describe the regions 

 thus visited. 



The narrative given has been taken almost en- 

 tirely from my journal, which was kept day by day 

 with scrupulous care. Accuracy, even at any saeri- 



