X.] HISTORY OF TERN ATE. 221 



the back of the town iu a little compound, with the usual large 

 whitewashed pillars at the entrance-gates. Here in the Moluccas 

 the Nipa-leaf attaps, which in Borneo and Sulu form the sides and 

 partitions of the native huts, or even the residences of the Europeans, 

 are replaced by the gala-gaba — the leaf-stalk of the sago palm. 

 In section these stalks or midribs are V-shaped, and hence, when 

 placed upright and one against the other, they form an imbricated 

 wall of considerable strength, which, when smoothed and painted 

 white, looks fairly neat. 



The gardens and woods surrounding us, though doubtless a 

 paradise for the botanist, were singularly devoid of bird-life, and 

 even our rambles farther afield to the coffee and other plantations 

 on the slopes of the volcano were equally unproductive. But 

 walks in Ternate were nevertheless enjoyable from the history 

 associated with the island, and the moss-grown ruins of old walls 

 which ever and anon crop up to remind one of the bygone 

 struggles of the Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch for its possession. 

 Xow an air of placid somnolence pervades the place, and will 

 remain, probably, for all time, except it be for the mighty forces 

 which lie dormant within the huge volcanic cone. At this 

 distance of time we catch ourselves wondering how it could 



Coloured scarves and handkerchiefs 



Vl\ doz. clasp-knives 



500 round gold Chinese buttons 



6 gross Chinese buttons 



220 Chinese looking-glasses 



6 small musical-boxes 



150 lbs. Chinese tobacco 

 50 lbs. American ,, 

 12 bars of iron 

 Brass-wire 

 Fish-hooks 

 Malay sarongs 



Besides these Ave carried muskets and gunpowder, not for bartering vnXh. the untrust- 

 worthy natives of the mainland, which would have been contrary to Dutch law as 

 well as our own principles, but for exchange Avith the half Malay hunters of the 

 Puijah ampat, as the district over Avhich the Sultan of Tidor claims authority is 

 named. Perhaps the most marketable of all the above articles were the Chinese 

 gold buttons, of which the natives made eamngs, but the axes and iron were also a 

 good deal run after. The "Turkej- red" and cottons were almost useless, for the 

 Papuan is — from a medical point of view — a wise man, and does not set his affections 

 on clothing. Curiously enough, the natives did not seem to care for the fish-liooks, 

 although their own, which are generally cut out of the clam or some other shell, are 

 very clumsy. 



