X.] RUINED PORTUGUESE FORTS. 223 



appears to have been established. The unhappy natives were 

 nevertheless not destined to be left long undisturbed. The 

 intrigues of the Dutch, whose vessels had for years hamited 

 Moluccan waters, were at length successful, and in 1613 they 

 contrived to conclude a treaty with the Sultan of Ternate, by 

 which the latter agreed that the trade in cloves should be the 

 exclusive pri^dlege of Holland. It was the beginning of the end, — 

 a jump from the Portuguese fr}-ing-pan into the Dutch fire, — for 

 once furnished with a handle so convenient as the treaty atibrded, 

 the latter nation did not scruple to use it. It is needless to say 

 that a strict adherence to the terms of the agi'eement was practically 

 impossible for the natives, and under the pretext of their infraction 

 the various islands were reduced with short ceremony. Thus, bit 

 by bit, the Moluccas passed into Dutch hands, and their miserable 

 inhabitants were not long in discovering that Dutch treachery and 

 Dutch cruelties were even worse than those of the Portuguese 

 rule. lievolt after revolt occurred, the intervals between each 

 becoming longer as the grip of HoUand tightened, Ijut in 1681 

 the last expiring effort was made, and thenceforward the Spice 

 Islands sank gradually into the condition of dreamy laisscr aller 

 which characterises them at the present day. 



Signs of these ceaseless struggles, in the shape of ruined walls 

 and gateways, are visible, as I have mentioned, at almost every 

 step on the outskirts of the town, but in most cases little enough 

 can be made out of them, so tumble-down is their condition. Three 

 forts, however, still remain. The largest, which is placed in the 

 middle of the town, about a couple of hundred yards from the sea, 

 and is said to have been partly built by the Portuguese, is still 

 garrisoned by the Dutch, and bears its name — " Fort Oranje " — 

 over the gateway. At the extreme north of the town, perched on 

 a little promontory just above the beach, is a small blockhouse 

 which probably dates back to the middle of the sixteenth century. 

 It is now in a half-ruined condition, in spite of attempts having 

 been made in later times to repair it, and vegetation sprouts from 



