THE MOLUCCAS 321 



have been as many as fourteen eruptions, many of them 

 severe. A few miles to the east of the town a black, 

 scoriaceous, rugged tract, called by the natives " Latu- 

 angas" (burnt rock), marks the lava stream wliich 

 descended to the sea during a great eruption about a 

 century ago. The last great earthquake occurred on 2nd 

 February, 1840, at midnight, during the festival of the 

 Chinese New Year, a circumstance which prevented 

 much loss of life, since all the inhabitants were up feast- 

 ing, and seeing the processions and amusements. The 

 shocks continued all night and part of the next day, 

 throwing down every stone building, and more or less 

 wrecking almost all the rest, and they did not wholly 

 cease for a fortnight. Earth -waves moved along the 

 streets like rollers on the sea, the earth opening and 

 closing again ; but the line of disturbance was very 

 narrow, the native town, a mile to the east, not suffering 

 at all. It travelled from north to south through the 

 islands of Tidor and Makian to Batjan, reaching the 

 latter place, 100 miles distant, at four in the afternoon 

 of the following day, so that the wave was propagated at 

 the rate of only six miles an hour. Everywhere in the 

 suburbs of the town may be seen ruined walls, and gate- 

 pillars with the stones twisted on each other, and the 

 remains of massive stone and brick buildings, gateways, 

 and arches, showing the greater magnificence of the old 

 town, till sad experience taught the superiority of wood 

 and thatch as building materials in an earthquake- 

 tortured country. 



Ternate is a free port, and is still a place of some im- 

 portance. The population is about 9000, of whom 350 

 are Europeans, 300 descendants of the Portuguese and 

 natives, 500 Chinese, and 100 Arabs, the remainder 

 being Malays of this and surrounding islands. There is 



Y 



