322 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGPIAPHY AND TKAVEL 



a garrison, quartered in " Fort Oranje," a strong fortifica- 

 tion with fosse and drawbridge, built, it is said, on the 

 foundations of an old Portuguese structure. At the south 

 end of the town, overgrown with jungle, are the remains 

 of a small fortress, with beautifully laid courses, which is 

 possibly that erected by De Brito in 1522. The trade 

 has lessened of late, but Ternate is still the market of 

 the northern Moluccas and some parts of New Guinea. 

 The chief exports are gum-dammar and tobacco (each 

 about £11,000), nutmegs (£7600), and gum-copal. A 

 few birds-of-paradise are exported, but most of these are 

 taken straight from the Aru Islands and the MacCluer 

 Gulf to Makassar. Cloves, the ancient product of the 

 true " Malucos " — Ternate, Tidor, Motir, Makian, and 

 Batjan — now form no part of the commerce ; they are 

 now grown chiefly in Celebes, Amboina, and Java. The 

 early Dutch rulers extirpated the tree here in 1652 in 

 order to secure the monopoly, which they endeavoured to 

 do by restricting its cultivation to the island of Amlioina, 

 of which they had exclusive possession There is now no 

 Government monopoly, and the total annual export is 

 about a quarter of a million lbs. for the entire archi- 

 pelago. Slavery was abolished in Ternate and Tidor in 

 1879. 



7. Tidor and the Lesser Moluccas. 



Immediately south of Ternate, which forms the 

 northern link, runs a chain of small islands, parallel with 

 and close to the west coast of Halmahera, which are 

 sometimes termed the Lesser Moluccas. Three of these, 

 like Ternate, are true volcanoes, while Mare is formed of 

 upraised volcanic materials, and the Kaioa group, farther 

 to the south, are raised coral reefs. All the islands are 

 inhabited by Mohammedan Malays, each with their 



