6 TERNATE. [chap. xxi. 



of Ternate and Tidore were once celebrated through the 

 East for their power and regal magnificence. When Drake 

 visited Ternate in 1579, the Portuguese had been driven 

 out of the island, although they still had a settlement at 

 Tidore. He gives a glowing account of the Sultan : " The 

 King had a very rich canopy with embossings of gold 

 borne over him, and was guarded with twelve lances. 

 From the waist to the ground was all cloth of gold, and 

 that very rich ; in the attire of his head were finely 

 wreathed in, diverse rings of plaited gold, of an inch or 

 more in breadth, M^hich made a fair and princely show, 

 somewhat resembling a crown in form ; about his neck 

 he had a chain of perfect gold, the links very great and 

 one fold double ; on his left hand was a diamond, an 

 emerald, a ruby, and a turky ; on his right hand in one 

 ring a big and perfect turky, and in another ring many 

 diamonds of a smaller size." 



All this glitter of barbaric gold was the produce of the 

 spice trade, of which the Sultans kept the monopoly, and 

 by which they became wealthy. Ternate, with the small 

 islands in a line south of it, as far as Batchian, constitute 

 the ancient Moluccas, the native country of the clove, as 

 well as the only part in which it was cultivated. Nut- 

 megs and mace were procured from the natives of New 

 Guinea and the adjacent islands, where they grew wild ; 

 and the profits on spice cargoes were so enormous, that 



