452 BAND A. [chap. xix. 



hundred feet, while above is lava and basalt. It seems 

 probable, therefore, that this little group of four islands is 

 the fragment of a larger district which was perhaps once 

 connected with Ceram, but which was separated and 

 broken up by the same forces which formed the volcanic 

 cone. When I visited the larger island on another occa- 

 sion, I saw a considerable tract covered with large forest 

 trees, dead, but still standing. This was a record of the 

 last great earthquake only two years ago, when the sea 

 broke in over this part of the island and so flooded it as to 

 destroy the vegetation on all the low lands. Almost every 

 year there is an earthquake here, and at intervals of a few 

 years very severe ones, which throw down houses and 

 carry ships out of the harbour bodily into the streets. 



Notwithstanding the lasses incurred by these terrific 

 visitations, and the small size and isolated position of 

 these little islands, they have been and still are of con- 

 siderable value to the Dutch Government, as the chief 

 nutmeg-garden in the world. Almost the whole surface 

 is planted with nutmegs, grown under the shade of lofty 

 Kanary trees (Kanarium commune). The light volcanic 

 soil, the shade, and the excessive moisture of these islands, 

 where it rains more or less every month in the year, seem 

 exactly to suit the nutmeg-tree, which requires no manure 

 and scarcely any attention. All the year round flowers 

 and ripe fruit are to be found, and none of those diseases 



