NATITES EXTERMINATED DY THE DUTCH. 217 



olized tlie trade of tliese islands, and appear to liave 

 generally kept on good terms with tLe natives, but in 

 1609 the Dutch appeared with seven hundred troops, 

 as large a force — Mr. Crawfai-d pointedly remarks 

 — as Cortez had with which to subjugate ail Mexico. 

 The admiral commanding this expedition, and forty- 

 five of his companions, were taken by an ambuscade, 

 and all slain. The Dutch then began a war of exter- 

 mination, which lasted eighteen years, and was only 

 brought to an end by a large expedition fi'om Java, 

 conducted by the governor-general in person. Dur- 

 ing this long contest the natives are said to have 

 lost three thousand killed and a thousand prisoners, 

 or more than a fourth part of what has been stated 

 as their whole number when the Dutch amved. 

 All who were left alive fled to the neighboring 

 islaiidsj and not a vestige of their language or pecu- 

 liar customs is Imown to exist at the present time. 



The Dutch were thus left sole possessors of the 

 coveted prize, but there ^vere no natives to cultivate 

 the nutmeg-trees, and they were therefore obliged to 

 import slaves to do their labor. When slavery was 

 abolished in the Dutch possessions, convicts were 

 sent from Java to make up the deficiency, and at this 

 time there ai'e about three thousand of them in all 

 these islands. Most of them are in Lontar and 

 Neii'a. They are a most villanous-looking set, and 

 have nearly all been guilty of the bloodiest crimes. 

 They are obliged to wear around the neck a large iron 

 ring, weighing a pound or a pound and a half. It is 

 bent round, and then welded, so that it can only be 

 taken off by means of a file. It is not so heavy that 



