578 
THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER. 
The Dutch had scarcely obtained possession of Amboina, when the natives began to 
entertain the same wish for their expulsion as they had formerly for that of the 
Portuguese, and eventually they were so oppressed that they took up arms, and being 
numerous and powerful, their efforts to regain their independence were not finally 
overcome until 1670. Shortly after the Dutch obtained possession of the island, the 
jealousies that existed between them and the English caused them to seize on the 
English factory and execute its occupiers after torturing them. This crime, which 
is generally known as the massacre of Amboina, led to many disputes between the two 
nations, which were not finally settled until the peace of Breda in 1667. 
Amboina Island consists of two peninsulas, joined together by a low narrow isthmus, 
thus forming two large bays. The smaller or southeast peninsula, on which is the 
town, is called “ Leytimur,” the larger or northwest peninsula, “ Hitoe,” the low isthmus 
“ Baguala,” the bay on the southwest side of the island “ Amboina Bay,” and that on the 
northeast “ Baguala Bay.” In 1683 the Dutch Governor formed a design of cutting a canal 
through the isthmus of Baguala, and so joining the bay of that name to Amboina Bay. 
This idea was frustrated partly by the superstitions of the Amboinese, who asserted that 
blood spouted from the ground each time they inserted their spades, and partly by a 
notion, promulgated without reason, that the level of the sea in Baguala Bay was con- 
siderably higher than that in Amboina Bay. 
The Governor or Resident of Amboina has jurisdiction over the neighbouring- 
islands of Ceram, Bouro, Arnblau, Manipa, Kelang, Bonoa, Ceram Laut, Nussa Laut, 
Saparoea, Haruku, and Melano. 
The whole island is mountainous, and rises to an elevation of 4000 feet above the 
level of the sea. The highest mountain, Capaha, is in Hitoe Peninsula ; the highest 
mountain in Leytimur is Soya, 2030 feet above the sea. There are records of an 
eruption from a volcano on the west side of the island in the years 1674, 1694, 1816, 
and 1820, and in 1824 a new crater was formed; since that date, however, all eruptions 
have ceased, and some of the European inhabitants appear ignorant that there ever was 
an active volcano on the island. Earthquakes are occasionally felt, but, from a record 
kept by the Dutch authorities, appear to happen only between the months of December 
and June, or during the northwest monsoon. 
The chief advantage derived by the Dutch from the possession of Amboina was the 
monopoly of the clove cultivation. They would not, however, have succeeded in securing 
to themselves the exclusive trade in this spice, which is spontaneously produced in all 
the Molucca Islands, had they not confined the cultivation of the tree to Amboina by 
destroying all they found elsewhere. Besides cloves, considerable quantities of Cajeput 
oil are exported. 
Fort Victoria at Amboina, formed by the Portuguese in 1521, is situated close to the 
landing place ; in fact, the main road goes through the centre of the fort, there being 
