Chap. I. 
ore 
R 6 
GGEf EI N. 
2-77 
better T afte than the former, and are (tiled Males. No' Fruit 
in the World is better to ftrengthen the Brain, and the Me- 
mory, to Warm the Stomach, to fweeten the Breath, and pro- 
voke Urine. It is a fovereign Remedy againft Wind, Lcofe- 
nefsj Head-ach, Pain of the Stomach, Heat of the Liver, 
and Stoppage of the Womb. Oil of Nutmegs is an admire- 
able cordial Medicine. Mace is an effectual Remedy againft 
the Weaknels of the Stomach; it helps Digeftion, ''con- 
fumes ill Humours, and drives out the Wind : It keeps 
above nine Years good. A Plaifter made with Mace and 
Nutmegs beaten to Powder, diluted with Rofe-water, and 
applied to the Stomach, flrengthens it mightily. As this 
precious Fruit is peculiar to this Ifle of Banda, and the 
adjacent Iflands, the Merchants of Java, Malacca, China , 
and from all the Parts of the Indies , come to Nera , and 
other Towns of Banda, to buy Nutmegs and Mace. As 
foon as thefe Merchants are arrived in the Ifland, they buy a 
Wife to keep their Houfe, and drefs their Victuals/ as 
long as they remain there, which may be two or three 
Months ; and, wnen they go away into their own Country 
again, they give the Liberty to their Wife to go where 
(he pleafes. This may appear a very ftrange, and even 
incredible Cuftom ; but whoever is acquainted with the 
Eajt Indies , will be fatisfied as to the Truth of it, fince 
the fame Cuftom prevails in fome other Places. 
As to the next valuable and admired Spice to the Nut- 
megs, viz. Cloves* we know not what immenfe Sums 
the People of Holland make of this profitable Fruit, which 
are fo much efteemed throughout Europe , and for which 
the Spaniards and Portuguefe ftruggled fo Jong, and to fo 
little Purpofe. This valuable and noble Spice grows no- 
where elfe but in the Ifland of Amboyna , and the Molucca 
Wands, which are five in Number, and the Iilands of 
Meao, Cinomo , Cab cl, and Marigoran . The Indians call 
Cloyes Callafar , and the Inhabitants of th t Moluccas call them 
Chinke. The Trees which bear Cloves, are much like our 
Laurel-trees ; only the Leaves of the Cloves are a little 
narrower, and refemble the Leaves of Almond and Wil- 
low-trees. The very Wood and Leaves tafte as ftrong as 
the Cloves themfelves. Thefe Trees bear a great Quan- 
tity of Branches and Flowers, and each Flower brings 
forth a Clove. The Flowers are at firft white, then green, 
at laft they grow red, and pretty hard, and are properly 
the Cloves. While they are green, they have a Smell fo 
fweet, and fo comfortable, that it is beyond all the Smells 
in the World. When they are dry, they are of a yellow 
Colour ; but, when gathered, they afifume a fmoky 
black. They don’t gather them one by one, as they do 
other Fruit ; but they tie a Rope to the Bough, and fo 
(trip it off by Force. That hurts the Tree for the next 
Year, but the Year after it bears a great deal more. 
Others beat the Trees with long Poles, as we do Walnut- 
trees ; and the Cloves tall down, and commonly the 
Tree beats more Fruit than Leaves. They grow with little 
Stalks, hanging on the Tree like Cherries ; °they fell them 
with thefe Stalks, Dirt and Dull together, to the Indians : 
But the Cloves that are tranlported to Holland are clean, 
ano. without otalks. Ir you leave them on the Treewith- 
out gathering tnem, they grow thick, and are called the 
Mother of Cloves. Phe pavanefe value thefe more than 
others ; but. the Butch chufe rather to buy the leaft. 
They never trouble themfelves to plant Clove-trees ; for 
the Cloves that fall on the Ground produce enough of 
them, and the Rain makes them grow fo faff, that* they 
bear Fruit when they are eight Years old, and continue 
bearing for above 100 Years. Some, are of Opinion, that 
Clove-trees do not grow well on the Sea-fide, or when 
they aie too rai nom the Sea : But many Seamen, who 
have been in the Ifland, affure me, that they grow very well 
every-where.,^ whether a great Way off the Sea* upon 
Mountains, in the Valleys, or near the Sea-fide. They 
ripen frum the latter end of Auguft, to the Beginning cl 
January. Nothing groweth about them, no Grafs, Green, 
or Weed ; for their Heat draws in all the Nourifhment and 
Moifture of the Ground. Cloves themfelves are very hot ; 
If you lay a Sack of Cloves upon a Veffel full of Water, 
you wni find, in a little while, fome of the Water wafted, 
but the Cloves are not the worfe for it. Leave a Pitcher 
full of Water, in a dole Room where you clean Cloves^ 
Numb, ip. 
and the Heat of the Air will cohfume all the Water in 
two Days time, though the Cloves .are removed. China 
Silk hath the fame Virtue ; for, if you lay it in a Room 
one or two Feet above die Ground, and water the Floor 
ail over, provided the Water don’t touch the Silk,' the 
next Day the Silk will have fucked in all the Water. The 
Indians ufe that Trick to make the Silk heavier. They 
preferve Cloves in Sugar, and they are extraordinary good ; 
they alio pickle them ; and many Indian Women chew 
Cloves to have a fweet Breath, They diftxl Clove-water 
out of them when they are green, which has an excellent 
Smell ; the Water is admirable to ftrengthen the Sight, 
by pouring a Drop or two into the Eyes. Powder of 
Cloves, laid upon the Head, cures the Head-ach ; if taken, 
inwardly, it provokes Urine, helps Digeftion, is good 
againft a Loofenefs, and, drank in Milk, will procure Sleep. 
As to the Inhabitants of the Moluccas , they are very 
lazy, and love fo much their Eafe and Pleafiire, that they 
are leldom at Work; for their Slaves and Servants do all 
the Work : They live upon the great Quantities of Cloves 
that grow there; for they have no other Trade, and no 
Manufacture. They have no hoiifhold Implements, but 
earthen Pots and Pans, and fome Mats, upon which they 
fit and lie. Their Slaves build Houfes of Timber and 
Rudies, with nothing elfe, not fo much as a Nail in them : 
Their Cloaths are decent, and pretty well made, of light 
Stuffs, and cheap : But the Country is fo hot, that they 
have no need of warm Cloaths to defend them from the 
Cold. The young Men wear upon their Head Pieces of 
Calico, made in Treffes, and woven in the Figure of a 
Crown ; and, in the Holidays, they adorn them with 
Flowers. The Men perfume their Cloaths to pleafe their 
Wives, of which they have as many as they pleafe, and 
are fo jealous of them, that they invite nobody into their 
Houfes, and they never fee them before they are married. 
The W omen are of a middle Size ; their Hair is tied up 
in Treffes about their Heads : They are of a pkafant and 
merry Humour ; and, though they are kept veryiftriCt* 
they are very brifk, and not at all fcrupulous ; they jpin 
Cotton, and weave Calicoes. The pooreft Sort fell dry 
Fifh, Fowls, Bananas, Sugar-canes, and other Commo- 
dities ; in the Market, you leldom fee any other W omen 
abroad. The Inhabitants of the Moluccas are the belt 
Soldiers of all the Iflands ; they fcorn to fly before their 
Enemies, and will fight with great Courage : They think 
it a great Honour to die in Fight, and to refift their Ene- 
mies to the laft Extremity. They have no Money ; for all 
their Riches confift of Cloves, and with which they may 
purchafe all Neceffaries. Their Language is different front 
that of the other Indians , and they have the fame Cha- 
racters for Writing as the Arabians .■ So much at prefent 
for the Produce and Inhabitants of the Moluccas , at the 
Time when they fell under the Dutch Dominions. Here- 
after we (hall have Occafion, or rather be obliged, to 
refume the SubjeCt, and (peak of the fame things again, as 
they now Hand. 
23. They fleered their Cotirfe along-fhore, and through 
an innumerable Chain of fmall Elands, that are extended 
between the Weft Point of New Guiney , and the Ifland of 
Gilolo. They made this Paffage with the utmoft Hazard, 
and law, therefore, with a Joy mixed with Aftonifhment* 
the Ifland of Bouro, in the Latitude of 2 0 South, the moft 
Weftern Country in which the Butch Eajl ALL Company 
maintain a Factory. This Ifland of Bouro is, for the 
moft part,- pretty high Land, and abounds every-where 
with Trees and Shrubs of various Kinds. As foon as they 
arrived upon the Coaft, they were fpoken with by a final! 
Veffel, on board of which were two white Men, arid feveral 
Negroes, v/ho examined them very categorically, to whom 
they belonged, from whence they came, and whither they 
were going. To which they anfwered, that they came from 
the Coaft of New Guiney , and were bound for Batavia ; but 
very wifely concealed their belonging to the PVeft India 
Company, becaufe they knew, that the Eaft India Com- 
pany permitted no Veffels, but their own, to fail upon that 
Coaft, and had even given Orders for attacking any ftrange 
•Veffels that fhould appear there : Yet, in fpite of thefe 
Precautions, th e Englijh fometimes' find their Way through 
.this Chanel, to the Company’s- no - final- pifpleaiure, not- 
$ B widiftanding 
