the VOYAGE $ o) 
Book I. 
Twitting of the Guts, which' is the epidemic Dittemper of 
the County. It is for this Reafon, and becaufe young Fel- 
lows that are wild, are fometimes fent thither by their Re- 
lations, that the Dutch at Batavia, generally {peaking, call 
Banda the JJland of Correction. The only People who live 
tolerably there are the Negroes, who were fettled in it be- 
fore the Dutch Conqueft, and have lived there quietly ever 
33. The I (land of Celebes , or Macajfar , is confideredas 
the fourth Government in the Eajl India Company’s Difpo- 
fal. It lies between Borneo ' and th e Moluccas, at the Di- 
ftance of about 160 Leagues from Batavia: Its Form is 
in a manner circular, and its Diameter about 130 Leagues. 
It is called, and with great Reafon, the Key of the Spice 
Ifiands. At the Time our Author was there, Mr. Arweyn 
was fent thither Governor, for the fecond time, to his Mif- 
fortune ; for in a Fortnight after he arrived, he was poifoned 
in a Difh of Coffee, which Aft of Villainy was fuppofed 
to be committed by one of his Slaves. The Form ot Go- 
vernment here is pretty much the fame as in the other 
Ifiands. Since the Time the Dutch drove the Portuguefe 
out of thefe Ifiands, they have taken care to fortify them- 
felves effedtually on the Sea-coaft, and have always a very 
numerous Garifbn in the Fort of Macajfar , where the Go- 
vernor refides \ which is fo much the more neceffary, be- 
caufe this Ifland is very populous, and the People are, be- 
yond Comparifon, the braveft and belt Soldiers in the 
Eajl Indies. This Nation for a long time gave the Dutch 
inexprefiible Trouble, and rendered their Commerce very 
precarious : Yet, at laft, they were totally fubdued, and 
ftand at prefen-t as much in Fear of the Company as any 
other Nation : The Expence, however, of maintaining the 
Troops that are here, and the other Charges of the Go- 
vernment, are fo large, that, till very lately, the Company 
were no great Gamers by their Conquetts, though the 
Slave-trade is there very beneficial. . 
The Reafon that the Company laid but fuch large Sums, 
and took fo much Pains to poffefs themfelves of this Ifland, 
was in order to render it a Bulwark to the M-olucccis . Foi 
before the laft War of Macajfar , which ended in the com- 
plete Ruin of the Power of the Prince of that Country, 
he found Means to procure great Quantities of Mace, Nut- 
megs, and Cloves, which he fold to the Englifh , and 
other ^Nations, at a much more reafonable Rate than the 
Dutch Company •, and therefore they ought, in good Policy, 
to have fupported him. The Ifland is very fruitful, efpe- 
cially in Rice, which is a Commodity of great Value in the 
Indies. The Inhabitants are of a middle Stature, of a yel- 
low Complexion, but of good Features, and are extremely 
brifk and adtive. T. hey are naturally Thieves, Traitois, 
and Murderers ; and that to fuch a Degree, that it is not 
fafe for any Chriftian to venture, after it is dark, without 
the Wall of the Dutch Forts, or to travel at any time far 
into the Country, for fear of being robbed and murdered, 
than which nothing is more common. Yet there live, 
under the Brote&ion of the Dutch Forts, abundance of the 
Natives, who are free Burgeffes, and carry on a confidera- 
ble Trade *, as do alfo the Chine fe , who fail from hence in 
their own VeiTeis into all Parts of the Company’s Dorpi- 
nions, deriving immenfe Wealth from their extenfive 
Commerce. 
The inland Country is under the Dominion of three 
different Princes, who, very happily for the Dutch, live 
in a cciMnt bad Intelligence with each other •, and, if it 
were not for this, they might at any time drive the Dutch 
out of the Ifland. One of thefe Princes is alfo Filed the 
Company’s King, becaufe he lives in a good Correfpond- 
ence with them, and promotes their Intereft as far as lies 
in his Power. They make him, from time to time, Pre- 
fers of Gold Chains, Coronets of Gold fet with precious 
Stones, and other Things of Value, in order to keep him 
fteady to his Alliance, and prevent his coming to a good 
Underftanding with the other two Monarchs, which might 
be attended with Coniequences very fatal to their Power 
and Commerce. Some little time before our Authors 
Arrival at Batavia , there happened an extraordinary Event, 
which, it was thought, would , give a great Turn to the 
Company’s Affairs •, and this was the Bifoovery of a rich 
Gold Mine, which was conceived to be of fo great a Con- 
fequence, that not only a great Number of Workmen, 
but a Director, was alfo fent from Batavia to carry on the 
Work there : But how far this has been attended with Sue- 
cefs, our Author was not able to fay, and perhaps- it is a 
Secret that never will be known in its full Extent ; fince it 
is a Maxim with the Dutch Eajl India Company, never to 
boaft of her Power or Riches, but rather to leffen both in 
the Reprefentations fhe makes from time to time to the 
States General : Which is a Caution very neceffary to be 
known and remembered, in order to have a juft Notion ot 
thofe Accounts, which do notftatethe Affairs of the Com- 
pany as they really are, but as they would have them un- 
derftood to be, the better to intitle themfelves to the Favour 
and Protection of the State. 
The Ifland of ternate is the fifth Government in the 
Company’s Difpofal, and is the moft diftant or all the 
Factories they have in the Eaft , for which Reafon they 
confider it as a kind of Frontier. The Governor is a Mer- 
chant, and has a Council, as other Governors have, of 
whom we have fpoken before. This Ifland is one of the 
Moluccas , of a confiderable Extent, and, as we obferved 
before, the King of ternate is the beft Ally the Company 
have. His Country would abound with Cloves, if, at the 
Requeft of the Company, he did net caufe them to be 
rooted out every Year, for which the Company pay him, 
an annual Penfion of 18 or 20,000 Rixdollars. He has a, 
numerous Life-guard, a very ftrong Fort, in which there 
is a ftrong Garifon, maintained by the Company. ’Ihe 
Kings ol lidore and Bachian are his inbutaiies. He has 
concluded a perpetual Alliance with the Company, by 
which he has obliged himfelf to affift them againft all their 
Enemies, which he performs very punctually as, on the 
other hand, the Company treat him with the utmoft 
RefpeCt, and afford mm whatever Affiftance he Hands in 
need of at any time. The Ifland in general is fruitful, 
Abounding in all Sorts of Provifions, and whatever elfe is 
requifite to make Life eafy and happy : Yet,, after all, the 
Commerce of it is not very confiderable. It is true, the 
Company difpofe there of great Quantities of Cloth, and of 
fuch Goods as they receive from Guiney : But, notwith- 
ftanding this, the Tortoife-fhell, and other Commodities, 
they receive in Return, hardly amounts to as much as is 
neceffary to defray the Expences of the Government •, but 
there is a great Appearance, that the Factory in this Ifland 
will for the future turn to a better Account, becaufe fome 
Years ago there has been difeovered there a Gold Mine, 
much richer than any in the Moluccas. . 
As to the Inhabitants, they are a middle-fized People, 
ftrong active, and, generally fpeaking, more faithful than 
any of their Neighbours, and much better affefted to the 
Europeans. In point of Religion , they are . moft of them 
Pagans , or Mohammedans 5 and of late,, indeed, abun- 
dance of them are become Chriftians, which is, perhaps, 
in fome meafure, owing to the King’s declaring himfelf or 
that Religion, which, in the Eajl Indies , and, perhaps, in 
fome other Countries, is a Point of great Confequence to- 
wards the Converfion of the People, The Inhabitants of 
ternate make a kind of Palm-wine, which is exceflively 
ftrong •, they call it Seggsweer •, a very Email Quantity ot 
it will intoxicate a Man, and, therefore, it is m mg 
Efteem : There are likewife found here a kind of Birds, 
the moft beautiful that can be feen ; their Feathers are of 
all Sorts of Colours, and fo finely diverfified,. that it is not 
poffible to conceive any thing more charming *, they are 
commonly fent to Batavia , where they fell at a very great 
Price, not only on account of their Rarity, and of their 
great Beauty, but of their Docility likewife •, for they . are 
taught to fing finely, and to imitate the human oice. 
There are brought likewife from this Eland abundance o 
the Birds of Paradife , of which we have fpoken largely 
before •, but it may not be amils to add here fomewhat as 
to the different Kinds of thefe Birds. The firft Sort are the 
common Birds of Paradife , of a yellowTolour, and their 
Bodies very fmall, commonly about eight Incnes long, ex- 
clufive of the Tail, which- is half a Yard, and fometimes 
/ 
