TERN A TE. 
US 
On the 9th of October we returned to our anchorage off the fort, and on the 10th, 
after a farewell visit from the Resident, H.M.S. “Challenger” left this picturesque bay 
to continue her voyage among the islands of the Indian Archipelago. Steering northward 
through the Strait of Manipa, between Ceram and Bouro, we sighted Obi Major and Obi 
Latta on the 12th; Marigorang, Tawalli, and the high mountains of Batchian Island on 
the 13th ; and, crossing the Equator during the night, we entered the channel between the 
lofty volcanoes of Ternate and Tidore—names enshrined by a great epic poet in immortal 
verse—in the following afternoon. Tidore, 5700 feet high, is an almost perfect cone with a 
well-defined crater at the top ; its fellow, 5480 feet above the sea-level, has a broad flattened 
summit, whence issued, at the time of our visit, a considerable volume of smoke. Its upper 
surface looked rugged and torn, due probably to the successive formation of numerous craters 
of eruption. Between these two eminences rises the island of Maytara, and to eastward of 
Ternate the island of Hieri—both evidently volcanic cones. 
TERNATE. 
At sunset on the 14th October, H.M.S. “Challenger” anchored in front of Ternate, 
which may be considered as the capital of the Moluccas. A fine avenue of trees—a species 
bearing a large variegated leaf—leads the traveller into the town, which extends for a 
considerable distance along the shore, as far as Fort Orange and the palace of the Sultan 
RESIDENCE OF THE SULTAN OF TERNATE. 
of Ternate. This building presents a curious mixture of Malay and Dutch styles of 
architecture. Behind the town rise the magnificently wooded slopes of the volcano, while 
the shore road commands a beautiful view of the opposite island of Tidore, and of the 
more distant coast of Gillolo. The native name of the latter island is Halmaheira, a 
compound of hal-ahoewal, meaning state, condition, and maheiva , wild, untamed the whole 
indicating a country in a wild, uncultivated state. 
The principal mosque of Ternate, with its seven roofs piled one above the other in the 
shape of a pyramid, is a very interesting specimen of Malay workmanship. 
At a reception given by the Resident of Ternate, the company included several Malay, 
Arab, and Chinese gentlemen, representatives of the various elements which constitute the 
population of this outpost of civilisation. The ascent of the volcano of Ternate was 
successfully accomplished by two officers of H.M.S. “Challenger. 
