THE MOLUCCAS 
317 
no garrison appears to have been established. The 
Dutch now came upon the scene, and in 1613 contrived 
to conclude a treaty with the Sultan of Ternate by which 
the latter agreed that the trade in cloves should be the 
exclusive property of Holland. Under the pretext of 
the infraction of the terms of the agreement, the various 
islands were soon reduced. Little by little the Moluccas 
thus passed into the hands of Holland, and though many 
revolts occurred, the intervals between each became 
longer, and in 1681 the last expiring effort was made, 
and made in vain. Thenceforward there have been no 
events worthy of record except the temporary occupation 
by the British at the period of the Napoleonic difficulty. 
The Besidencies of Ternate and Amboina share the 
administration of the islands at the present day. The 
former comprises a larger area of territory than any other 
residency in the Netherlands India, extending from the 
middle of Celebes to the eastern boundary of Dutch New 
Guinea, a distance of«nearly 1500 miles. Such a 
division appears at first sight most unfitting and arbitrary, 
but it is not so in reality, for the territory thus united 
represents (together with the Amboina Besidency) the 
ancient kingdoms of Ternate and Tidor. The Sultans of 
these two insignificant islands were in bygone days the 
most important in the archipelago, the Sultan of Ternate 
ruling southern Mindanao, the Sangir group, the greater 
part of the eastern half of Celebes, the Timor, Buru, and 
almost all the Ceram group; while the Sultan of Tidors 
possessions lay chiefly to the east, and comprised half 
Gilolo and Ceram, and the whole of western New Guinea 
and its islands. It is thus in virtue of their treaties 
with the Tidor potentate that the Dutch claim sovereignty 
over New Guinea up to the 141st degree of east 
longitude. 
