AMBOYNA, an island in the eastern seas, and the chief of the Molucca Islands. It is between 50 and 60 miles in length, and is divided into two unequal parts by two deep bays, which are separated only by a narrow isthmus of one mile across. The bay on the west side extends to about two thirds of the length of the island, and forms a commodious and safe harbour. That on the east side is much smaller, and, as a harbour, very insecure, both on account of its bad anchorage and its rocky shores. The larger division is called Hitoo, and the smaller division Letymor. Although the larger bay is more commodious for a settlement, it is in the Letymor division that the Europeans have chosen to fix their residence. Amboyna has long been the seat of the supreme government of the Spice Islands; and under its jurisdiction are comprehended ten other islands, namely, Ceram, which is equal in size to all the rest, Ceram Laut, Bouro, Amblaw, Manipa, Kelang, Bonoa, Harakau, Saparoua,’ and Noossa Laut.

Amboyna is of a hot but salubrious climate. It is subject to the monsoons; but they so far differ in this island from those experienced in Java, Borneo, Celebes, &c. that the southerly monsoon, which is accompanied with such fine weather in these islands, occasions in Amboyna incessant rains, thunder, lightning, and hurricanes. This tempestuous weather extends westward to the strait which separates the islands of Salayer and Celebes, where it ceases, and the sky assumes a serene appearance. Am-boyna is occasionally liable to earthquakes. The surface is diversified with lofty ridges of mountains; and during the rainy seasons the smallest rivulets are swelled into torrents, which overflow their channels, and rush down the steep sides of the mountains, carrying away the strongest bridges, and every other obstacle which opposes the impetuous current. The soil and climate of Amboyna are adapted for a variety of vegetable products of great value; but it has been chiefly famed for the produce of the nutmeg and the clove-tree. The cultivation of the nutmeg has been for some years prohibited in Amboyna, the industry of its inhabitants being chiefly directed to the rearing of the clove-tree. It is only in Amboyna and the three islands of Harakau, Saparoua, and Noossa Laut, that cloves are now cultivated.

“The clove-tree grows to the height of about forty or fifty feet, its branches spread, and its leaves are long and pointed. In a favourable soil it begins to bear at fifteen years’ growth, is in perfection at twenty, and continues to bear, without any apparent decay, till the age of forty or fifty. Some trees yield thirty pounds of cloves; but the average quantity produced does not amount to more than six pounds a tree. They grow to the greatest perfection in deep valleys, well sheltered by hills and woods, and in a soil of a rich black mould, quite dry, though they require frequent rains for the greatest part of the year, and very hot weather at the gathering season, which commences generally about the latter end of October or the beginning of November, and continues until February. In April and May there is an after-crop, but of a very inferior quality.” (Asiatic Annual Register for 1800.)

The Dutch East India Company appear to have been actuated by the same sordid, narrow, and oppressive views which have, in a greater or less degree, characterized all the European governments established in the east. Cloves, the great article of produce throughout the island, are rigorously engrossed for the benefit of the Company. And for the convenience of this monopoly, the province and its dependencies are divided into several districts, over which residents or governors are appointed, for the purpose of preventing all contraband trade, and to take care [7:2:597]also that the whole produce of the country is strictly delivered up at a fixed price. The governor has under his immediate management seven great and twenty-four small districts; and the subordinate residents have committed to them from six to ten districts, with the exception of. the resident of Saparoua, who has under his superintendence twenty-four districts. These districts are likewise called regencies; and the officers who govern them are distinguished by the names of Regents, Rajahs, Patties, and Orankaios. Several of these regencies are hereditary, and are enjoyed by the lineal descendants of the Portuguese families who first settled in the island; all the others are appointed by the governor, although in this respect he is obliged to regulate his choice by the ancient customs and prejudices of the people, whose reverence for the ties of consanguinity carries them so far as to induce them to keep a regular pedigree of their families, which is registered in the secretary’s office, and on which the candidate for a vacant regency rests his primary claim. The regents are the vassals of the company, who not only claim the sovereignty of the island, but the actual property of the soil; the whole of the lands being in their immediate possession, except a few pieces of ground belonging to burghers and private persons, who, under the prohibition of cultivating the clove-tree, are permitted to alienate them. But notwithstanding this claim of a paramount right in the soil, they still so far acknowledge the rights of individuals to certain districts, that they do not attempt to deprive them of their property without compensation; especially if their lands produce clove-trees, which, being considered the peculiar inheritance of the planters, are held to be inviolable.

It is only in the districts marked out by the state that the cultivation of cloves is permitted; and the grounds which are appropriated for this purpose are portioned out to the inhabitants. These grounds are called Daty-lands ; a regular register of the produce of them is kept, the clove-trees are numbered once a year, and their qualities particularly noted. The people are bound, under pain of death, to deliver the entire produce of these trees annually into the company’s stores. Where clove-trees flourish spontaneously without the limits of the lands appointed for their cultivation, an account of them is immediately taken, and inserted in the register; and where young trees shoot up, they are immediately transplanted into Daty-lands i unless the number of trees in them is already sufficient.

To enforce the law for cutting down all the clove-trees, which, from the spontaneous bounty of nature, may shoot up in different parts of the island, an annual circuit is made by the governor, accompanied by a detachment of troops and such of the gentlemen of the settlement as he may appoint to accompany him. As this expedition is performed by water, it is escorted by a number of the regents of the districts in their barges, which they are obliged to equip at their own expense. The governor generally sets out in the middle of October, attended by all the residents of those districts under the immediate management of the supreme government. As he proceeds, he calls on the attendance of all the principal people of the district through which he passes. In this manner he makes a tour through his whole dominions, continuing to increase his train of attendants, until, having made the complete circuit of the island, he returns to his capital. His annual cavalcade is much complained of, on account of the numerous exactions to which it gives rise.

In gathering the cloves, each labourer brings to a weigh-house the quantity which he gathers, where the name of the person, together with the quantity delivered, is re gularly noted. But unless the cloves are thoroughly dried, the full weight is not always admitted. There must be an allowance for waste, which is entirely at the discretion of the receiving officer; and under this pretence the unprotected inhabitants are exposed to numerous frauds. The price at which cloves are received by the state is 4s. 8d. per pound; but this price is. merely nominal, in consequence of large deductions being subsequently made on various accounts. Of these the principal is an allowance of 20 per cent, on the weight of the cloves, for the benefit of the governor and the other Servants of the company; besides which, there are other deductions for the regent and chief magistrates of the district, and the labourer’s wages are also paid out of the price allowed by the state. The annual produce of cloves is estimated at 600,000 lbs., from which a deduction of one fifth or twenty per cent, amounts to 120,000 lbs.; and the tribute thus levied is portioned out among the residents and members of the executive government, according to their respective ranks. The produce of cloves is apt to vary, however, according as the season is favourable or otherwise.

For six years, ending in 1791, the average quantity of cloves imported into Holland amounted to 597,6171bs., and were sold for a sum equal to L.155,129; besides which, considerable quantities are annually sent to various parts of India, Persia, Arabia, and China, the exact amount of which it is impossible to ascertain. When the island was taken possession of by the British in 1796, there were in store 515,940 lbs. of cloves. The quantity imported by the English East India Company, after the conquest of the island by Britain, was, in the years 1803, 1804, 1805, respectively, 49,441, 127,866, 179,507 lbs., which were sold for L.8,789, L.19,994, L.27,912.

The despotism under which this fine island is oppressed, is sufficiently implied in the monopoly of its produce for the state, and in the severe and sanguinary laws which are found necessary to prevent contraband trade. If the government were to deal fairly with its subjects, the temptation to resort to other countries with this produce would be much diminished; and, in proportion to the severity of the laws established against such an intercourse, we may fairly estimate the extent of the fraud practised upon the inhabitants by their mercantile despots. Monopoly, besides being in itself an odious abuse, is an impure source from which other abuses naturally spring; and in Amboyna, accordingly, we find that, as the produce of the inhabitants is engrossed by the state at an undervalue, they are upon the same principle forced to purchase, at prices proportionally exorbitant, whatever necessaries they may require. A lucrative trade of this nature is carried on by the residents of the respective provinces, as well as by the military officers at the outposts, with the peasantry under their authority. They procure from the supply of stores which the Dutch Company used to send annually from Batavia, such articles as the natives require, particularly blue cloth, which they oblige them to purchase at a price far above its value; and, in order to furnish them with the means of satisfying their wants, the residents lend them money at usurious interest; so that these people are reduced to the miserable alternative of either submitting to the grossest oppression and fraud, or of remaining destitute of those things which nature and custom unite to render necessary. The accumulated debt in which the peasantry arc thus involved is a never-failing instrument of bondage and oppression, as it places them entirely at the discretion of their taskmasters, to whose bounty they are indebted for their miserable subsistence. An order in council[7:2:598] was published by the Dutch government, some time before the island was conquered by the British, prohibiting the residents from withholding from the peasantry, for debts due to themselves, more than two thirds of the amount of their spice-money. But, while the residents are necessarily vested with such extensive powers, in order to enforce the system of monopoly, the peasantry are at their mercy; and, under a government thus tyrannical in its principle, pretexts will never be wanting for evading the force of particular laws.

The maxims on which this country is governed are well explained in a code of written regulations drawn up by order of the Dutch Company some years before the island came into the possession of the British. This code, instead of containing mild and liberal regulations for the general improvement of the community, is filled with all the impolitic restrictions of avarice and despotism; the general tendency of which is, by bending down and oppressing the lower orders of the community, to strike at the root of national prosperity, and, finally, to impoverish and degrade the country. From a view of those regulations, it appears to have been the settled policy of the government of Amboyna, for 150 years back, to discourage cultivation,—to check all attempts to establish manufactures,—and, in short, to suppress every improvement which might enable the inhabitants to supply their own wants, and might thus render them independent of the monopolies established by their rulers. In this they have been but too successful; and hence the people are fettered down in a state of the most wretched poverty and dependence,—destitute of the common necessaries of life, in consequence of their progressive advance in price; while, in the mean time, the wages of labour have been forcibly depressed, or rather indeed have been kept back from the labourer by fraud, he being bound to the state for a variety of severe duties and services, for which he receives no remuneration. In consequence of these oppressions the inhabitants are poor and indolent. Agriculture has made no progress. Not more than one tenth of the island is under cultivation, and it is therefore dependent on Java for supplies of cattle and grain. The same causes which have discouraged the cultivation of land and the rearing of cattle, have prevented the improvement of manufactures, or of the mechanical arts; of which the inhabitants are so ignorant, that they do not even manufacture the coarse cloth of which they make their own wearing apparel, but are furnished with it from Java or Bengal, and receive it in retail from the residents and men in office, at such prices as they choose to fix on it.

All the natural productions of this island are in like manner neglected by the policy of its rulers. It formerly produced indigo of the finest quality and colour. But the growth of this valuable commodity was discouraged by the Dutch, chiefly with a view of protecting the indigo trade carried on between the mother country and her colonies in the West Indies, and from a jealousy, also, that the natives, by acquiring wealth, might be enabled to assert their independence. Sugar grows to great perfection, but its cultivation is discouraged. Coffee is produced in abundance in different parts of the island; and, were the culture of it sufficiently attended to, it would be equal in quality to the first Mocha coffee. Wheat might be cultivated to great advantage on the beautiful heights contiguous to the town of Amboyna, the soil and climate being well adapted to it. Of maize there is already a great abundance; and the dry as well as mountain rice is known here, but neither has been much cultivated. The bread-fruit tree grows spontaneously over all the island, but is only made use of by the lowest orders of the people. The cocoa-tree also grows here; but the cultivation of it is almost entirely neglected. If the culture of vegetables were sufficiently attended to, this island would produce a great variety, of the finest quality. All sorts of roots are produced in abundance, particularly yams and sweet potatoes; and the increased circulation of specie, since the island has been in possession of the English, has induced the farmers to bring ample and regular supplies to the market. There is also great variety of fruits, of the finest quality and flavour. The general appearance of the island is extremely beautiful and picturesque. Mountains everywhere covered with lofty woods in perpetual foliage, and valleys clothed in verdure, interspersed with hamlets, and enriched by cultivation, exhibit the most delightful variety that nature in those tropical regions is capable of producing.

This island is inhabited by four distinct races of people; by the Aborigines; by the Amboynese properly so called, who have been found there since the earliest visits of the Europeans; by the Chinese; and, lastly, by the Europeans. The Aborigines have greatly decreased in numbers. They are wild and savage in their habits, and are chiefly confined to the interior mountains, having no intercourse with the more civilized inhabitants. They are described as being cruel, ferocious, and treacherous. The native Amboynese are of an indolent and effeminate character, which disposition is encouraged by the fertility of the soil. The tyranny of the Dutch, by whom they are severely oppressed, and who rob them of the due reward of their labour, may have conduced, along with the climate, to foster these habits. The Chinese are here, as they are in all other parts, an industrious and commercial people; but, from the oppressive nature of the government, they are not numerous. They live in a particular street of Amboyna, under the authority of a chief of their own nation. The Europeans, who seem to constitute the smallest portion of the inhabitants, have rather decreased in numbers. They intermarry with the natives and the other inhabitants; and hence a variety of races has sprung up, distinguished by different appellations, as they recede from the olive complexions of the Am-boynese and approach the European white.

Amboyna was first discovered by the Portuguese, who took possession of it in 1564. The Dutch expelled the Portuguese in 1605; and in 1615 the English made an unsuccessful attempt to share the possession of the island with them. They managed, however, to retain a factory till the year 1622, when differences arose between the English and Dutch settlers; and in the end the latter, by the most unexampled treachery, seized on the English factors, whom they accused of being traitors, put them to death by the most cruel tortures, and expelled all the English settlers. The Dutch having thus acquired sole possession of the island, retained it till the year 1796, when it was conquered by a British force under Admiral Rainier.

Amboyna was captured by the British in 1796, and restored to the Dutch by the peace of Amiens. It was again taken possession of in 1810, and restored to its former owners by the treaty of Paris concluded in 1814. (See Asiatic Annual Register for 1800, p. 200; and Mr Milburn’s valuable work entitled Oriental Commerce, vol. ii. p. 394.) ' (f∙) . Amboyna, the capital of the island of Amboyna, is situated in the peninsula of Letymor. It is finely situated at the head of a deep bay, which penetrates 21 miles inland, gradually becoming narrower: it is about six miles asunder at the entrance; and near the bottom, where the town is situated, it is two miles across, with deep water. On t∏e south shore of the bay, and in front of Amboyna, the Europeans[7:2:599] have erected the principal fortification of Victoria, which is an irregular hexagon, with a ditch and covered way on the land side, and a horn-work towards the sea. Being commanded, however, by two ranges of heights, at the distance of from 700 to 1200 yards, it could make no serious resistance to an invading force. The town of Am-boyna is extremely clean, and both neatly and regularly built in the form of an oblong square. The streets, which are wide and improved, intersect each other at right angles. They consist, for the most part, of houses of only one story, constructed of wood, and covered with palm leaves laced together, which is the mode of building adopted, from the dread of earthquakes. They are provided with frames of matted cane in place of glass windows, for the sake of coolness as well as of economy; and in general they have small gardens behind them, with a well of good water, which is here procured in abundance, either by digging, or from the rivulets intersecting the town, which swell into torrents during the rainy season. The esplanade, which reaches from the covert-way of the fort to the town, a space of 250 yards, is terminated by a range of handsome dwelling-houses, with a double row of nutmeg-trees in front of them. Here the principal European inhabitants reside; and the west part of the town is the appointed residence of the Chinese. There are two well-built churches, one for Europeans, the other for the Malay Christians, in which service is performed in the Malay language. All the other public buildings are in the fort, except the town-house, which fronts the esplanade, and is a neat building of two stories. An earth quake took place in 1755, which greatly damaged the two churches, one of which it was necessary to rebuild. The heat is generally from 80° to 82°, and the lowest point of the thermometer is 72°. Long. 128. 15. E. Lat 3. 40. S. (f.)