merly kept on this Island, and were compelled to cultivate the land for the use of the supreme govern ment. Palo Pisang is about two miles north-east from Banda Neira, and yields some fine fruits, as well as nutmegs and mace. The other three Islands are uninhabited, being little more than barren rocks.
The Banda Islands were discovered in the year 1511 by the Portuguese, who immediately took pos. session of them in the name of their sovereign. About the year 1603, they were expelled by the Dutch. In 1608, the English, with the permission of the king, built a factory-house on Pulo Way, which the Dutch demolished as soon as the ship which brought out the factors returned to England. The natives of Banda, notwithstanding the opposition of the Dutch, assisted the English in forming a new colony, and shortly afterwards they, along with the natives of Lantore, made a formal resignation of their respective Islands to the new settlers. In 1620 Pulo Roon and Pulo Way were added to the Eng lish dominions, and those cessions were confirmed by a treaty concluded between the English and the Dutch. But, in defiance of this treaty, the latter determined on the expulsion of their rivals from those Islands, in the possession of which they ap peared to be gradually establishing themselves. They accordingly attacked them with a strong force, seiz ed their factories, magazines, and shipping, and after stripping the factors naked, first whipped and then • loaded them with irons. Some notion may be form ed of the trade, then in its infancy, by the quantity of spices seized here, which amounted to 23,000 lbs. of mace, and 150,000 lbs. of nutmegs. In 1654, the Dutch were compelled, by the firmness of Cromwell, to restore the Island of Pulo Roon, and to make satisfaction for the massacre of Amboyna. But the English settlers not being adequately supported from home, were unable to resist the power of their rivals, and the. Island was retaken by the Dutch in 1664. They retained undisturbed possession of their conquests in this quarter of the globe until the year 1796, when the Banda Islands, along with all the other Dutch colonies, were conquered by the Bri tish. They were restored by the treaty of Amiens, in the year 1800, but were again captured, and have been again restored, by the treaty of Paris, conclud ed in the year 1814.
In the space between Banda Lantoir and the Islands of Banda Neira and Gonong Apee, there is a very good harbour formed with entrances both from the east and west, which enable vessels to enter it from either of the monsoons. These channels are well defended with several batteries, particularly the western one, which is very narrow. Between Gonong Apee and Banda Neira, there is a third channel into this harbour from the north ; but it is navigable only for small vessels. • The great articles of commerce in these Islands are nutmegs and mace, which are engrossed at a fix ed price, for the benefit of the Dutch East India Company, and the laws and regulations generally es tablished, are calculated to support and promote this monopoly, rather than the happiness of the people, or the improvement of the country. With this view, the cultivation of the nutmeg is only allowed in the Islands of Banda geira, Gonong Ap, Banda Lantoir, and Pula Ay. In all the other Islands the tree has
been carefully extirpated, because, being at a distance from the seat of government, they were supposed to afford better opportunities for smuggling. In the Islands which are appropriated to the cultivation of the nutmeg, they neither feed cattle nor produce grain sufficient for the maintenance of the inhabi tants, and they are on this account dependent on Batavia for annual supplies of rice, and other articles of provision. In consequence of the low state of agriculture occasioned by this policy, the inhabitants are few, and the number of hands that would be ne cessary to bring the plantations into the highest state of cultivation, cannot be procured. This scarcity of hands renders it necessary to recruit the declining population by the importation of slaves. It would appear, also, that the inhabitants suffer se verely when the supplies of provisions on which they de pend from abroad happen to be interrupted, and that, in these circumstances,. their wants subject them to the greatest oppressions. About fifteen monthibefore these Islands were last conquered by the British, some reforms in the system of administration were carried into effect by a new governor who had been appointed for that purpose. But before this period most of the planters were in great distress, having been charged with very heavy debts, incurred on ac count of loans in rice and money, made at different periods by the former governors, and this circum stance, joined to the great loss which they sustained by the dreadful hurricane of 1778, entirely ruined their private fortunes as well as their plantations. While they were in these distressed circumstances, the Dutch government, with an unfeeling avarice, aggravated their misery by compelling them to de liver their nutmegs, at the reduced price of three farthings per pound, and the mace at a still lower rate. Under this accumulated distress, the spirit which had animated theirfathers in the days of their independence seemed once again to revive, and they remonstrated in bold and determined language. They claimed the lands as their own prescriptive inheritance, which they undoubtedly were, and actually proceeded to portion out their respective properties to each other. The Dutch, though they were touched by no feeling for the deplorable situation to which they had reduced the country, were nevertheless alarmed when they saw their discontented subjects determined to resist, and it was thought advisable to adopt a more just and conciliatory conduct. With this view, the ac cumulated arrear of debt claimed by the company from the planters, and which most of them were un able to pay, was cancelled. Several judicious regu lations were also adopted regarding the management of slaves, and the price at which the government re ceived the spices of the planters, were at the same time increased from the low rate to which it had been reduced to seven and a half stivers per lib. for mace, and to two and a half stivers for nutmegs, with a deduction of 17 per cent. in favour of the com pany and their servants.