Tidore, on the west coast of Gilolo, is about 6 miles long. A mountain on the N.E. end of the island is in lat. 0° 40' N., and long. 127° 22' 30" E. Tidore is over 4000 feet high. Tidore, like Ternate,—from which it is two or three leagues distant,—is formed in its southern part of lofty hills. The soil is of great fecundity, and plenti fully watered by streams from the peaks. The people have an aptitude for agricultural occupa tion.
Batehian is about 52 miles long by 20, and is separated from Gilolo only by strait. It is the largest of the chaplet of isles surrounding Gilolo, and is as fertile as Tidore, but with a sparse, poor, indolent population. The soil is volcanic, and below the active crater springs of sulphureous water break from the ground in the most picturesque situations. Here, as in Am boyna, the Christian converts arc the most inert. The situation and aspect of the island are beautiful. Monkeys are to be found nowhere else in the Molueca Archipelago.
Amboyna is about 32 miles long by 10 in breadth. Amboyna and Banda are supposed to have been discovered by Antonio d'Abreu, a Portuguese captain, who left Malacca in 1511 ; but Ludovica Badhetna (Vartoina) of Bologna claims to have been there in 1506. The Am boynese are of a middling height, and well formed. They make good mounted and foot soldiers, are gentle, brave, very sober, and easily managed. A considerable number have embraced Christianity.
Ceram.—The cluster of islets lying at the S.E. extremity of the island of Seran as it is called by the natives, or Ceram as it is laid down in the maps, are situated in lat. 30° 55' S., and in long. 133° E. Ceram is the second in size of the Moluccas, having an estimated area of about 10,000 square miles. It is 162 miles long, but its greatest breadth is only 42 miles. The island is one long mountain chain that sets off transverse spurs, and some of the peaks are 5000 or 6000 feet in height, sending down innumerable streams to the sea. The vegetation is everywhere luxuriant, and the trees gigantic. The several islets which compose the Ceram group produce fruit trees iu considerable abundance,—the dorian, mangosteen, the wild nutmeg, and the cocoanut and sago palm, the latter supplying to the natives the chief article of subsistence. Cloves and nut megs grow wild. The Alfura of Papuan race are the predominant type in the island of Ceram. The people of Ceram approach nearer to the Papuan type than those of Gilolo. They are darker in colour, and a number of them have the frizzly Papuan hair ; their features are harsh and prominent, and the women are far less engaging than those of the Malay race. The Papua or Alfura man of Ceram- gathers his frizzly hair into a flat circular knot over the left temple, and places cylinders of wood, as thick as one's fingers and coloured red at the ends, in the lobes of the ears. They are very nearly in a state of nature, and go almost naked ; but armlets and anklets of woven grass or of silver, with necklaces of beads or small fruit, complete their attire. The women have similar ornaments, but wear their hair loose. Ceram has on its western side the three islands, Bonoa, Kelang, and Manipa. The commercial products from these islands consist of tortoise shell, mother-o'-pearl shell, beche-de-mer, wild cinnamon, wild nutmegs, and birds of paradise. The Greater and the Lesser Keffing, however, S.E. of Ceram, are well peopled by Muhaminadan Malays, and sprinkled with houses of traders engaged in traffic with the Nassau, the Ki, and the Tenimber Isles, where they sell the produce of their fishery, tortoise and trepang. The isles are low, but remarkably picturesque.
Bouro Island is one of the Moluccas, and is about 200. miles in circumference. The island is high, and has a. semicircular mountain on its
N.W. part. Bouro has two races ; the larger number are Malays of the Celebes type, often exactly similar to the Tomore people of E. Celebes, who are settled in Batchian, but the other race resemble the Alfura of Ceram. The bulk of the inhabitants are a comparatively fair people, very closely resembling the native of Amboyna.
Banda belongs to a group of ten small but high volcanic islands, situated between lat. 3° 50' and 4° 40' S. The largest is Lontar or Great Banda,— it is crescent-shaped ; and Pulo Pisang, Banana Island, and Pulo Kapal, Ship Island, lie in the hollow of the crescent, and form the arc of a circle. Within this arc are three other islands, the highest of which is Gunong Api, next Banda, Neira, N.E. of which is Pulo Krakka or Old Woman's Island. The nutmeg, the excellent maritime position, the superb roadstead, and the fertile soil of Banda, render it the Spice Islands ; but, unlike Amboyna, it is unhealthy, and exposed to constant danger from the Gunong Api volcano, which has many times burst in eruption, devastating the neighbouring region, and Misting it With- showers of scorching ashes. The base of this volcano, called by the French the Grenade of Banda, occupies the whole surface of the islet. Its height is about 2000 feet, covered with magnificent vegetation, commencing at the line where the waves cease to beat, and continuing upwards to the point where the lava ceases to flow. The isle is inhabited only by a few emigrants from Timor. For nearly 100 years the Portuguese monopolized the trade. In 1609 the Dutch attempted to take these islands, but the war lasted 18 years, and the natives fled to the neighbouring islands. The Dutch had to culti vate the islands with slaves, and when slavery was abolished, with convicts. The water is so trans parent that living corals and minute objects are seen below. Almost all Banda Island is covered with nutmeg trees, grown under.the shade of the Canarium commune. About three-fourths of the inhabitants are mixed races,—Malay, Papuan, Arab, Portuguese, and Dutch. When first dis covered by Europeans, the inhabitants had made considerable advance in civilisation, but one still much inferior to that of the Malays and Javanese.
Rosingain, near Banda, was almost abandoned after the extirpation of its spice trees, its people emigrating to the neighbouring islands in search of a livelihood. The people are of the Malayan race, short, squat, and darker in complexion than the Malays or Javanese.
Land mammals are few in number. The only one of the quadrumana is Cyuopithecus nigrescens, at Batchian ; the Viverra tangalunga, Rusa hippela phus, var. babirusa, Sorex myosurus ; the flying opossum, Belideus ariel, a beautiful little mar supial animal like a flying squirrel ; and three species of Cuscus, opossum-like animals, with long prehensile tails, small heads, large eyes, with a covering of woolly fur ; their flesh is everywhere eaten. There are, however, 265 species of birds known. Amongst them the large red-crested cockatoo, 2 species of the Eclectus parrot, and 5 of the beautiful 21 species of pigeons, 16 species of kingfishers, and the mound making megapodii, for M. Wallacei inhabits Gilolo, Ternat,e, and Bouro.
The insects are very numerous and very beauti ful,—Pieridm, Danaidm, Ornithoptera priamus, helena, and remus, Papilio ulysses, deiphobus, and gambrisius ; Iphias leucippe, one of the Pieridm ; also Hestra idea of • the Danaidm ; two large Nymphalidm, Diadema pandarus and Charaxus euryalus ; and amongst the beetles Enchirus longimanus and Xenocerus semiluctuosua.—B11 more; Crawfurd; Hogendorp; Horsburgh; Keppel; Kolff ; Logan • St. John ; 7'enaninck ; Wallace.
MOLUNGth. • BENG., URIYA. A salt manu facturer.