AMBOYNA, one of the principal of the Molucca islands, and the only one in which cloves are permitted to be cultivated. It is situated in the archipelago of St Lazarus, in S. Lat. 42', and 128' cast of London. it lies about 120 leagues cast of Batavia ; and is about 70 miles in circumference. It is divided into two pe ninsulas, connected with each other by a narrow neck of land, both of which are very mountainous, and almost entirely overgrown w ith wood. Amboyna, with its de pendencies is supposed to contain about 45,000 inhabit ants, a motley mixture of all religions. The Nhlhome tans from the isle of Java, first began the work of con version, and soon made a number of proselytes. The Portuguese were the first Europeans who discovered and took possession of Amboyna, and they were no less zealous in making converts to the Catholic faith. The Dutch, upon their gaining possession of the island, at tempted in their turn, to bring over the natives to the protestant religion; and as they had been already accus tomed to changes, and appear to have been no wise te nacious of their religious opinions, they found little difficulty in professing the faith of their masters. In 1796, when the settlement was taken by the English under admiral Rainier, upwards of 17,000 of the natives were reported to be protestants; the rest are Mahome tans, Roman Catholics, and Pagans.* It appears, how ever, that the Amboynesc Christians are little better than Pagans in reality ; for it is reported by Stavorinus, who resided a considerable time amongst them, that they still sacrifice to the evil spirit, who, the) believe, resides in a hill on the coast of Ceram ; they never pass his habitation without attempting to propitiate him, by setting afloat a few flowers, and some small pieces of money in cocoa nut shells.
The Amboynese, though of a very dark complexion, approaching nearer to black than to brown, have never theless very regular features. Neither the thick lips, nor the depressed noses, which, according to our ideas of beauty, deform " the human face divine," in other hot countries, are seen here ; but, on the contrary, and especially among the females, perfectly symmetrical countenances arc the general characteristic of the in habitants.
There are neither lions, tigers, wolves, nor any other beast of prey in Amboyna. The most noxious animals are snakes, of which there are about twenty different kinds. The woods abound with deer, and with the babi roussa, or bog-deer, as the name signifies. The flesh of these creatures is almost the only animal food that is eaten in Amboyna; and that chiefly by the Europeans, as the natives can seldom afford to purchase it. The chief article of subsistence among the Amboynese, is the farinaceous pith of the sago-tree ; of this substance they form bread, resembling the cassava of the West Indies, and use it for all the various purposes for which meal is employed in other countries. But the staple commodity of Amboyna, and for which alone it is covet ed by Europeans, is cloves. The lucrative trade arising from this valuable article of commerce, or of luxury, is entirely in the hands of the Dutch, who guard their mo nopoly with the most illiberal jealousy. Cloves are only produced in Amboyna and the neighbouring islands, all of which arc in the possession of the Dutch; but to prevent smuggling, and to make their command of the :narket more secure, they have been at the utmost pains to extirpate the clove trees from all the other islands, and to confine the culture of them to mboyna alone.
For this purpose, the governor of Amboyna makes a circuit every year, attended by a numerous retinue, w ith the express design of rutting down all the clove trees which may be lound on the other islands.
We could, however, excuse them, had these been the only means which they employed to this lucra tive commerce. But Amboyna is not so remarkable for its valuable productions, as li- being the scene of one of the most violent outrages against humaoity which has disgraced the history of modern times. Af ter the Portuguese were expelled by the Dutch, the English had been allowed to establish themselves in the island, under the protection of the Dutch government. It was natural enough to suppose, that in these circum stances, differences should arise amongst the rival tra ders. The adjustment of these dill'erences had been re ferred to the English and Dutch East India companies. But the Dutch government of Amboyna not being able to wait the slow but equitable decision which might have been expected front this reference, contrived by one of the clumsiest and most infernal plots that ever was hatched by human depra‘ ity, to get possession of the whole island, before the cause had well received a hearing in Europe. Two soldiers in the Dutch service, the one a Japanese, the other a Portuguese, were put to the torture, and forced to emit a declaration, that a conspiracy was formed by the English to dispossess the Dutch of one of the principal forts in the island. On this evidence all the English were seized; and, not content with despatching them at once, the diabolical wretches glutted their revenge, by making them expire under the most unheard of tortures; and though all the papers of the English were seized, there could not be found the most distant allusion to this pretended con spiracy. This infamous transaction happened during the inglorious reign of James I.; and as that monarch was then embroiled with Spain, through the perverse counsels of his favourites, he did not find it convenient to break with the states of Holland. lie therefore pa tiently submitted to this national indignity, sheltering his pusillanimity under this Christian maxim, I for give them, and I hope God will ; but my son's son shall revenge this blood, and punish this horrid massacre.• But his majesty, though a tolerable divine, was no pro phet; it was not reserved for any of his family to vin dicate the national honour; but Cromwell. after having defeated the Dutch in war, made it one of the articles of peace, that they should deliver up the island of Pu lerone into the hands of the East India company, and pay 500,000/. as a compensation for the outrage at Am boyna. The best account of Amboyna is to be found in Valentyn's large work on the Dutch posse ssions in the East Indies, 1728. 5th vol. folio, a book very valuable. very scarce, and almost inaccessible, as there is not, so far as we know, a translation of it from the Dutch. A pretty detailed account may also he found in Stavori nub's Voyage to the Past P. Sec also Campbell', Collection of Travels., Pennant's Outlines. iv. 1G8; and Rhymer's Fade rs, xvii. 170. (g)