nacing cone of the Goenoeng Api rising sheer from the water's
edge. A white town climbs in irregular tiers up the shelving terraces
of a fairy island, the central hill crowned by the crenellated
battlements of a grey citadel. The largest ship can anchor close to
shore, for the rugged boundaries of Banda descend by steep gradients
into the crystalline depths. Chinese and Arab _campongs_ border
European streets of concrete houses, long and low, with flat roofs and
external galleries.

The southern shore of Banda Neira faces the forest-clad heights of
Great Banda, clothed from base to summit with nutmeg trees, shadowed by
huge kanaris, their interlacing canopies protecting the precious spice
plantations from the sun. A slender rowing boat, known as a _belang_,
makes a brilliant point of colour on the blue strait between the sister
islands. Red and yellow flags and pennants flutter above the green
deck; the clash of gongs and cymbals echoes across the water, and a
weird chant accompanies the rhythmic plash of the short oars, as the
brown rowers toss them high in air, and bring them down with a sharp
splash. A splendid avenue of kanari-trees extends along the shore, the
usual Dutch church symbolises the uncompromising grimness of
Calvinistic creed, and the crumbling fort of Orange-Nassau, the scene
of many stirring incidents in the island past, adjoins the beautiful
thatched bungalow of the Resident, the broad eaves emerging from depths
of richest foliage. A subterranean passage connects the deserted
stronghold on the shore with Fort Belgica, the citadel now used as
barracks, but formerly for the preservation of the nutmegs from the
fierce raids of foreign powers, when the new-born passion for spices
intoxicated the mind of the world, and kindled the fires of war between
East and West. The lofty peak of the Goenoeng Api still smoulders,
although the main crater is supposed to be extinct. The lower slopes,
where not planted with vegetables by enterprising invaders from the
island of Boeton, abound with delicate ferns and rare orchids, for the
fertility of the volcanic soil, rich in metallic ingredients, creates a
luxuriant growth. Sulphureous vapours rise continually from a plateau
beneath the summit, where tumbled boulders of blackened lava lie sunken
in deep layers of volcanic ash. Banda Neira evidently rose from the sea
in some long-past eruption of the larger island, now the long ridge of
a ruined crater which collapsed i