This prevented
any lives being lost, as every one ran out of doors at the first shock,
which was not very severe. The second, a few minutes afterwards, threw
down a great many houses, and others, which continued all night and part
of the next day, completed the devastation. The line of disturbance
was very narrow, so that the native town a mile to the east scarcely
suffered at all. The wave passed from north to south, through the
islands of Tidore and Makian, and terminated in Batchian, where it was
not felt till four the following afternoon, thus taking no less than
sixteen hours to travel a hundred miles, or about six miles an hour. It
is singular that on this occasion there was no rushing up of the tide,
or other commotion of the sea, as is usually the case during great
earthquakes.

The people of Ternate are of three well-marked races the Ternate Malays,
the Orang Sirani, and the Dutch. The first are an intrusive Malay race
somewhat allied to the Macassar people, who settled in the country at a
very early epoch, drove out the indigenes, who were no doubt the same
as those of the adjacent mainland of Gilolo, and established a monarchy.
They perhaps obtained many of their wives from the natives, which will
account for the extraordinary language they speak--in some respects
closely allied to that of the natives of Gilolo, while it contains
much that points to a Malayan origin. To most of these people the Malay
language is quite unintelligible, although such as are engaged in trade
are obliged to acquire it. "Orang Sirani," or Nazarenes, is the name
given by the Malays to the Christian descendants of the Portuguese, who
resemble those of Amboyna, and, like them, speak only Malay. There are
also a number of Chinese merchants, many of them natives of the place,
a few Arabs, and a number of half-breeds between all these races and
native women. Besides these there are some Papuan slaves, and a few
natives of other islands settled here, making up a motley and very
puzzling population, till inquiry and observation have shown the
distinct origin of its component parts.

Soon after my first arrival in Ternate I went to the island of Gilolo,
accompanied by two sons of Mr. Duivenboden, and by a young Chinaman, a
brother of my landlord, who lent us the boat and crew. These latter
were all slaves, mostly Papuans, and at starting I saw something of the
relation of master and slave in this part of the world. The crew had
been order