trees, and during the season
hundreds of men and women, boys and girls, go up every day to bring down
the ripe fruit. Durians and Mangoes, two of the very finest tropical
fruits, are in greater abundance at Ternate than I have ever seen them,
and some of the latter are of a quality not inferior to any in the
world. Lansats and Mangustans are also abundant, but these do not ripen
till a little later. Above the fruit trees there is a belt of clearings
and cultivated grounds, which creep up the mountain to a height of
between two and three thousand feet, above which is virgin forest,
reaching nearly to the summit, which on the side next the town is
covered with a high reedy grass. On the further side it is more
elevated, of a bare and desolate aspect, with a slight depression
marking the position of the crater. From this part descends a black
scoriaceous tract; very rugged, and covered with a scanty vegetation of
scattered bushes as far down as the sea. This is the lava of the
great eruption near a century ago, and is called by the natives
"batu-angas"(burnt rock).

Just below my house is the fort, built by the Portuguese, below which is
an open space to the peach, and beyond this the native town extends for
about a mile to the north-east. About the centre of it is the palace
of the Sultan, now a large untidy, half-ruinous building of stone. This
chief is pensioned by the Dutch Government, but retains the sovereignty
over the native population of the island, and of the northern part of
Gilolo. The sultans of Ternate and Tidore were once celebrated through
the East for their power and regal magnificence. When Drake visited
Ternate in 1579, the Portuguese had been driven out of the island,
although they still had a settlement at Tidore. He gives a glowing
account of the Sultan: "The King had a very rich canopy with embossings
of gold borne over him, and was guarded with twelve lances. From the
waist to the ground was all cloth of gold, and that very rich; in the
attire of his head were finely wreathed in, diverse rings of plaited
gold, of an inch or more in breadth, which made a fair and princely
show, somewhat resembling a crown in form; about his neck he had a chain
of perfect gold, the links very great and one fold double; on his left
hand was a diamond, an emerald, a ruby, and a turky; on his right hand
in one ring a big and perfect turky, and in another ring many diamonds
of a smaller size."

All this glitter of barb