GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS AT BATAYIA.
See page 30.
P R E F A C E .
The object of my voyage to Amboina was simply
to re-collect the shells figured in Rumphius’s “ Rari-
teit Kamer,” and the idea of writing a volume of
travels was not seriously entertained until I arrived
at Batavia, and, instead of being forbidden by the
Dutch. Government to proceed to the Spice Islands,
as some of my warmest friends feared, I was honored
by His Excellency, the Governor-General of f. the
Netherlands India,” with the order given on page
40.
Having fully accomplished that object, I availed
myself of the unexampled facilities to travel afforded
me in every part of the archipelago, and all
except the first six chapters describe the regions
thus visited.
The narrative given has "been taken almost entirely
from my journal, which was kept day by day
with scrupulous care. Accuracy, even at any sacri