cloves, brought thither, as before mentioned, by the junks of Malacca, quitted the
Isles of Banda well satisfied with his reception by the people of the country.”
The Portuguese had been nearly a century in possession of the nutmeg trade,
when the Butch made their first appearance in the Banda Islands with an armament,
and with the view of taking possession of them. The expedition consisted of three
ships carrying 100 soldiers; an armament equal in strength to that with which Cortes
had conquered the Mexican empire. This was in 1609. The Dutch attempted to
construct a fort on the ruins of one which had belonged to the Portuguese. The
natives resisted,—seduced the Dutch admiral and forty-five of his companions into an
ambuscade, and massacred them. This led to a war of extermination, which was not
closed until 1627, and had produced the necessity of the presence of the governor-
general with a large fleet and seventeen companies of soldiers. The Bandanese lost
3000 in killed and had 1000 made prisoners, who were most likely expatriated for
the safety of the conquerors. The remainder of the population sought safety by
flight to the neighbouring islands, where mixing \Vith other populations, they have
lost their nationality and disappeared as a people, no vestige of their language and
manners remaining. Their numbers before the Dutch conquest are said to have
been 15,000, and if so, the conquest had destroyed above a fourth part of the whole
number. In this manner the Dutch became undisputed masters of the nutmeg
monopoly, but there was no one to cultivate the trees, and it became necessary to
introduce slaves for this purpose. The nutmeg plantations were divided as hereditary
property among the Dutch who assisted in making the conquest, traders and
military officers whose descendants hold them under the name of Parkeniers to the
present day, on the condition of delivering the whole produce to the government
at a fixed and low price, receiving in return any required number of slaves at about
91, a-head, and rice at its first cost in Java. The abolition of the carrying trade in
slaves, and the impossibility of keeping up the stock by natural increase, made it
necessary to modify the terms of the contract, and at present convicts from Java,
Sumatra, and Borneo are substituted for slaves.
BANDTJNG, a district of the country of the Sundas, in Ja v a ; one of those
collectively called Prayangan, written Prianger by the Dutch, and meaning “ fairy
land,” or “ country of sprites.” Bandung is a picturesque and extensive valley, not
unlike in aspect to some of the valleys of the Apennines. It lies about midway between
the northern and southern coasts, its chief town of the same name lying in about
south latitude 6° 50', and east longitude 105° 35'. The district contained 721 villages,
in 1814 and had a population of 56,122. In the returns of the population of Java
made in 1845, this district is not distinguished from the other eleven that constitute
the Prayangan province; but if its increase has kept pace with that of the rest, it
ought now to exceed 190,000.
BANGUI. A principality of Bali, in the interior of the island, and estimated to
have a population of 30,000.
BANJARMASIN. A principality and river on the southern side of Borneo, the
embouchure of the river being in south latitude 3° 32', and east longitude 114° 38'.
The principality is estimated to comprise 280 square geographical leagues, or 4840
miles. The meaning of the word in Javanese is “ salt or saline garden.” The geological
formation seems to be plutonic and sedimentary; and its only mineral products
available to industrial purposes are the diamond and coal, mines of both being
now worked. Ratans, canes, and pepper are the only products of the vegetable
kingdom available for foreign trade; and the culture of pepper, which had been
largely prosecuted before this commodity was monopolised by the Dutch government,
is now nearly extinct. The forests do not produce the teak tree, nor the camphor,
so valuable for its timber, and essential oil, concrete and fluid, and so abundant on
the north-western side of the island. The larger animals are the same as in other
parts of Borneo,—the ox, wild and domestic; the buffalo in the latter state, and the
hog in both states. The total population subject to the Sultan of Banjarmasin is
estimated at 120,000, chiefly Malays, with a few natives of Celebes and a small
number of Chinese; but besides, it is computed that within the limits of the territory
claimed by this prince, there are about half a million of the wild tribes that go under
the common name of Dayak.
The sovereignty of Banjarmasin is said, in olden times, to have extended over the
whole of the south-eastern portion of Borneo. Tradition assigns the foundation of
the state to a personage called Ampu-jatmika, the son of a merchant of the coast ot
[ Coromandel, called Mangkunbumb Ampu-jatmika, with his f a m i l y m d fp llow e ^
! emierated from India, and settled in Borneo, giving their new country the name ol
t Naeara-dina • and on a river, still called Nagara, there are at present to be seen the
K ® aoid to have been the residence of the first princes. This
I evmTis reckoned to have taken place about the end of the 12th century of our time
I but no precise date is assigned to it. In the third generation, the only descendant
I of the founder was a princess, for whom a husband was sought and found m a prince
I of Maiapait, in Java, who took the title of Raden Suryanata From his time to the
I overthrow of Majapait, in the year 1478, Banjarmasin continued tributary to that
1 Javanese state, which assisted it in extending its dominions eastward, so as to I embrace the now independent states of Kuti and Pasir. The people professed a rude
I Hinduism, similar to that of Java, but about the beginning of the 16th century, they
I embraced Mahommedanism, having been converted by the state of Damak in Java,
I founded at the end of the 15th century, and immediately after the subversion of the
I Hindu state of Majapait. This event must have been nearly contemporaneous with
I the first appearance of the Portuguese in the Archipelago. I t is stated that the
1 people of Banjarmasin asked for assistance towards the suppression of a revolt, and
■ that it was given on condition of the adoption of the new religion, when a host of
I priests militant came over from Java, who suppressed the rebellion and eflected the
■ conversion. The reigning prince, at the time referred to, bore the half-Indian, hall-
■ Javanese title of Raden Sumadra, which, according to custom in such cases, he
Bchanged for the Arabic one of Sultan. Such is the statement made on native autho-
'. rity, and although, no doubt, there is much truth in it, it will not bear a close
y examination. A succession of two-and-twenty princes is stated to have reigned in
S, Banjarmasin from its foundation to the year 1846, which, at the average European
if§ estimate of 20 years for each reign, would give no more than 440 years, and this
M would carry us back only to the beginning of the 15th century, and not to the end
■ of the 12th, for the foundation of the state. According to the chronology given,
K each reign must have averaged about 30 years, which is highly improbable. The
I Dutch had visited Borneo and. traded with it as early as 1600, but their first political
i relations with Banjarmasin began in 1664, by a contract for the monopoly of pepper,
I rendered inoperative by the machinations of the Portuguese. The English, about
[ the same time, were busy trading and intriguing, and in 1698 obtained leave to erect
■ a fort in the territory of Banjarmasin, and to establish a factory, but the last was plun-
| dered, and the garrison of the first massacred in 1707. Various subsequent treaties
I were made between the Dutch and the princes of Banjarmasin, but in 1756, the
I country being in a state of revolt, the Dutch lent the reigning prince assistance by
f sea and land, by which peace was restored; and in reward for this service, a complete
monopoly of the pepper trade was granted to them. The terms of this engagement
are worth noticing for the results which followed. The Sultan engaged to extend
, the cultivation of pepper to the amount of 15,000 piculs, or about 2,000,000
| pounds, and the utmost he ever succeeded in delivering to his allies was about
I 70,000 pounds. The price fixed was six Spanish dollars for each picul of 125 Dutch
I pounds, which was no doubt thought at the time a very good bargain for the pur-
| chaser, and yet it is about one-fifth more than the same commodity may, under the
| existing commercial freedom, be had for in any native port of the pepper-producing
I countries. Indeed, a cargo may be got in an hour’s warning at less price in any
European port of the Archipelago, and without the cost of treaties and. garrisons,
i The result of the monopoly is what might be safely expected, the cessation of the
i culture of pepper in Banjarmasin.
In 1785, the reigning prince having rendered himself odious to his subjects, the
I country was invaded by 3000 natives of Celebes. These were expelled by the Dutch,
! who dethroned the Sultan, placing his younger brother on the throne, who, in reward
i for their services, ceded to them his entire dominions, consenting to hold them as a
I vassal. This is the treaty under which the Dutch claim the sovereignty of Banjar-
I masin, and whatever was once dependent on it.
BANAK (PULO); th a t is, “ the many isles,” a cluster of islands on the western
■: coast of Sumatra, lying off Singkel, which is itself in 2° 15' 15" north latitude, and
1 east longitude 97° 43' 40". The group consists of one considerable island, about
' 20 miles long, with, at least, a score of mere islets. The inhabitants, who have a
| peculiar language of their own, distinct from those of Sumatra, are said to be called
I by the Malays, Maros and Maruwi, words of which I do not know the origin. They
have been converted to the Mahommedan religion, and are chiefly fishermen.