G o v e r n o r Loten gave a curious anecdote in refpetil to the
fate o f his,drawings and defcription o f the fifhes o f the iiland.
There is reafon to fuppofe that they were fent into the world
in 1726, in a work publifhed by Francis Valentyn, a. Dutch clergy-
nqan who had refided in the Molucca and Banda iilands. Baron
Imboff, governor general'.of the Indies, communicated to-Mr.
Loten his fufpicions, that Valentyn got the materials out o f the
India houfe by means of his fon-in-law, who was firft clerk to
the fecretary o f the company; thefe Valentyn bafely applied to
his own ufe, not daring to make the acknowlegement; certain it
is, they never could be found, notwithftanding the moft diligent
fearch has been made after them. ValentyrCs work was- pub-
liihed under the'title of India Orientalis antiqua et nova, in five
volumes folio. The figures of. the fifties lie under the imputation
of being fictitious, from the extravagancy o f their forms;
but I am told it, is far from being the cafe, nature having fported
wonderfully in the conftruition o f thofe o f the Amboinefe feas.
T h e other works o f .the great Rumphius were the imagines
pifcium tejlaceorum, firft printed at Leyden in 1711, and reprinted
in 1739: The figures are finely executed. He might have added
crujlaceorum, for there are befides in that work numbers o f the
lobfter and crab kind. No fort of letter-prefs attends this work,
except a catalogue o f the fubjeCts, with the names in different
languages, efpecially the Indian. From the immenfity o f his
labors, he juftly left behind him the title o f the Pliny o f the
Indies.
T h e w e f t e n d o f Ceram is a t a v e r y fm a l l d i f t a n c e f r o m
Amboina. T h a t i i l a n d f t r e t c h e s a c r o f s t h e c h a n n e l f r o m e a f t to
: w e f t ,
weft, a length o f about eighty leagues. Ceram and Buero divide
nearly in two equal parts the Spicy fea: this the geographers
will find to be a new name, but I think fit to diftinguith by that
epithet, all the fpace which comprehends the Banda iiles, the
Molucca, the Papuan, with Ceram and Buero, the central iiles ;
bounded on the fouth by the Limorian chain, on the weft by
Celebes, and on the eaft b y New Guinea. The inhabitants o f its
water, of the air, and the vegetation of the iilands, are all moft
lingular, which make it merit a title o f diftinCtion from all the
reft of the Indian ocean. The breadth o f Ceram is inconfide-
rable; the land near the fea is low, fwampy, and wooded;
within, it rifes into mountains of great height. It is wonderful
how little I can colled concerning this great iiland; Mr. Forreft
fays that it produced clove trees; poffibly in places inacceifible to
the Dutch. On the authority of Rumphius *, we may fay that
there are vaft forefts of the Sago tree on this iiland ; the pith is
prepared there into bread, and is exported to other places in
great quantities; let me add from Dampiert, that it is much
ufed in Mindanao, and our honeft traveller gives us the procefs
o f preparing that ufeful viand.
Manipa and Keylan are two fmall iilands, but very lofty, feated
a little to the weft o f the weftern end o f Ceram. In the time of
Dampier they were well inhabited by Malayes on the firft was a
Dutch corporal and fix foldiers, employed to cut down the clove
trees. On Manipa grew abundance of thofe-valuable trees, and
alfo of rice; both which were fent ih quantities by the little
Dutch garrifon to Amboina.
* Herb. Amb; i. p. 76. t Vojr. i. 310.
T h e
M a n i p a a n d
K e Y I cAN.