.M o l u c c a
I s l a n d s . '
I s l e o f Se-
LANG.
B a t c h i a n .
expanfe of water, north of the Kanari ifles, in Lat. i° 17' fouth.
They are well inhabited, and produce plenty o f fiih, fait, and
coco nuts, and the Kima Cbama. Almoft contiguous to Popo,
are nine or ten fmall low ifles, faid to be well inhabited, and the
refidence o f a Rajah.
D u e north of Oubi are the celebrated Molucca iflands, which
form a chain from the little ifle o f Seland, in Lat. 0° 50' fouth, to
Ternate, in about Lat. 0° 50' north. Within that fpace are contained
the immenfe treafures of cloves in pofleflion o f the Dutch.
Their hiftory and fate are fo nearly fimilar to thofe o f Banda, and
fo intermixed, that we have included them in our account o f
thofe iflands. The names o f the Molucca group, are Ternate,
Tidor, Motir, Matchian, and Batchian. M. D'Anville makes
thefe rich iflands comprehend the whole from Moratay or Marty,
at the north of Gilolo, quite to the Timorian chain ; but the above
is the true definition o f the Molucca ifles.
T h e fmall ifle o f Selang may be fpoken o f as an appurtenance
to Batchian ; it is nearly united to its fouthern end by a coral
reef, which has in the middle a gap of a hundred fathoms in
width, and twelve in depth, with a muddy bottom f on each fide
o f the reef is a fafe harbor. The ifland is moderately high,
affords good water, and produces'nutmeg trees o f a great height.
Mr. Forrejl faw the fruit lying on the ground, and in a ftate of
vegetation. He gives, in plate 5, a plan of the harbor, and a
view o f part of the ifland, and of the high wooded hills Of La-
bukat, on the ifle of Batchian.
Batchian is the largeft-of the Moluccas. It is governed by a
fultan, the leaft dependent on the Dutch o f any o f thefe Reguli.
o. He
He is fovereign of Ouby, Ceram, and Goram, an ifle in Lat. 4° 5',
to the fouth-eaft of Ceram. So prevalent is the Mahometan religion,
that there are on this little fpot thirteen mofques; this is
the moit eaftern extent of the religion o f the arch impoftor.
The inhabitants of all the fultan’s dominions are Mahometans-,
they paid the higheit refpedt to Tuan Hadjee, pilot of Mr. For-
rejl's veflels, becaufe he was a defcendant from too. Arabian Scberif.
So zealous are they in their religion, that they always go to fea
with the Alcoran, and have a place fet apart for their devotions
called the Koran, as was the cafe in Mr. ForreJFs veflel.
Dafitau * fays that there was a total converfion of this ifland, M o l u c c a s
CONVERTED and the reft of the Moluccas, to Chriftianity, by the labors o f TO C h r i s t i -
St. Francis de Xavier: the fultan himfelf was baptized: but thefe ANITY'
changes produced civil wars, for whole villages foon abjured the
new faith ; the Portuguefe, as may be imagined, took an adtive
part in behalf of the believers. It is faid that as' late as the
year 17.22, the king o f Ternate was a Chriftian, but thofe of
Tidor and Batchian had relapfed into Mahometanifm. Thefe
three monarchs firmly believe that their anceftors were the
wife men of the Eaft, who vifited our Savior at Bethlehem, and ■
who are fo well known by the name o f the three kings o f
Cologne.
T h e Portuguefe for a time remained in favor with the natives
; but unable to bear their habitual tyranny, efpeeially what
they fuffered in 1530, united in a general league of all the iflands
againft their oppreflors. .
W e find in Purchase, that the Dutch had a caftle on this
# Vol. iv. p. 76« + Pilgrim, i. 699.
A a 2 ifland