Owing To These Circumstances Sumatra Is Very
Unhealthy, Yet Is Much Resorted To For Its Rich And Valuable
Productions, And Particularly On Account Of Its Abounding In Gold.
Besides Gold, It Produces White Sandal-Wood, Benzoin, Camphor, Pepper,
Ginger, Cinnamon[153], Abundance Of Silk, And Abounds In Fish And
Cattle.
It has in one part a spring of petroleum or rock oil, and one of
its mountains is a volcano.
The original natives of the island are
pagans; but the Moors who came there first as merchants, have possessed
themselves of the island as lords ever since the year 1400. Among the
inland tribes is one called Batas, who are of most brutal manners, and
even feed on human flesh. The Moors who dwell on the coast, use several
languages, but chiefly the Malay. Their weapons are poisoned arrows
like the natives of Java from whom they are descended, but they likewise
use fire-arms. This island is divided into nine kingdoms; of which
Pedier was once the chief; but now that of Pacem or Pisang is the
most powerful, yet its kings only continue to reign so long as it
pleases the rabble.
[Footnote 153: Probably cassia.]
At this time George Albuquerque was sent to Sumatra, on purpose to
restore a king of Pisang who had been expelled and had fled to the
Portuguese for protection and aid. On his arrival, having secured the
co-operation and assistance of the neighbouring king of Ara, Albuquerque
sent a message to the usurper desiring him to resign the kingdom to the
lawful prince, who had submitted to the king of Portugal, Genial, the
usurper, offered to make the same submission, if allowed to retain
possession, but this offer was refused. Albuquerque then attacked Genial
in his fort, which was scaled and the gate broke open; yet the usurper
and thirty men valiantly defended a tower over the gateway, till Genial
was slain by a musket-shot, on which the others immediately fled. The
Portuguese troops, about 300 in number, were opposed by 3000 Moors in
the market-place, assisted by some elephants. Hector de Sylveira
endeavoured to strike one of these in the trunk with his lance, which
the beast put aside, and laying hold of Sylveira threw him into the air,
yet he had the good fortune to survive. Two other Portuguese soldiers
had better success, as one of them killed the rider and the other
wounded the elephant, on which he turned among his own party whom he
trampled to death without mercy. The Moors now returned to another
post, but with the aid of the king of Ara, they were completely defeated
by the Portuguese, 2000 of them being slain. In this battle Albuquerque
received two wounds in his face, and four or five persons of note were
killed on the side of the Portuguese, besides a great many wounded. Next
day the dispossessed prince of Pisang was reinstated with much ceremony,
being made tributary to the king of Portugal, and a fort was erected at
his capital, as at other places, to keep him under subjection.
At this time Antonio de Brito arrived at Pisang from, Acheen, where his
brother George de Brito had been slain by the Moors with a great number
of men, in a scandalous attempt to rob the sepulchres of the kings of
that country of a great quantity of gold they were said to contain.
Antonio was now left by Albuquerque in the command of the new fort of
Pisang, with three ships which were afterwards of great service against
a Moor who infested the coast. On his return to Malacca, of which he had
the command, Albuquerque prepared to make war upon the king of Bintang.
That island, about 40 leagues from Malacca, is forty leagues in
circumference, having two strong castles, and its rivers staked to
prevent the access of ships, so that it was considered as almost
impregnable. Albuquerque went from Malacca with 18 vessels and 600 men,
and finding it impossible to get his ships up, he endeavoured to land
his men from boats to attack one of the forts; but the water being up to
their middles, and the enemy making a brave resistance, they were forced
to retire after losing twenty men, besides a great number wounded.
In the same year 1521, Antonio de Brito sailed for the Molucca islands.
These islands are in the middle of a great number of others under the
equator, about 300 leagues east from Malacca. There are five principal
islands to which the general name of Moluccas is applied, about 25
leagues distant from each other, the largest not exceeding six leagues
in circumference. The particular names of these are Ternate, Tidore,
Mousell, Macquein and Bacham[154]. They are covered with woods and
subject to fogs, and are consequently unhealthy. These five islands
produce cloves, but no kind of food; and the large island of
Batochina, which is 60 leagues long, produces food but no cloves. In
some of these islands, particularly Ternate, there are burning
mountains. Their chief subsistence is of a kind of meal made from the
bark of certain trees resembling the palm[155]. There are certain canes
that have a liquor in their hollows between the joints, which is
delightful to drink. Though the country abounds in animals, the natives
eat very little flesh, but live chiefly on fish which their seas produce
inexhaustibly. They are very warlike and by no means affable, and are
most expert both in running and swimming. Their religion is idolatrous,
but we have no account whatever respecting their original. The Moors had
possessed themselves of this country not long before the coming of the
Portuguese, as a Mahometan priest who had come along with the first of
the Moorish invaders was still alive at the arrival of Brito.
[Footnote 154: The principal island of the Molucca group is Gilolo;
those in the text being small islands to the west of Gilolo.
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