The Island Which Makes That Side Of The Strait Is Called
Tavally Backar, Where We Anchored And Remained Till The 12th, Waiting
For Key Malladaia, Being The Place Where He Appointed To Come To Us,
Being Ten Leagues From Machian.
In this island of Tavally we had plenty
of wood, but no water.
The 13th our coopers provided themselves with
rattans, which make excellent hoops, and of which there was abundance
to be had here of all sizes.
[Footnote 425: Tahannee is a town on the island of Machian, where the
Portuguese formerly had a fort, but there is none now, neither for them
nor the Hollanders. There is here the best anchorage in the whole
island, and though very near the shore, yet perfectly safe. - Purchas.]
As Key Malladaia did not make his appearance on the 14th, his people
doubted that the Dutch had detained him, on seeing us making our way
among the islands, and suspecting he was in treaty with us. Wherefore we
set sail with the wind at N.W. and plied up towards Machian. The channel
between Bachian, Machian, Tidore, and Ternate, stretches N. by W. and S.
by E. and is six leagues across in its narrowest part. In the morning of
the 15th, we passed between Gilolo, otherwise called Batta-china and
Caia, our latitude at noon being 0 deg. 17' N. so that Machian was not truly
placed on our chart, in which the equator is made to pass through its
middle, whereas we found it five leagues more to the northwards. The
16th in the morning we were close by the island of Caia, and had sight
of a sail to the northwards, which we learnt from a fisherman to be a
Dutch vessel, bound from. Machian to Tidore with sago, of which the
natives make use instead of bread.[426] In the morning of the 17th we
were near a fort of the Hollanders, called Tabalda; and at four p.m.
we came to anchor in the road of Pelebere, hard by Tahanue, in fifty
fathoms water, so near the shore as to be within call;, having one point
of land to the S.S.W. two miles off, another N.E. by N. one and a half
mile off, and the island of Caia five leagues distant. This night some
small quantities of cloves were brought to us, and a price fixed at
sixty dollars the bahar of 200 cattees, each cattee being three
pounds five ounces English.[427] I received a letter from Key Malladaia
at Bachian, excusing his absence, promising to be with me shortly, and
saying he had sent orders to his people to supply me with all the cloves
they could procure.
[Footnote 426: In the test of the Pilgrims, Captain Sons calls sago a
root, while Purchas, in a marginal note, informs us that some say it is
the tops of certain trees. Sago is a granulated dried paste, prepared
from the pith of certain trees that grow in various of the eastern
islands of India, and of which a bland, mucilaginous, and nutritive
jell; is made by maceration and boiling in water. - E.]
[Footnote 427: The bahar in this instance may be called 662 pounds, and
the agreed price for the cloves rather below 5d the pound. - E.]
A Samaca came aboard on the 18th, who made great offers of kindness.
He was accompanied by two Dutchmen, who were very inquisitive to know
who had directed us into this road, saying it must have been one of the
natives, and if they knew him, they would cut him in pieces before our
faces. To this they added, that we did wrong in coming into these parts,
as the country belonged to the Dutch by right of conquest. I ordered
them back to their fort, desiring them to tell their captains, that I
was ready to let them have any thing I could spare, at reasonable rates,
before all others, because we acknowledged them as our neighbours and
brethren in Christ; but that we could not acknowledge the country to be
their property, and would therefore continue to ride there while we
thought proper, and would trade with whoever was pleased to come to us.
The two Dutchmen then departed, threatening the natives then aboard,
that they would all be put to death if they brought us any cloves. The
natives made light of this threat, saying they looked on us as friends,
and would come aboard in spite of the Dutch; and this day we bought 300
cattees of cloves in exchange for Cambaya cloth, and some sold for
ready money.
Next day the two Dutchmen came again on board, and immediately begun to
write down in their table books the names of all the natives which came
aboard our ship, on which I made our boatswain turn them out of the
ship, with orders not to return. Several of our men were sent ashore, to
see what entertainment the natives would give them; and on going to the
towns of Tahanne and Pelebere, they were hospitably used. The natives
told our men, that the Dutch had so wrought with Key Chillisadang, son
to the king of Ternate, who was newly come to this island, that he had
prohibited them from selling us any cloves on pain of death, otherwise
we should have had them in preference to the Dutch, who greatly
oppressed them. Towards night that prince passed by our ship in his
curracurra, and I sent our pinnace to him, handsomely fitted with a fine
Turkey carpet awning, and curtains of crimson silk and gold, requesting
he would come aboard. He seemed to take this message kindly, but excused
himself; saying he would visit me in the morning.
The 21st an Orankey came aboard, telling us that a curracurra
belonging to the Dutch had searched three or four proas, or canoes,
bringing cloves to us, which they had confiscated, and threatened to put
the natives to death for the next offence.
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