earthquake I ever felt in Ternate.
The last great one was in February 1840, when almost every house in the
place was destroyed. It began about midnight on the Chinese New Year's
festival, at which time every one stays up nearly all night feasting at the
Chinamen's houses and seeing the processions. This prevented any lives being
lost, as every one ran out of doors at the first shock, which was not very severe.
The second, a few minutes afterwards, threw down a great many houses, and
others, which continued all night and part of the next day, completed the
devastation. The line of disturbance was very narrow, so that the native town a
mile to the east scarcely suffered at all. The wave passed from north to south,
through the islands of Tidore and Makian, and terminated in Batchian, where it
was not felt till four the following afternoon, thus taking no less than sixteen
hours to travel a hundred miles, or about six miles an hour. It is singular that on
this occasion there was no rushing up of the tide, or other commotion of the sea,
as is usually the case during great earthquakes.
The people of Ternate are of three well-marked races the Ternate Malays, the
Orang Sirani, and the Dutch. The first are an intrusive Malay race somewhat
allied to the Macassar people, who settled in the country at a very early epoch,
drove out the indigenes, who were no doubt the same as those of the adjacent
mainland of Gilolo, and established a monarchy. They perhaps obtained many of
their wives from the natives, which will account for the extraordinary language
they speak—in some respects closely allied to that of the natives of Gilolo, while
it contains much that points to a Malayan origin. To most of these people the
Malay language is quite unintelligible, although such as are engaged in trade are
obliged to acquire it. "Orang Sirani," or Nazarenes, is the name given by the
Malays to the Christian descendants of the Portuguese, who resemble those of
Amboyna, and, like them, speak only Malay. There are also a number of Chinese
merchants, many of them natives of the place, a few Arabs, and a number of
half-breeds between all these races and native women. Besides these there are
some Papuan slaves, and a few natives of other islands settled here, making up a
motley and very puzzling population, till inquiry and observation have shown
the distinct origin of its component parts.
Soon after my first arrival in Ternate I went to the island of Gilolo,
accompanied by two sons of Mr. Duivenboden, and by a young Chinaman, a
brother of my landlord, who lent us the boat and crew. These latter were all
slaves, mostly Papuans, and at starting I saw something of the relation of master
and slave in this part of the world. The crew had been ordered to be ready at
three in the morning, instead of which none appeared till five, we having all been