CHAPTER XIX. BANDA.
(DECEMBER 1857, MAY 1859, APRIL 1861.)
THE Dutch mail steamer in which I travelled from Macassar to Banda and
Amboyna was a roomy and comfortable vessel, although it would only go six
miles an hour in the finest weather. As there were but three passengers besides
myself, we had abundance of room, and I was able to enjoy a voyage more than I
had ever done before. The arrangements are somewhat different from those on
board English or Indian steamers. There are no cabin servants, as every cabin
passenger invariably brings his own, and the ship's stewards attend only to the
saloon and the eating department. At six A.M. a cup of tea or coffee is provided
for those who like it. At seven to eight there is a light breakfast of tea, eggs,
sardines, etc. At ten, Madeira, Gin and bitters are brought on deck as a whet for
the substantial eleven o'clock breakfast, which differs from a dinner only in the
absence of soup. Cups of tea and coffee are brought around at three P.M.; bitters,
etc. again at five, a good dinner with beer and claret at half-past six, concluded
by tea and coffee at eight. Between whiles, beer and sodawater are supplied
when called for, so there is no lack of little gastronomical excitements to while
away the tedium of a sea voyage.
Our first stopping place was Coupang, at the west end of the large island of
Timor. We then coasted along that island for several hundred miles, having
always a view of hilly ranges covered with scanty vegetation, rising ridge behind
ridge to the height of six or seven thousand feet. Turning off towards Banda we
passed Pulo-Cambing, Wetter, and Roma, all of which are desolate and barren
volcanic islands, almost as uninviting as Aden, and offering a strange contrast to
the usual verdure and luxuriance of the Archipelago. In two days more we
reached the volcanic group of Banda, covered with an unusually dense and
brilliant green vegetation, indicating that we had passed beyond the range of the
hot dry winds from the plains of Central Australia. Banda is a lovely little spot,
its three islands enclosing a secure harbour from whence no outlet is visible, and
with water so transparent, that living corals and even the minutest objects are
plainly seen on the volcanic sand at a depth of seven or eight fathoms. The ever
smoking volcano rears its bare cone on one side, while the two larger islands are