bottle of this oil which is rubbed onto the skin to relieve all sorts of aches and pains.
Melaleuca with its peeling papery bark and leaves filled with aromatic oil glands is
characteristically Australian, yet how did these Australian plant species get here? I
asked the villagers if the melaleuca had been introduced by the Dutch. They answered
no, that the melaleuca trees are native to these islands and that there are many more
growing on the nearby and larger island of Buru.
We continue sailing north until we reach the narrow Patinti Strait, which lies
between the large four-fingered island of Halmahera and a chain of offshore volcanic
peaks rising directly out of the sea. This is one of the most beautiful sea voyages in all
of Indonesia and when the perfect cone of the volcano on the island of Tidore appears,
it feels as though we’ve entered the realm of legend. This is because for thousands
of years Ternate and Tidore were the world’s only source of cloves and their location
was protected, shrouded in myth and mystery. Ternate harbour lies on the narrow
strait between the twin islands and the volcanoes which dominate them. The town
spreads from the harbour up to the lower slopes of Mount Gamalama, which is still
active and erupted as recently as 2013. Significantly, the clove tree has buds shaped
like a eucalyptus bud and is classified as part of the Myrtaceae family, which has an
Australian origin.
In 2013 some of our party participated in a ceremony at the ‘Wallace House’
organized by Flora and Fauna International where there were speeches and traditional
dances to honour the hundredth anniversary of the death of Alfred Russel Wallace.
Located opposite the Sultan’s Mosque and owned by a relative of his family, this
house has the same floor plan as described by Alfred Russel Wallace in The Malay
Archipelago, but its location does not match that described by Wallace. His original
house has probably long since vanished, but it is important that his time in Ternate is
recognized and that there is a point at which his famous ‘Letter from Ternate’ can be
honoured.
I was already familiar with the ‘Darwin story’ and the ‘Wallace story’ but it was my
observation on this voyage of the melaleuca trees growing on Manipa Island which
made me realize how important the ‘Australian story’ is to this fascinating part of the
world and was the beginning of this book.
(^198) Where Australia Collides with Asia
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