arrack and other spirituous liquors; adding, with much frankness, that the powers with which he was invested entitled him to extort a large sum from the Chinese, by way of fine, and to convert it to his own use, Others, said he, would not have scrupled to have availed themselves of such an opportunity; but I never had occasion to repent of my moderation.
The clove is the principal article of produce at Amboyna, and several little islands to the eastward of it, where it succeeds extremely well. The Dutch have placed residents there, to prevent the exportation of that precious commodity.
The nature of the soil of Banda appeared to me more favourable to the cultivation of nutmegs than that of Amboyna; for it is generally acknowledged that the nutmegs of the latter island are inferior to those of the former.
Nutmeg-trees and clove-trees were formerly diffused over the islands of Ternate, Tidor, Makian, &c. in much greater abundance than in Amboyna and Banda; but the Dutch, determined to appropriate to themselves the exclusive benefit of those precious trees, obliged the chiefs of the first-mentioned islands to destroy the plantations of them. Their agents, who reside there, make very rigorous visitations, in order to see this order executed; and those articles are only cultivated at
Amboyna,
