LETTE.
Arrival at the Island of Lette.--Anchoring Place.--Series
of Disasters.--Character of the Inhabitants.--The
Mountaineers.--Differences among the Islanders.--Good Effects of our
Mediation.--Respect entertained by the Natives towards the Dutch
Government.
On the following morning, June 17th, we found ourselves close under
the south-west point of Lette, and perceived reefs extending along the
shore at a distance of half a mile from the land. This island is, for
the most part, high and hilly, but near the sea the land is level. The
greater portion of the inhabitants reside on the sea-coast, in villages
erected upon elevated and projecting points of land, which present a
charming appearance as the island is approached. We ran close along
the reefs until opposite to the village of Tombra, where there is an
opening in the reef, into which we warped the brig, and moored her
head and stern. The inlet or basin, which afforded us anchorage, is
from four hundred to five hundred feet broad, with depths of six to
nine fathoms over a sandy bottom. It is bounded on each side by reefs
visible at low water, and at the extremity of the cove lies a white
sandy beach covered with numerous cocoa-nut trees.
As soon as the brig was secured, I landed with the native interpreter,
at a spot where several of the Christian inhabitants were waiting
to conduct us to the village. This did not present an appearance
indicating prosperity, as it contained no more than twenty-five houses,
occupied both by Christians and heathens. During the previous year,
three villages in the neighbourhood had been entirely destroyed by
fire, the inhabitants losing all their household property; and shortly
afterwards an additional disaster occurred in the death of the Orang
Kaya, to whom no successor had yet been appointed. The anarchy and
confusion this gave rise to, had caused many of the people to abandon
the spot. Those who received us on the beach evinced great joy at our
arrival, and expressed hopes that through my intervention, order would
again be restored.
It was very soon known throughout the island that a Dutch ship of war
had arrived, and the people flocked from all parts of the country to
bid us welcome. Among these was an Amboynese teacher, who had arrived
here about two years previously. He expressed a wish that I would visit
the school-room, which also served the purpose of a church since the
building had been destroyed by the fire already mentioned. To this I
willingly consented. The scholars, a number of boys and girls, were
arranged in a row, and, as I approached, they commenced singing a
hymn. After it was concluded, I inspected the school-house, a wretched
building, the whole furniture of which consisted of a long table and
some bamboo benches. The teacher resided in an adjacent hut, around
which a small garden had been laid out. Every thing that met our view
presented an appearance of poverty and decay.
Two years previous to our visit, this group of islands had been visited
by a violent hurricane, which, especially on Lette, caused frightful
devastation: on several tracts of land over which I passed, all the
cocoa-nut and other fruit-trees had been levelled with the earth.
This disaster had been followed by a drought, which had destroyed the
produce of their plantations, and created a great mortality among the
cattle, many dying for want of provender. The hurricane had also caused
the bees to desert the island, a serious loss to the inhabitants,
since wax and honey were among the chief exportable productions of the
island. These repeated misfortunes had induced many of the inhabitants
to emigrate to Kissa and Roma; in fact, the scarcity of provisions had
been so great, that some had actually died from want. This unlucky
island, like ancient Egypt, had indeed been harassed and afflicted by
a series of plagues. It presented a sad spectacle, especially when
compared with the prosperous island of Kissa, the beauties of which
were still fresh in our remembrance.
The Christian inhabitants of Lette bear great resemblance in manners,
customs, and mode of dress, to those of Kissa. The unconverted natives,
who consider themselves as subjects to the former, are still low in
the scale of civilization, but are worthy of remark as unsophisticated
children of nature. They are tall and well formed, with light brown
complexions. Their noses are pointed, and their foreheads high,
while their hair, naturally black, is rendered yellow, by rubbing
in a composition of lime. It is confined by means of a bamboo comb.
The men wear no other dress than a piece of cloth made from the bark
of a tree, wrapped round the waist. The women, in addition to this
article of clothing, sometimes wear a sort of _kabya_, or short
gown, open in front. Polygamy does not obtain among them, and the men
appear generally to be much attached to their wives. Adultery very
seldom occurs; indeed, the natives have such an abhorrence of this
and every other misdemeanour, that a person found guilty is punished
with death, or is sold to foreigners, and thus doomed to perpetual
slavery. I was informed that all their goods and chattels are kept
in their huts, which are unprovided with doors, or in caves on the
mountains; but that notwithstanding these temptations, instances of
theft very rarely occur, this crime, like that of incontinence, being
considered as conferring an indelible stain on the whole family of
the culprit, who either kill him with their own hands, or sell him
into slavery. The East India Company, during their occupation of these
islands, introduced a philanthropic law, which required them to give
up all their criminals, that they might be sent to cultivate the spice
plantations of Banda.
These people are idolatrous in every sense of the word, since they pay
reverence to an image of human shape, rudely carved from a thick piece
of wood. This image is placed in a sitting posture upon a square heap
of stone, raised under a large tree in the centre of the village. In
the event of a death, a marriage, or any remarkable event, a large hog
or a buffalo, which has been kept sacred and fattened for the purpose,
is slaughtered before this image. Cattle and other stock form the chief
wealth of the natives; but they also possess elephants' tusks, brass
wire, gongs, plates and dishes of coarse Chinese porcelain, chopping
knives, &c., together with golden ornaments, such as chains, half-moons
and ear-rings, these being denominated _harta_, or household property.
On one occasion I was present at the funeral of a native, which took
place in the village of Batu Meau. The body had been laid in the grave
previous to my arrival. A number of men were assembled round the
spot, who were soon joined by a large party of women, bearing baskets
containing household goods and dressed provisions, which were thrown
into the grave by each as she approached. A number of aged women now
commenced a loud wailing, which they continued without intermission
until the grave was filled up with earth. The crowd then collected
around the idol, to which a quantity of provisions were offered, and
the remainder of the day was spent by the people in feasting and
praying around it.
The chiefs of the various villages, who came on board to bid me
welcome to their shores, were conveyed in lightly constructed prahus,
similar in appearance to the _orang-baays_[12] used by the Amboynese.
Each of these contained thirty rowers, who propelled the vessel with
broad paddles; these being far more serviceable than oars, for the
use of which there would scarcely be sufficient space. The chiefs
rowed in state round the brig three times, beating small gongs called
_tif-tifs_, the music being accompanied by a loud singing, the burthen
of which was "_Salamat Compania_." They then came alongside, and
informed me that these vessels and their crews were "_Prahu Compania_,"
(government prahus), and that they were perfectly at my service. During
the period in which the East India Company had establishments on these
islands, the people of each village were obliged to have one of these
prahus at all times in readiness for the use of the Resident, or head
officer of the Government. The people of the islands have also been
accustomed to other requisitions on the part of our Government, to
which they comply with the greatest alacrity, feeling hurt whenever
their assistance is not accepted. I found the prahus they offered to me
on this occasion, of considerable service in bringing off wood, water,
and other necessaries.
The day following that of my arrival was fixed on for a general meeting
of the chiefs, at which I intended to present them with the letters
sent them by the Government, and to transact the remainder of the
public business which had brought me here. About seven o'clock in the
evening a singular spectacle presented itself. A number of women,
taking advantage of the lowness of the tide, collected on the beach to
catch fish and crabs, each bearing a flambeau composed of bamboo and
resin, and as more than three hundred of these were burning at the same
time, they formed a splendid illumination.
On the morning of the 18th, a small brig, belonging to Mr. Franquemont,
a merchant of Sourabaya, arrived in the basin. The object of the
captain in visiting the island was to purchase stock, which the Java
traders are in the habit of obtaining here, but as at the present time
the natives had none for sale, the brig sailed immediately for one of
the neighbouring islands.
At nine o'clock in the morning of the day fixed for the meeting,
I landed, accompanied by several of the gentlemen attached to the
expedition, and by a detachment of marines, (as I shall henceforward
call the armed seamen,) the brig firing a salute from her great guns.
Several of the chiefs and a large number of the people had already
assembled, to whom the interpreter read the letter sent by our
Government, with the usual accompaniment of a _feu-de-joie_ from the
musketry. The business connected with the subject of the letter was
soon transacted, but the arrangement of other affairs was attended
with much more difficulty than had been experienced at Kissa, the
natives there being farther advanced in civilization than at Lette.
I was employed during two entire days in deciding petty differences
that had arisen among them. A spirit of contention upon the merest
trifles forms a peculiar trait in the character of these islanders,
and they appeared to prefer living in variance, indeed, in a state of
open warfare with one another, to making the least advances towards
reconciliation. They would sacrifice all they possessed to keep up the
strife, and the result of these disturbances was that many families
were forced to wander in poverty over the island, while some actually
died of want. The people frankly acknowledged their failing upon
this point, to obviate which they were anxious that a Dutch Resident
or other government officer should reside among them, to whom they
might refer their disputes for adjustment. They promised to abide
implicitly by his decision; indeed, during my short stay on the island
I had numerous proofs of their willingness to admit our mediation,
of which I will here give an example. Throughout the Molucca Seas it
had been the custom of the Government to permit those chiefs, whose
conduct had been highly meritorious, to carry a Dutch pennant in their
_orang-baays_, or state barges. This mark of distinction had been
conferred upon some former chiefs of the village of Batu Meau, and
their successors, considering themselves as being also entitled to it,
continued to display the pennant from their prahus. This assumption
on their part had drawn upon them the violent enmity of the chiefs
of the neighbouring villages, who had ever since been in a state of
open warfare with those of Batu Meau. It will readily be conceived how
difficult it was to reconcile parties so strongly embittered against
each other. It required some time to convince the chiefs of Batu Meau,
that they had acted wrongly; but at length I was fortunate enough
to bring the affair to a favourable termination, the chiefs being
prohibited from ever again displaying the offensive banner.
In my notices of Wetta, I mentioned that the village of Sau, on that
island, had been destroyed by the people of Lette. From the information
concerning the affair that I was enabled to collect here, it appeared
that nine natives of Lette, who had visited the village of Sau on a
trading voyage, had been massacred by the inhabitants, who had been
tempted to commit the deed by a desire to gain possession of the
goods that the traders had brought with them. According to the law
of retaliation which obtains among the natives of the Archipelago,
this deed demanded vengeance on the part of the people of Lette, who
proceeded to Wetta with a number of armed prahus, and totally destroyed
the village of Sau. This affair had naturally given rise to the direct
enmity between the natives of the two islands, which entirely put
a stop to the commercial intercourse that had previously subsisted
between them, and but for our own interposition, a reconciliation could
never have been effected. This case affords a striking example of the
detriment these islanders suffer from the barbarous nature of their
laws, or rather customs.
When distributing the presents, sent by the Government, at the general
meeting of the chiefs, I was requested to apportion the shares for each
village, the chiefs themselves candidly confessing that since they all
considered themselves as equal in point of rank, were this duty left to
themselves, it would certainly give rise to a renewal of the discord
that had so long prevailed among them. Although their old _adats_ or
customs, are so absurd and contradictory, that their interests are
greatly injured by maintaining them, they yet, with an obstinacy for
which it is difficult to account, submit to and revere them as sacred
and inviolable laws.
On the east side of Lette, near the village of Batu Meau, we met with a
block-house, surrounded by a high stone wall, which had formerly been
occupied by a garrison of the Dutch East India Company. It was in a
state of great dilapidation, indeed, every thing we encountered bore
evident marks of the poverty and misery of the people, which, however,
is in a great measure to be attributed to the unavoidable disasters
which had befallen them. I promised the chiefs that I would inform
the Government of their difficulties, and stated to them that I had
remained at the island longer than I had originally intended, with the
hope that my mediation would effect a termination to their disputes.
I urged them strongly to live henceforward in unity, and I had the
satisfaction of perceiving, before my departure from the island, a
considerable improvement in their social state, the people of the
different villages having become on far better terms with one another.
The exhortations and advice of that estimable clergyman, M. Kam, had
also effected much good. Many of the people were baptized and married
by him, the solemnity with which these duties were performed making
a deep impression on the susceptible minds of this simple, and by no
means badly-disposed people. Before our departure they gave proofs of a
returning spirit of industry, by commencing to repair their church and
houses.
From Lette I proceeded to Moa, of which island I will give a
description in the ensuing chapter.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 12: This name is also here applied to the vessels of the head
chiefs. They are large galleys, with high stems and sterns, having a
roof of _attap_, or palm leaves, raised over them.]