Ternate - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

TERNATE 3
TOPOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL DESCRIPTIONS
Yet nature has bestowed her bounty with a lavish hand, all around the truncated
crown of Ternate’s volcano 3 as well as on the conical top of Tidore’s peak, which [p. 3] blocks
the horizon. Both these areas are overgrown with all kinds of trees and shrubs. No one has
taken advantage of this vegetation, however, since the natives lack the required knowledge
and there are no good workmen available.
A few moments more and the anchor is cast, either in the harbor or alongside the
farthest extending abutment. The traveler’s hope of obtaining a full view of the city
remains unsatisfied. In every direction only leafy lanes can be seen, with here and there a
white wall between the green leaves. To the north there are several huts built on the dry
beach. Overall, the sight is neither picturesque nor impressive.
When the mooring takes place, the sailors’ annoying shouts only add to the
disappointment of the cabin passengers. Ropes are laid out on the quarterdeck, sloops are
lowered, ship’s officers shout their commands to the sailors and the sailors shout to each
other all in a ceaseless din, while everybody runs around carrying out the captain’s orders.
Meanwhile, the same kind of activity is taking place on the shore. Until the ship is
sighted, the workers have plenty of time on their hands. They go about their daily chores
calmly, and spend much of the day in blissful idleness. But suddenly, the watchman on the
pier sees that the signal has been hoisted at Maitara to warn that [p. 4] a steamer is
approaching. He hurries to inform the authorities and leading citizens. The news spreads
like wildfire. The atmosphere becomes tense. Officials and officers eagerly await news of
possible promotion or transfers. Traders anticipate the arrival of ordered goods or news
about market prices. Feeling such tension, few people seem to be able to sit at home. Soon
everyone comes out to the pier to admire the approaching ship. They observe it with great
interest, as if they had never seen a steamer before. The Europeans, Arabs, Chinese, and
natives joke with each other. Postal parcels are taken to the post office, coolies start
unloading the goods, and many people meet friends on board or at the dock. Half an hour
before, the quay was quite deserted—now it is bustling with excitement. The activity will
continue until the ship departs.
Modern civilization demands a cultivated excitement from the Dutchman who sees a
“beautiful” ocean or a “marvelous” mountain range. The newcomer to the tropics still
exhibits traces of this behavior when he stumbles upon the Padang road or thrills at the
sight of the small island of Pisang, formed in the shape of a floating atoll. The Germans,
with their innate enthusiasm for the “ideal” have even devised a vocabulary of ascending
3 [p. 2, n. 2] Bleeker (1856, I:162) claims that the top of the mountain, viewed from the
capital, is rather broad and truncated but, looked at from the northeast and east, is much more
conical in shape. This optical illusion may be caused by the crater opening, identifiable by a bare
patch and situated on the north side. The difference, however, is quite small.
The mountain has no name of its own, and no one has heard of the Gama-Lama mountain
range shown on the map in the study by Haga (1884). There are several hilly elevations on the top,
known by the names of “Mekkah,” or the true peak in the west; “Medina,” a mountain ridge running
from south to east; “Kaf” or “Wakaf” in the north; and “Terkan” in the southwest. Wakaf, slightly
higher than the peak, is the crater wall, with a diameter estimated at ca. 500 meters. The names in
van der Crab (TKI, n. 13), given him by Naidah, are less accurate.
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