Ternate - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

TERNATE 149
THE TERNATESE LANGUAGE
were on duty as soldiers) had not yet fled. Lieutenant Jumati of the kampong Ngofaudu,
who at dawn waited upon the Sultan, was ordered to go northward at once to stop the
people who were still there and not allow them to run away. He set out to fulfill the
Sultan’s orders, but then he himself ran away.
At seven o’clock, after everything had happened as reported, the news was sent up
from down south that the kampong of Falah-Jawa had sunk into the sea. The people
became even more terrified, but this news was not true. At eight o’clock the Sultan of
Palembang, together with his children and retinue, consisting of more than twenty persons,
made his rounds through the street on the sea side, northward, and then landward; when
he reached the big gate, he went south again. 17
The Kali instructed the Imam of Takome to ask the Sultan if the people should be
advised [p. 208] to leave the village at once, but the Sultan did not want to do this. After
summoning the Jogugu, the Captain-Laut, the hukums, and all the bobatos, he said to
them: “At this moment, you people, nobles and bobatos, are in doubt as to whether to stay
or to leave, because of the situation in the village; but I, the Sultan, and my wife and
children will stay in the palace until we die. We will not leave.” Then the headmen
answered: “We, nobles and bobatos, cannot be separated from the Sultan. Whatever may
happen to us, either good or bad, how could we leave you, O Sultan!” They were then told
to rise and they went to the big gate. Those who were locked up in the big gate because of
crimes were released from the prison.
At this time the Resident requested 18 the Sultan to keep in mind that he had to have
a proa ready, but the Sultan asked the Resident to wait for a while, for otherwise the people
would grow even more alarmed and leave the village, and Tidore would then soon conquer
on sea as well as on land. When the Resident asked this, some people sent one of the
guards up to see whether the Sultan also would go in the proa. The Resident remained in
the shed of his rumbai; his wife and children got into a vessel floating in the sea, though
tied to a stake on the beach.
The Commander had a cannon loaded at Fort Oranje. If a ship, brig, or proa from
the Christian, Chinese, or Makassarese quarters was seen to leave, the gun was to fire at it.
All officers and soldiers were told that they would be allowed to leave only if they saw the
Sultan leave. In spite of this strict order, the Secretary, Mr. Hendrik Otto, [p. 209]
managed to flee to Tidore with his wife and children, where they stayed in the kampong
Rum, while the Captain of the citizens, Mr. Duivenbode, and Mr. Willems fled in a proa to
the beach at Pasilamo.
By the time eight o’clock had past, all the brick houses had collapsed, although no
serious accidents had occurred in Ternate itself. A few houses were damaged. Other
17 [p. 207, n. 1] There is often little connection between the successive reports; they appear to
have been written consecutively, as they are here.
18 [p. 208, n. 1] Here and in normal correspondence one always reads that the Resident ordered or
commanded the Sultan. As a matter of fact such an order is a polite request, as demanded by
etiquette.
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