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TERNATE 26 TOPOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL DESCRIPTIONS
III
Sidangoli
[p. 39] In the main nagarees or residences of the district chiefs and other native
headmen on the larger islands of the Ternatese archipelago, there are certain houses
known as falah Sultan or rest houses (Dutch, posthuizen). 1 These houses, established and
maintained by the population, are used mainly by touring officials and their suites.
Itinerant traders are sometimes allowed to use them for a small fee.
The Sultan’s house at Sidangoli is relatively large and well-furnished. Because this
area is within easy reach of Ternate, since the beginning of this century the state rulers
have used their house here as a country residence, a place where they can rest from the
cares that accompany their everyday rule in the capital. 2
Here the Sultans have amused themselves with deer-stalking in the dense forests
which stretch to the beach, or with fishing [p. 40] in the waters under the lee of the many
islands and coral-reefs. Government Residents have frequently been their guests. The
location undoubtedly provided an opportunity for closer association and friendly contact
between the native rulers and government officials. 3
I received an invitation of this kind, and visited Sidangoli during the second week of
April 1886.
It was a beautiful morning. The sky was slightly hazy with the lifting vapors of the
rain shower which had fallen during the night. The air was almost completely calm, and
the sea was as smooth as glass. Freed of the surging of waves or swell, the rowed boat will
make good time. From far off the tifah (drum) and gong (gong) boom out as a sign that the
Sultan is approaching; a few moments later the kakungah or Sultan’s proa docks alongside
the jetty in front of the residency. As we board the proa, the Sultan’s band of musicians,
seated in one of the escorting rorehes (boats), 4 plays our national anthem. The band
accompanies us along the whole journey, playing its repertoire each time the party sits
1 [p. 39, n. 1] I find that, because of an error made by Teijsmann (Natuurkundig Tijdschrift voor
Nederlandsch-Indië, 40:260), these houses are sometimes listed as “residencies.”
2 [p. 39, n. 2] In the second volume of Veth’s edition of Wallace (1870-1871), page 11, this house is
described as belonging to the Sultan of Tidore who, as such, would have a country residence on
Ternatese territory. The absurdity of this statement seems to have escaped the translator.
Strangely enough, the translation retains the English spelling of “Sedangoli.” Wallace, in chapter
22, refers to Sidangoli, Jailolo, Sawu, and other locations as villages; actually they are all inlets
(jiko)—the names refer not to the location of the village but to the whole coastal region contained
within fixed boundaries.
3 [p. 40, n. 1] Governor-General van der Capellen also spent a few days here (TNI, p. 312).
4 [p. 40, n. 2] According to the shape, size and the material from which they are made, the vessels
in this region are given the Ternatese names of jungku, juanga, rorehe, prahubangku, galela, pakata,
and oti ma-hera; these last are the common outrigger proas.
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