Ternate - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

TERNATE 43 TOPOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL DESCRIPTIONS
opinion and at times a rather loud altercation develops, the details of which unfortunately
are not understood by me. My Ternatese followers do not understand anything of the
conversation and only the [p. 66] post-holder knows enough of the language to be able to
judge the grounds for the decision. 26
It also appears that the point at issue is more a continuance of the existing tax, since
Todedol has never paid monetary compensation for the loss of other income, any more than
do the villages of Madole, Tololiku, and Tugutil. The population certainly does not wish
any change in this and thus it is necessary to define exactly what quantity of products and
services can be demanded. After consulting with headmen and elders the following
arrangement is made according to tradition:
a. Supply of three fardu of sago by a married man and one fardu by an unmarried
man per year, the fardu calculated as twenty catties;
b. alternating supply by turns of one hundred and twenty fardu of sago per year by
each head of household;
c. construction and maintenance of a kora-kora by the whole population;
d. supply of eighty chickens per year by the whole population;
e. supply of thirty fardu of sago and five mats by the whole population, to be sent at
the end of the Moslem fast;
f. compulsory service of one man with the Utusan at Kau, to be changed every three
months. 27
Asked for their opinion, all declare with one voice that they are content with what
has been decided. The European official has thus adhered to the agreement with the
Sultan, which states that the poll tax is only compulsory insofar as it agrees with the
wishes of the population in question. In view of [p. 67] the abundance of sago trees, which
26 [p. 66, n. 1] The field of activity of the post-holders has been described at length in De Indische
Gids, I:347. The writer, most probably Campen, does not seem to have been able to form an idea of
the peculiar political situation here, in which self-government is contractually guaranteed to the
Sultans.
27 [p. 66, n. 2] A contract stating the lawfully existing and effective taxes in the state of Ternate
may be found in De Indische Gids, I:706.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION LIBRARIES DIGITAL EDITION