s the
shimmering purple of the flowing tide. The fretted turquoise of the
further range rises on the great island of Halmaheira, inhabited by an
Alfoer population of Papuan origin, but beyond the scope of the present
cruise. The port of Ternate, on the southern slope of the volcano,
shows the pointed gables of palm-thatched dwellings rising from masses
of glorious greenery, brightened by purple torrents of bougainvillea,
or golden-flowered ansena trees, wreathed and roped with a gorgeous
tangle of many-coloured creepers. The breath of heavily-scented flowers
mingles with the pungent sweetness of clove and nutmeg. An avenue of
dadap trees skirts the shore, with varied foliage of amber and carmine.
The dark figures sauntering in the shade, and clad in rose-colour,
azure, or orange, add deeper notes to the symphony of colour, only
marred by the white-washed Dutch conventicle, like an emphatic protest
against Nature's response to her Creator. Ruined arches and pillars of
white Portuguese houses, standing in a wilderness of verdure amid
tumbled heaps of stone and concrete, testify to the earthquakes which
have continually wrecked the little port. The mixed population includes
Chinese, Arabs, and Malays. The original native race also contains
Malay, Dutch, and Portuguese elements, European descent resulting here
as elsewhere in darkening the native brown of the pure-blooded
Ternatian to ebony blackness in the second and succeeding generations.

The discovery of an English-speaking schoolmistress simplifies the
day's itinerary, which begins with the thatched palace or _kedaton_ of
the Sultan. The tiered roofs of the royal _Messighit_ rise above the
_atap_ dwellings of the rustic Court, still professing a slack
Mohammedanism. The Dutch territory includes the Chinese and Oriental
_campongs_ divided by Fort Orange, but though the palmy days of
Ternate's hereditary Ruler have long since passed away, he retains a
shadowy authority over a limited area. Sir Francis Drake, on one of his
romantic voyages, touched at Ternate in the early days of the 16th
century, and in graphic words records his amazement at "the fair and
princely show" of this barbaric potentate, who sat robed in cloth of
gold, beneath a gold-embroidered canopy, and wore "a crown of plaited
golden links." Chains of diamonds and emeralds clasped his swarthy
neck, and on the royal right hand "there shone a big and perfect blue
turky." This regal splendour was attained by