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Life is long if you know how to use it
​
(Seneca)

The New York Exchange.

29/1/2014

1 Comment

 

A story not about the New York stock exchange 
but a story about an historical swap of Islands.



I first heard about the Banda Islands in a book titled: «Banda. A journey through Indonesia’s fabled Isles of Fire and Spice.»

This well written and beautifully illustrated book with Mr. Leonard Lueras’ photographs was my first reason for wanting to travel to the Banda Islands.
Picture
Boy from Ternate Island holding a nutmeg
Picture
Mace & Nutmeg drying. Run Island.
Picture
Ripe Nutmeg
In the beginning of the sixteen hundreds, a person returning from the Banda Islands with ten kilos of Nutmeg, could purchase a house in his homeland and retire for the rest of his life. The ship owners would oblige the sailors to sew their pockets shut making it impossible to carry nutmeg off the ships. 

The New York exchange

Picture
In 1667 the Island of Run was exchanged for the Island of Manhattan
In 1667 by the Treaty of Breda, Manhattan, a small trading center with a population of less than one thousand, was exchanged with the Island of Run. 

Today, the Island of Run and the story of Nathaniel’s courage find themselves in the margin of history while the name of New York is fabled around the globe. (Giles Milton)

After reading Giles Milton's Book titled Nathaniels’s Nutmeg, I decided to travel with the Indonesian shipping company Pelni to the Once-Famed-Now-Ignored Spice Islands.
PictureKerinci ship on the way to Banda
 




The following in taken from Amazon's web site about Nathaniel's Nutmeg:
«The tiny island of Run is an insignificant speck in the middle of the Indonesian archipelago--remote, tranquil, and now largely ignored. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, however, Run's harvest of nutmeg turned it into the most lucrative of the Spice Islands, precipitating a fierce and bloody battle between the all-powerful Dutch East India Company and a small band of ragtag British adventurers led by the intrepid Nathaniel Courthope. 
«The Outcome Of The Fighting Was One Of The Most Spectacular Deals In History: 
Britain Ceded Run To Holland, But In Return Was Given Another Small Island, Manhattan.»

Mr. Milton mentions the somewhat cruel actions done 
to the local population by the colonialists.

(If you wish to learn more about the governor general of Banda, please read this interesting article about the controversial erection of a statue of Jan Pieterszoon Coen in his hometown of Hoorn. LINK)
Picture
Portrait of Jan Pieterszoon Coen in Rumah Budaya museum. Neira.
Picture
Fort Belgica on Neira Island. A UNESCO World Heritage Fort.
Picture
Perkenier taking a stroll. Rumah Budaya museum Neira.

«Bye Bye Banda» (53 secs to say goodbye)

Visiting the Banda Islands is traveling back in time. Sitting on the dock in Neira dominated by the volcano Gunung Api,
I can easily imagine the Spanish, English and Dutch sailing ships setting anchor in the bay of Banda.
Sometimes the arrival of an Indonesian built pinisi enters the Bay, The illusion of going back in time is complete.
«Bye Bye Banda»…for the moment. I shall return.

1 Comment
niceboy
7/12/2017 03:44:58 am

This was very interesting since i have also just read the book Nathaniel's Nutmeg.

Reply



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  • Intro
  • Manual workers
    • Ayung River divers. Bali
    • Boat lifters. Jimbaran.Bali
    • Volcanic stone breakers of mount Batur. Bali
    • Dock laborers
    • Onion fields_Sumabawa Island
    • Salt flats_Sumbawa Island
    • Transporting fish from ship to shore
    • Women workers
  • Photo series
    • Cockfighting in Bali
    • Impressions at a batik workshop
    • Pelni ship passengers
    • Pelni ship porters
    • Solitary bechak drivers of Solo
    • Sulfur Carriers of Ijen volcano
    • Sumba Island >
      • Merapu Priests_Sumba
      • Beach fight
      • Pasola_Sumba
      • People & Scenes_Sumba
    • Young Cuban Boxers
    • Wedding in Bali
  • Countries
    • Armenia
    • Algeria
    • Cameroon
    • Cuba
    • Havana cars / Pinhole
    • India
    • Indonesia >
      • Bali >
        • Portraits
        • Religious Ceremonies
        • Seaweed cultivation
        • Sights & Scenes
        • Temple Statues
      • Banda Archipelago >
        • Banda Neira
        • Run & Ai Islands
        • Seascapes
    • Lebanon >
      • Beirut. 1995. Post war.
      • Lebanese stories
    • United States of America >
      • Arizona
      • Coney Island
      • Manhattan
      • New York / ColorSplash Lomo
      • New Orleans
  • Adieu mes Aïeux
  • Seven year itch
    • The Biker and his bike
    • And We are off...
    • Lost in Java
    • Three different worlds
    • Romantic ferry travels
    • Sumba-Of horses and men
    • Flores on my mind
  • Java by train
  • Blog
  • Prints for sale
    • Bali-Indonesia Page 1
    • Bali-Indonesia Page 2
    • Banda Neira-Indonesia
    • Batik
    • Bechak drivers in Java
    • Bromo Volcano-Indonesia
    • Cockfighting-Bali
    • Ferries-Indonesia
    • Ijen Sulphur Volcano
    • Pasola-Sumba-Page 1
    • Pasola-Sumba-Page 2
    • Portraits- Indonésie- P 1
    • Portraits- Indonésie- P 2
    • Seaweed cultivation - Nusa Lembongan
    • Single Images- P 01
    • Single Images- P 02
  • Short stories
    • Short stories- Page 1
    • Short stories- Page 2
    • Short stories- Page 3
    • Short stories- Page 4
    • Short stories- Page 5
    • Short stories- Page 6
    • Short stories- Page 7
    • Short stories - Page 8
    • Short stories - Page 9