The Moluccas form a considerable archipelago, which extends in longitude from Java to New Guinea. On the coasts of Papua, and adjoining islands, are formed colonies of the inhabitants of New Guinea, and which are dependencies on the Moluccas. The Dutch have factories in all the islands of this archipelago, but at Amboyna and Banda they have forts, and considerable establishments [1]. In order to preserve the spice trade exclusively, they even went so far as to set fire to the adjacent islands which produced these shrubs; but such precautions are useless, for the whole of the Moluccas, with the coasts of Papua, and even all New Guinea, produce, and will continue to produce, them, while they exist. When the French were in the habit of procuring these productions, they did not go either to Banda or Amboyna in search of them, but to Guébi and Moar. Their vessels resorted to the port of Guébi, unquestionably the finest harbour in the Moluccas, and to which the Dutch were strangers, as the French found it uninhabited. They there established themselves during the time that the King of Maba and Patanie, and the Sultan of Tidor, went in search of the precious trees which furnished the spices: they took them to the Isle of France, where they succeeded remarkably well (as we have seen in the Chapter on the Isle of France), as well as at Cayenne, to which they were transported soon afterwards. The inhabitants of the Moluccas are in general of a swarthy complexion, approaching to black, with a yellow stain: they partake much of the Malay character, and seem to derive their origin from that nation; they have their language, their manners, and, like them, with little personal strength, are nevertheless cruel and ferocious: perhaps the harshness of their manners may be traced to the wandering and solitary life they lead in the woods, to avoid becoming the slaves of the Dutch. The islands they inhabit are fertile, but they do not practise any cultivation, and live on sago, which grows wild in great quantities in this archipelago. The religion of the inhabitants of the Moluccas is a corruption of Mahometanism. The only persons who go clothed are the women and the priests; the men only cover the head with a hat, painted in different colours, made of the leaves of the latanier; the rest of the body is naked, with the exception of a bit of narrow cloth, for the sake of decency. The dress of the women consists of a long robe, without any folds, fastened in front: they wear hats of an enormous size, not less than seven or eight feet in circumference; these hats are flat on the upper surface, and loaded with ornaments of shell work and mother of pearl. On the under side, a circle of three inches in depth forms the crown, and retains it on the head. The women never go out; they are always confined to the house. The priests, like the women, are clothed in a long robe, but they are recognized by their caps, which are pointed.