Page 213 - Early English Adventurers in the Middle East_Neat

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THE BLACK TRAGEDY OF AMBOINA 213

posed upon him. As the English factors at Batavia had
said, he was “ a subtle man,” and like most men of that
stamp he was inordinately suspicious. Seated in the isola­
tion of his official residence his jaundiced eyes had visions
of risings and dark conspiracies of which his government
was the object. Not, however, that he was without
sound reason for distrust of the outwardly peaceful horizon.
From the remoter islands with every ship must have come
warnings of Dative discontent mingled with definite news
of sinister meetings in woods and of assassinations and other
)
tragic happenings traceable to political unrest. The
whole atmosphere, indeed, was charged with a note of dis­
affection which vibrated painfully upon the nerves of
Van Speult and his brother officials.
i Turn we now from the chief personalities in this drama
of Amboina with which we are about to deal to the setting
given to it. By way of contrast to the gloom of the tra­
gedy nothing could have been more impressive than this.
Captain Fitzherbert, who visited the place just before the
occurrence, in a letter home said, “ Amboina sitteth as a
Queen between the Isles of Banda and the Moluccas. She
is beautified with the fruits of several factories and dearly
beloved of the Dutch.” That sailor’s impression vividly
suggests the natural charms of this famous island. Over
it all is the glamour of the East in its most fascinating
form. A placid opalescent sea washes a palm-fringed
shore, from which rise lofty verdure-clad hills suffused in
the violet haze of the strong tropical sun, In the waters
around like satellites about a star of the first magnitude
l are other isles equally beautiful though not so favoured
in situation.
The capital is placed on the half of the island known as
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