CHAPTER III.

THE SPICE ISLANDS, IN RIBERO'S MAP.

I must now say a few words about the official map of the world, alluded
to on page 16. It is by Ribero, and will be found on pages 28 and 29. The
date of this map is 1529.

The portion reproduced shows the Spice Islands, and a glance at this part
of the world brings vividly to our minds the intense desire of each
contending party to possess a region that yielded the wealth that is here
described.

The map is Spanish, and Spain has allotted to herself the lion's share,
planting her flag in the midst of "Spice and everything nice" (see
Spanish hemisphere), and relegating the Portuguese flag to the Straits of
Sunda (see Portuguese hemisphere). For thousands of miles around,
ships--the seas are dotted with specimens similar to the two included
within our small area--fleets of them, converge towards, or sail away
from these spice-bearing islands. Every quaint old craft, whether light
caravel or crazy galleon, is underwritten with the legend, _Vengo de
Maluco_, I come from the Moluccas, or, _Vay a Maluco_, I go to the
Moluccas, as though that region were the only one on the face of the
globe worthy of consideration. And all that "Province of Maluco" bears
inscriptions denoting the particular product for which each island is
celebrated.

These are:--
Timor, for Sandal-wood; Java, for Benzoin;* Borneo and Celebes, for