Map of Larantuka to Solor
12 Larantuka/Solor – Of Priests and Pirates
When the 1511 Portuguese expedition to the Spice Islands led by Antonio de Abreu reached the north-eastern end of Flores they found a promontory which was a landmark for ships sailing this coast. Known as Tanjung Bunga in Malay, the Portuguese called it Cabo de Flores or the Cape of Flowers. It was probably named after the flamboyant trees that grow in profusion along this peninsula. Bare during the East Monsoon their branches burst into a blaze of scarlet blossoms before the rains are due and spread day by day until the trees are a mass of flaming glory.
As we approach Larantuka it is the late afternoon and rain clouds are gathering around the volcano Ile Mandiri, which forms a backdrop to the town. Larantuka is an overgrown village situated on a narrow strip of land that lies precariously between the steep slopes of the volcano and the deep water of the Flores Strait. It was probably the combination of cool, clean water flowing from the mountain and a good deep-water anchorage that formed the basis for the original Portuguese settlement here. In the early 1980s heavy rains sent a flood of mud and boulders down the volcano destroying part of the town and killing more than 200 people. Miraculously the ravaging flow bypassed the Chapel of the Virgin Mary to whom the town is dedicated. It then bore straight down to the Chapel of Christ where the Christ coffin is stored, only to divert itself at the last moment and crash into the sea.
Map of Larantuka to Solor
Finding good accommodation in Larantuka is a problem. I find what is meant to be the best hotel in town and am shown an unoccupied room. It is terrible! ‘Isn’t there another hotel?’ There is but it is just as bad, if not worse.
The configuration of the islands of Flores, Solor, Adonara and Lomben provide a perfect anchorage, protected from any monsoonal winds, in the narrow strait that runs between Solor and Adonara and in addition it is only two days sail from here to the north coast of Timor where sandalwood could be collected for trade in Malacca or Macau. We know the de Abreu expedition stopped in the Solor Strait on its return from the Spice Islands because we have a delightful drawing of Adonara Island by Francisco Rodrigues and the expedition would have collected some sandalwood from here to bring back to Malacca.
The fragrant sandalwood tree is indigenous to the dry, open, monsoon forests of Sumba, Solor and Timor. This slow-growing tree takes 50 years to mature, reaching a height of 15 metres and a maximum diameter of 30 centimetres. Because of its long growth period, sandalwood trees are rarely replanted once they have been harvested, leading to the almost complete disappearance of sandalwood forests. The Portuguese chronicler and trader, Duarte Barbosa, describes Timor in 1518:
The Flores Strait with the islands of Adonara, Lembata and Solor
In this island there is an abundance of white sandalwood which the Moors in India and Persia value greatly, where much of it is used. The ships of Malacca and Java which come hither for it bring in exchange axes, hatchets, knives, swords, Cambaya and Paleacate cloths, porcelain, coloured beads, tin, quicksilver, lead and other wares, and take in cargoes of the aforesaid sandalwood, honey, wax, slaves and also a certain amount of silver.
The Archbishop of Goa entrusted the evangelization of the eastern islands to Dominican missionaries. In 1561 the Prior of Saint Dominic in Malacca sent Father Antonio de la Cruz and three Dominican priests to Solor to provide the natives instruction in the Catholic faith and establish the first European settlement on the island:
As soon as the preachers arrived in Solor they decided to set up their house in native fashion and in the same way they made their first chapel, which they said would give pleasure to St Dominic himself for his love of poverty.
Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam had never reached these eastern islands and the priests found a population with no organized religion other than their animistic beliefs. The islanders were deemed to be very receptive to the teachings of Christianity and it was claimed that in all of the Portuguese Estado da India there were no communities where ‘monarchies of souls’ could be acquired more quickly than in the region of Solor. The priests surrounded their buildings with a wooden palisade, a needed protection, for two years later they found themselves and their small Christian community under attack from a fleet of Buginese pirates. Outnumbered and with no fort to protect them, one of the priests described their dilemma:
We were considering the best course to take in defeat, whether to surrender or to fight on to the bitter end, when the hand of God unexpectedly delivered us from the enemy. A Portuguese galleon suddenly laid anchor near the beach and smashed the smaller ships causing many of them to perish. It was Divine Providence. This was the Royal Galleon on her way from the Moluccas to Malacca, which had entered through the Strait of Solor, a thing never seen before or after.
When news of their miraculous rescue reached Malacca, its people generously gave alms in order to build a stone fortress for the priests. The Dominicans built their fortress on high ground close to the shore and within its walls was a church dedicated to Our Lady of Mercy, a monastery and a seminary. In 1575 the Dominican Prior of Malacca sent a captain-major and twenty soldiers to protect the Dominican fathers, their native Christian converts and the expanding community of Portuguese traders from Malacca and Macau.
After breakfast I walk along the waterfront road towards the centre of Larantuka, passing a newly built dock and fish-processing facility whose signboard proudly declares it was built with aid from the Japanese government. There is no evidence of any fishing fleet already utilizing the dock with its cement fish cleaning tables and cold storage facilities, but when fully utilized it will bring much needed economic development to this remote end of the archipelago. Past the markets and a small downtown area I reach the public docks where about six ferries are readying to depart to various towns on the adjacent islands of Solor, Adonara and Lomblen. My plan is to enquire about catching the right ferry to get to Solor and Fort Henricus the following day.
While I am talking to the boatmen on the docks, a man in a government uniform comes over and asks if he can be of any assistance. I tell him I am planning to visit the ruins of Fort Henricus on Solor and we discuss various ways of getting there – which involve taking a public ferry to two possible towns on Solor and then renting a motorbike to travel to the fort. Mateus is the public relations officer for the District Administration and he tells me that the local bupati, or district governor, has a boat ready to go to a meeting on Solor this afternoon and that I am welcome to join them. He then asks Mustapha, a district officer who is travelling on the public ferry, to act as my guide and we transfer his motorbike from the ferry to the District Governor’s vessel.
The Portuguese established themselves on the Macau peninsula about the same time as the Dominican friars started building their fort on the island of Solor. As the Chinese were the main consumers of the aromatic sandalwood in the region, the Macanese traders opened up a direct route linking the city to the island of Solor which became the base for Portuguese traders dealing in sandalwood from Timor. Sandalwood could be sold in Canton for twice its price in Solor and in good years this increased to three times the price, making it a lucrative trading commodity. It was their extensive trading network across Asia that allowed the Portuguese to follow the dreams of the European alchemists as they succeeded in converting iron into silver. Iron parangs or machetes could be traded in Timor for sandalwood, this was then traded in China for silk, which could be traded in Japan for silver.
Many of these Portuguese traders settled on Solor and took native wives. These traders formed the backbone of the developing settlement as they, their wives and their mestizo families had a better understanding of the native community and were providers of much of the produce needed by the fortress for its daily livelihood. During the first twenty years of the ‘Dominican Fort’ its Captain-Major was chosen by the Dominican Prior in Malacca. As stated in this decree by the Viceroy in Goa:
I make known to all those who see this decree, that I deem it fit and proper that the fathers of the order of Saint Dominic residing in the City of Malacca select the Captain-Major of the port of Solor, as they are entitled to do by a provision in favour of Christianizing. Their choice will be confirmed by the Captain of the said Fortress on the understanding that he finds the said nominee duly qualified.
Solor was not officially regarded as Portuguese territory. The administration of the fort, the local communities, the soldiers and relations with the native rulers were the responsibility of the Dominicans. It was they who appointed the captain of the fortress, maintained diplomatic relationships with local leaders and even participated in the sandalwood trade in order to finance their activities, since little funding was coming from Goa or Malacca.
Our boat crosses the Flores Strait before entering the Solor Strait which runs between the islands of Adonara and Solor. Smoke rising from forest clearings on the hillsides is evidence of slash and burn agriculture for growing both maize and dry rice that, together with fish caught by the many small fishing boats, sustain the local population. Mateus, the boat crew and myself chat on the foredeck but the Bupati is strangely uncommunicative and he spends the entire journey sitting in the narrow wheelhouse. I am trying to figure out if there is a problem when I remember having seen a modern motor launch moored at the wharf but half-submerged in the water. Could this have been the bupati’s official vessel and he is now suffering the ignominy of carrying out his duties in a local wooden cargo boat?
Finally we arrive at the dock on Solor. An official car is waiting to take the Bupati and Mateus to their meeting, while I head off on the back of Mustapha’s motorbike towards the village of Lohayong and Fort Henricus. On the way we stop at Mustapha’s simple bamboo cottage so he can change his clothes, have a quick meal, and for me to meet his wife and children. I take a liking to Mustapha. He seems honest and capable, and even though he has been ordered by his bosses to be my guide he is very willing to help. When I ask Mustapha if there is any sandalwood still growing on Solor he proudly tells me that they are now replanting sandalwood on the island and shows me a single sandalwood tree planted in the front of his office. From his name I know that Mustapha is a Muslim and on our journey to Fort Henricus we drive past the local Catholic church and school. He explains that even though Solor was one of the first islands in Indonesia to receive Catholic priests its population is now mainly Muslim.
In 1613 four fully armed Dutch East India Company (VOC) ships appeared off the island. The settlement on Solor lay defenceless since the Portuguese soldiers meant to be manning the fort were in Timor trading for sandalwood. The townspeople, mostly women and children, were in a panic and the fort soon capitulated. Only two days later the soldiers and men of the garrison returned from Timor with their vessels laden with sandalwood, only to find their fort occupied by troops from the Dutch East India Company.
The Dutch East India Company intended to stop the Portuguese trade in sandalwood and to monopolize it for themselves. As reported by the Governor-General Jan Pieterszoon Coen:
No one should be allowed to trade on Timor except at the fort on Solor. It will need a few ships to police the area, but it is worth all of that. With this sandalwood we can force the Chinese to trade us their silk.
I climb the cement steps leading from the road up to the ruins of Fort Henricus which is located on a small ridge overlooking the Solor Strait. At the top I stop to catch my breath and look down to the boats tied up in the small fishing village below and across the water to the island of Adonara. The massive forward bulwarks of Fort Henricus are completely overgrown and shaded by two or three large banyan or fig trees whose gnarled, sinewy roots have tangled themselves around its walls. Although partially destroyed by an earthquake some of the walls still stand, their basalt blocks held up by the roots and vines that encircle them. Some cleared land behind the bulwarks shows the outline of the fort where its foundation stones still stand above ground level. To my surprise I step over an ancient cannon lying half-buried in the dirt floor of the fort. Kneeling down I scratch away the dirt but cannot determine whether it is of Portuguese or Dutch origin.
I have a Dutch plan of the fort from the 1600s and spend some time trying to reconcile the plan with the ruins of the fort and the surrounding terrain. The plan shows the fort complete with its cannon, lying inside a larger walled settlement area complete with a church, houses and beside them a watercourse running to the sea, with native villages and a smoking volcano in the distant hills. There is now a small community who have built their homes within the levelled ground of the fort. Mustapha tells me there have been plans in the past to reconstruct the fort as a tourist attraction but whenever officials arrive from Jakarta to study the fort and make plans for this work, their access is blocked by the local residents.
Dutch plan of Fort Henricus
After the Dutch captured the Solor fort in 1613, the terms of the surrender allowed its Portuguese occupants to leave for Malacca. However, it seems that the majority of the population of Solor, including their priests, only moved across the Flores Strait to settle in Larantuka. Over the years this settlement became the base for independent traders sailing to Timor to collect sandalwood and attracted deserters from the Portuguese or the Dutch East India Company, Chinese smugglers and Eurasian cutthroats. Some of the Portuguese may have arrived in India with Vasco da Gama and after generations of mixing with Indians, Chinese, Malays and Ambonese they found their way to Larantuka. These outcasts of the islands, answerable only to themselves, were able to live in Larantuka with their native consorts free of any Crown or Compagnie control. They came to be called Larantuqueiros and could be variously described as free traders, freebooters, pirates, buccaneers, swashbucklers, corsairs or privateers.
Jan de Hornay, the Dutch commander of Fort Henricus, began dealing in sandalwood for his own account. Suspected of corruption by the VOC, he deserted his post on Solor in 1629 taking with him 26,000 guilders and a number of ivory tusks which were valuable currency in the eastern islands. His desertion to join the Larantuqueiros and the general lack of morale amongst the defenders of Fort Henricus led the Dutch to abandon the fort. In Larantuka, Jan de Hornay married a Timorese woman with whom he had three children, Sara, Antonio and Francisco. This mixture of Timorese and European blood later allowed his son Antonio to move easily between Larantuka and the Portuguese settlement at Lifau Bay on Timor and to eventually become the ‘Uncrowned King of Timor’.
In theory Larantuka and the Larantuqueiros lived under the sovereignty of Portugal. In reality it was an independent fiefdom that came to be ruled by Jan de Horney and his sons and grandsons. They paid no duties or levies to the Portuguese Viceroy in Goa and fought the Dutch East India Company when their trading links with Timor were challenged. For the next 200 years this independent community was the dominant power in the eastern islands. Strangely, the Larantuqueiros were proudly Portuguese and considered themselves to be loyal vassals of the King of Portugal, a fiction that served them well in their contest with the VOC for control of the eastern islands, as surely the Dutch East India Company would not have hesitated to destroy a settlement full of rebels and outcasts. It must have suited the VOC to have them deal with the Timorese for in 1636 the Governor in Batavia wrote to the Directors in Holland stating:
Because of their longstanding and frequent trade with Macao the Portuguese are in a much better position than we to please the Timorese and also know much better how to deal with them … the most skilful traders in Timor have withdrawn to Larantuka, so that as a result the above named Portuguese are in a stronger position.
The Larantuqueiros continued their sandalwood trade with Timor. The trading season lasted from March to August as, with the arrival of the south-west monsoon, Lifau Bay on the north coast of Timor no longer provided a safe anchorage. This commerce was undertaken in smaller vessels called galliots manned by the Larantuqueiros and their native Christian allies. Over time the Larantuqueiros expanded their operations, first into the lucrative slave trade, collecting unfortunates from Timor, Sumba and Flores to be sold into the slave markets of Batavia, Malacca or Macau. Then into the even more lucrative trade in gunpowder, since all the raw materials such as sulphur from local volcanoes, saltpetre from caves filled with bat guano and charcoal from the forests were readily available around Larantuka.
After the Dutch conquest of Malacca in 1640 many of the Portuguese community moved from Malacca to Macassar in Sulawesi, and after the Dutch capture of Macassar in 1660 they then moved to Larantuka. They had carefully preserved the holy relics from the Church of San Domingo de Surian in Malacca, and Larantuka became the centre of Catholicism in Eastern Indonesia.
In the space of a few kilometres along the waterfront road I counted five different Catholic churches as well as the twelve Stations of the Cross in the public park on the waterfront. Stopping to rest in the park and enjoy the afternoon sea breeze, I have a long conversation with a Senhor Pereira. He tells me that 90 per cent of the population of Larantuka are Catholic and expresses his concern that their religion is under threat by the Muslim majority in Indonesia, especially on Java and Sumatra where there have been attacks on Christian churches. Today most people, including the proponents of each religion, see Islam and Christianity as being opposed, yet their history is quite different. Islam grew directly out of Christianity. Islam accepts much of the Old and New Testament and recognizes Jesus Christ as one of the great prophets (just not the son of God). Islam embodies many aspects of the early Christian world of the Middle East which have been lost in its modern Western incarnation. Before we part he insists I return in a few months for the Easter procession which is the biggest event in Larantuka.
The Easter procession starts the evening before Good Friday and is led by the members of the religious brotherhood, the Confreria da Reinja Rosario (Brotherhood of the Queen of the Rosary) whose obligation has been to protect the holy relics of the church and to maintain church worship in the absence of priests. The shrouded bearers of the coffin of Christ have their European equivalent in the Easter processions in Seville. Four Nicodemuses, wearing white shrouds, hoods, and tall red hats, garments resembling those used in the Middle Ages, carry the black covered coffin containing a sacred statue of the body of Christ in a slow procession around Larantuka. The coffin is accompanied by a statue of the Virgin Mary and thousands of the faithful, singing and carrying candles, including the Women of Jerusalem who sing a lamentation at each station, and the choir boys who are barefooted and carry the symbols of the Passion of our Lord – a sponge, a ladder, a cock, the hand that struck Jesus, the crown of thorns, the nails, and the Cross. All the prayers and responses during the Mass and procession are in an archaic Portuguese that has been passed down for centuries. Behind the procession comes the Sacristy containing the sacred objects of the church in gold, silver, ivory and wood, all of Portuguese origin and which have been transferred first from Malacca to Macassar, and then from Macassar to Larantuka.
We have a description of the Easter Procession from the first Catholic priest sent by the Dutch to Larantuka in 1861. Father Jan Sanders was obviously moved by the ceremony which had continued for hundreds of years, with or without a priest:
The Cross, covered with a black cloth, opens the row, followed by the drum, also covered with a black cloth. The members of the Confreria wear the opa or long white cloak, surrounded by six men who bear candles … Then the crowd follows, all with burning candles. After this, under a baldachin comes a ceremonial bed covered with a black cloth upon which the effigy of the deceased redeemer has been laid. This is surrounded by people carrying lanterns and preceded by a very neatly dressed boy, with a scroll in his hands. When the procession arrives at an armida, all stand still and kneel down. The boy is put on a bench. And there he sings with a clear voice and he opens a scroll, showing a life size image of the face of Christ. There is deadly silence, people are watching and listening as if they are responding to this invitation. As soon as he finishes, all fall upon the earth, singing ‘Misericordia Senhor, Misericordia’. This part of the ceremony is so simple and beautiful, so impressive, that I am not able to give a good description. One must see and hear this, this beautiful act of faith of these simple Christians in the silent night, illuminated by the clear moon of the tropical lands, in a wilderness, surrounded by thousands of unbelievers and heathens.
Walking back to the hotel that evening I am starving but cannot find anywhere that looks like a decent place to eat. The few eating places I pass are all dark, dingy and quite empty – which is not a good sign. Finally I stop at a roadside stall and have an excellent meal of martabak telor. A young man and his wife are busy running their stall. She prepares some dough from a flour and egg mixture. Holding a ball of the mixture he then repeatedly flings the dough until it is paper-thin and starts to cook it on a greased hotplate. The ingredients customers request such as ground beef, spices, garlic and onion are whisked together with an egg and poured onto the dough. When cooked he then folds it together, slices it, and serves it on a palm leaf wrapped in newspaper. The young couple seemed surprisingly well dressed and clean cut for this kind of occupation. While sitting on the stool provided and enjoying this delicious meal, I learn he is a university graduate who, unable to find suitable employment, is now supporting himself and his family by running a roadside stall.
Still on the way back to the hotel I pass a travel agent and decide to check on how I am going to get across the Savu Sea to West Timor. I find out there is an overnight ferry service to Kupang but the next departure is almost a week away. There are also flights every few days to Kupang and the next flight is tomorrow morning. ‘Is there a seat available?’ I enquire, ‘Yes, there is,’ is the response. I had planned to stay longer in Larantuka but thanks to the kindness of strangers I have already accomplished most of what I had wanted to do here, so I pay for the ticket.
I leave Larantuka thinking it should become a popular travel destination because of its great natural beauty and interesting culture, if only there were a few good hotels and some decent places to eat.
