These islands, belonging to Holland, are 130 miles to the S.E. of Amboyna, between Lat. 3.50. and 4.40. S. They are ten in number, viz. Banda Neira, Gonong Apee, Banda Lantoir, Pulo Ay or Way, Pulo Rondo or Pulo Room, Rosyngen, Pulo Pisang, Craka, Capella, and Sonangy.

Of these, Banda Neira is the seat of the supreme government. It is protected by one principal fortification, situated on the south side of the island, and consisting of a small square fort, with a wet ditch, and a horn-work towards the sea. This fortification, which is called Fort Napau, forms the chief defence of the Banda Islands. The troops are quartered, and the public granaries are kept in this fort; but the storehouses for the nutmegs and mace are on the outside, as well as the government-house. Above Fort Napau, on a neighbouring eminence, stands the castle of Belgica, an old pentagon, with round towers at the angles. It is surrounded with a wall, secured by small bastions, but has no ditch. It is said to have been built by the Portuguese.

Banda Lantoir or Great Banda is to the northward of Banda Neira. It is protected by a considerable fort, called Fort Hollandia, which also commands the harbour. At first view the situation of this fort appears preferable to Banda Neira for the residence of government, not only on account of its strong and commanding situation, but because the island is the largest as well as the richest in the produce of spices. Its unhealthiness has been found, however, to be a sufficient objection. The water is said to be bad, and the vapour which sometimes descends from the volcanic mountain of the neighbouring island, Gonong Apee, is represented as particularly noxious. Such fatal effects were produced by these causes, that when the Würtemberg Company formerly garrisoned the island, out of a hundred men eight died and forty fell sick in the course of two months. The numbers of decayed houses, also, which are seen in different parts of the island, show that the experiment of a settlement has already been tried, and has not been found successful. From the sea this island appears very high; its sides are steep, and from the top of them there is a sort of table-land, which extends nearly from one end of the island to the other.

Gonong Apee is to the northward of Banda Neira, and derives its name from a large volcano about 2000 feet above the level of the sea, which constantly emits smoke, and sometimes cinders and ashes, accompanied with a cracking noise. On the south side of this island are two forts, originally intended to defend the west channel of Lantoir harbour; but, owing to an eruption of the volcano in 1778, at the same time that a dreadful hurricane laid waste the island, the lava flowed down in such quantities as to form a considerable promontory between these batteries and the channel they were intended to defend, so that they are now in a great measure useless. This island is generally unproductive, its surface being covered with a quantity of sulphur and chalk. There is no vegetation whatever on upwards of one third of the eminence on which the volcano is situated.

Pulo Way is about nine miles to the westward of Gonong Apee, and is defended by a strong fort. It is esteemed the most healthy of the whole group, and produces abundance of nutmegs, of a kind superior in quality to those of the other islands. Pulo Rondo, or Pulo Room, is about four miles farther, in a somewhat more northerly direction. On this island the English had a factory, from which they were expelled by the Dutch about the period of the massacre of Amboya; and the island having been since abandoned, has become a wilderness. Rosyngen is about seven miles to the S.E. of Lantoir. It produces nutmegs, mace, yams, and subsistence for a few cattle. The convicts of Amboya were formerly kept on this island, and were compelled to cultivate the land for the use of the supreme government. Pulo Pisang is about two miles N.E. from Banda Neira, and yields some fine fruits, as well as nutmegs and mace. The other three islands are uninhabited, being little more than barren rocks. The Banda Islands were discovered in the year 1511 by the Portuguese, who immediately took possession of them in the name of their sovereign. About the year 1603 they were expelled by the Dutch. In 1608 the English, with the permission of the king, built a factory-house on Pulo Way, which the Dutch demolished as soon as the ship which brought out the factors returned to England. The natives of Banda, notwithstanding the opposition of the Dutch, assisted the English in forming a new colony; and shortly afterwards they, along with the natives of Lantoir, made a formal resignation of their respective islands to the new settlers. In 1620 Pulo Room and Pulo Way were added to the English dominions, and these cessions were confirmed by a treaty concluded between the English and the Dutch. But, in defiance of this treaty, the latter determined on the expulsion of their rivals from those islands, in the possession of which they appeared to be gradually establishing themselves. They accordingly attacked them with a strong force, seized their factories, magazines, and shipping, and, after stripping the factors naked, first whipped and then loaded them with irons. Some notion may be formed of the trade, then in its infancy, by the quantity of spices seized here, which amounted to 23,000 lbs. of mace and 150,000 lbs. of nutmegs. In 1654 the Dutch were compelled, by the firmness of Cromwell, to restore the island of Pulo Room, and to make satisfaction for the massacre at Ambayna. But the English settlers not being adequately supported from home, were unable to resist the power of their rivals, and the island was retaken by the Dutch in 1664. They retained undisturbed possession of their conquests in this quarter of the globe until the year 1796, when the Banda Islands, along with all the other Dutch colonies, were conquered by the British. They were restored by the treaty of Amiens in the year 1800, again captured, and finally restored by the treaty of Paris concluded in 1814.

In the space between Banda Lantoir and the islands of Banda Neira and Gonong Apec there is a very good harbour formed with entrances both from the E. and W., which enable vessels to enter it from either of the monsoons. These channels are well defended with several batteries, particularly the western one, which is very narrow. Between Gonong Apec and Banda Neira there is a third channel into this harbour from the N., but it is navigable only for small vessels.

The great articles of commerce in these islands are nutmegs and mace. The islands of Banda Neira, Banda Lantoir, and Pulo Ay, are exclusively devoted to the cultivation of the nutmeg; and the restrictions imposed by the government constitute a monopoly of this produce in the hands of the Dutch East Company. The laws and regulations generally established are calculated to support and promote the monopoly of these products rather than the happiness of the people or the improvement of the country. The annual produce amounts to about 420,000 lbs. of nutmegs and 140,000 lbs. of mace. They are divided into large plantations, to each of which a certain number of slaves or convicts is attached. In 1840 the population was 5081, distributed as follows:—In Banda Neira and Gonong Apec, 1223; Lantoir, 372; Pulo Ay, 148; Pulo Room, 42; Rosyngen, 84; slaves, 2183; and convicts, 1029. See Temminck, L'Inde Archipelagique.

An account of the nutmeg tree and its cultivation is given under Myristica.