Banda warriors enjoy a meal on the eve of battle
Langenes, Barent / Anoniem / Anonymous
Banda warriors enjoy a meal on the eve of battle.
Top right: No: 8.
The second Dutch expedition to the Indies, led by Jacob van Neck and Wijbrant van Warwijck, set sail from the Dutch Republic in May 1598 and arrived in Bantam, on West Java, towards the end of that same year. From Bantam, four vessels sailed on to the Moluccas. Two of these, the Gelderland and Zeeland subsequently visited the Banda islands from Ambon, spending several months from March to July 1599. The objective was to trade to obtain cloves and nutmeg. After a difficult start, the Dutch managed to acquire sizable stocks of the products by establishing good contacts on Banda Neira, and they left some personnel to man a lodge there.
On the Banda Islands, the Dutch had occasion to witness the often violent rivalries that existed within the group of islands. This print shows a gathering of the warriors of Neira and their allies on the eve of an attack on the more northerly settlement of Labataka. Food is being served and a cakalele, a war dance, is performed.
Cf. Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, inv. nr. RP-P-OB-75-393.
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