Chinese New Year's festival, at which time every one stays up
nearly all night feasting at the Chinamen's houses and seeing the
processions. This prevented any lives being lost, as every one
ran out of doors at the first shock, which was not very severe.
The second, a few minutes afterwards, threw down a great many
houses, and others, which continued all night and part of the
next day, completed the devastation. The line of disturbance was
very narrow, so that the native town a mile to the east scarcely
suffered at all. The wave passed from north to south, through the
islands of Tidore and Makian, and terminated in Batchian, where
it was not felt till four the following afternoon, thus taking no
less than sixteen hours to travel a hundred miles, or about six
miles an hour. It is singular that on this occasion there was no
rushing up of the tide, or other commotion of the sea, as is
usually the case during great earthquakes.

The people of Ternate are of three well-marked races the Ternate
Malays, the Orang Sirani, and the Dutch. The first are an
intrusive Malay race somewhat allied to the Macassar people, who
settled in the country at a very early epoch, drove out the
indigenes, who were no doubt the same as those of the adjacent
mainland of Gilolo, and established a monarchy. They perhaps
obtained many of their wives from the natives, which will account
for the extraordinary language they speak--in some respects
closely allied to that of the natives of Gilolo, while it
contains much that points to a Malayan origin. To most of these
people the Malay language is quite unintelligible, although such
as are engaged in trade are obliged to acquire it. "Orang
Sirani," or Nazarenes, is the name given by the Malays to the
Christian descendants of the Portuguese, who resemble those of