FEATURES
Features
The
Banda
Islands
班達島
Words David & Jackie Peers
Once fought over, now forgotten
曾是兵家必爭之地，現在被遺忘了
If you sail to Banda Neira, Indonesia, you will soon meet Abba. Not the Swedish pop group, or their aspiring impersonators,
but the young genial host of the Mutiara Guest House, who has a good eye for business. Through his understanding of
what Westerners enjoy, his projects are able to prosper in a way that must be the envy of his laidback, charming, but not
very economically savvy fellow islanders. When we were there last September, he was just putting the finishing touches on
his impressive restoration of a huge Dutch mansion, local ship wrights were at work upon a traditionally built craft that he’ll
employ for excursions and dive trips, carts of his nutmeg crop were being wheeled down to the port and, best of all, his
attractive wife Dilla was busy preparing the nightly feast at the Guest House.
如果你航行到印尼班達島，你就會遇見Abba。不是那隊瑞典樂隊，也不是模仿他們的人，而是年輕又極具生意頭腦的珍珠旅館
（Mutiara Guest House）主人。 他深明西方人的喜好，他的計劃總是令他收入穩定，他的生活既悠閒又參與魅力，相信會令島
上其他不太精通經濟的居民羨慕不已。我們在9月抵達當地時，他剛完成一座荷蘭式公寓的重建工作，而當地的造船工人正在一艘
傳統建築的船上工作，他將會用這艘船來進行導賞和潛水之旅。盛載著他的肉荳蔻（Myristica Fragrans）的車被推到港口，而最
好的是，他美麗的妻子Dilla正忙於為旅館晚上的盛宴做準備。
Often a dozen or so of us would gather in comradely fashion at a shared table and enjoy a soup garnished with local
spices, a huge baked fish, eggplant smothered with almond sauce and many other delectable dishes, while looking out
on the little courtyard shaded by nutmeg trees. And in the spacious lounge of the Guest House you can relax for hours in
a comfortable chair and delve into the impressive library of books detailing the history of the Banda Islands—which is an
extraordinary history indeed, and a major incentive for sailing to these tiny, remote and now insignificant islands which in
times past spurred so much European navigation and exploration.
36 Hebe jebes • JAN/FEB 2015
我們大伙兒通常會聚在一起，一邊享用配上當地香料的湯、一尾大烤魚、杏仁醬茄子和其他許多美味的菜餚，一邊望著種滿了肉
荳蔻樹的小花園。在寬敞的旅館休憩室，你可以在舒適的大椅上悠閒地坐上數小時，或是翻看有關班達島歷史的藏書—班達島有
著獨特的歷史，這個細小又偏遠的島嶼，過去吸引了無數歐洲航行探險家到訪。
班達島是摩鹿加群島，或叫香料群島的最偏遠島嶼，這個地方多個世紀以來都是商賈匯聚之地。最初是中國人，後來是阿拉伯商
旅，之後是威尼斯人，透過香料貿易建立