The “Spice Islands” refers to a group of islands in eastern Indonesia including Ambon, Halmahera, Buru, Seram, Tanimbar, Seram and Ternate. According to history, the Spice Islands became known to 16th century European merchants and traders who sent mariners on voyages to collect nutmeg, mace and cloves from the Spice Islands and return them to Europe.
The voyage between Europe and the Spice Islands was a long and arduous one. Many of the mariners never made it home.
It’s amazing that so many were willing to risk their lives on such long, treacherous voyages just to import some nutmeg, mace and cloves to European markets.
Don’t believe it! The stories about mariners risking their lives for nutmeg, mace and cloves are mostly bullshit.
I lived in that part of the world where the Spice Islands are found for a long time. In fact, I just returned from a vacation lasting a little more than three weeks in that area. Believe me, the true allure of the Spice Islands had nothing to do with nutmeg, mace and cloves. The true allure of the Spice Islands was (and still is) the delightful topical poontang found in great abundance in that part of the world. (tuscl.net )
No sensible man is going to sail for months across thousands of miles of dangerous, unpredictable seas for a little nutmeg, mace or cloves. Hell, most guys won’t even make a 10 minute run to the grocery store for their wives to get some eggs and bread. But if you were a sailor in England in the 16th or 17th century and were faced with a choice of staying behind in a dank, cold place like England where the sun rarely shined and the women were built like Clydesdales and often had as many lice as they had freckles, or could instead escape to a magical place where the sun always shined and the women looked like this (tuscl.net ), what the fuck would you do?
“Blimey, Matilda! It looks like we be running low on nutmeg! Methinks I’ll just pop over to the Spice Islands for some. If I survive the journey, God willing I shall be back in six to nine months!”
Yeah, right!
Often the sailors never returned. They were said to have been lost at sea or to have succumbed to strange new illnesses contracted in the Spice Islands.
Many of the sailors may simply have REFUSED to return to England.
Who can blame them? (tuscl.net photo.php?id=1512 ).
I was initially reluctant to come back to Texas after living in that magical region for so many years.
But when I did return to the Lone Star State,I brought home more than just a few suitcases full of nutmeg, mace and cloves. I brought home my third wife, my own Spice Island Girl who is now known as Mrs. Reverend Hornibastard and to our children as “Mama”.
Broken link in the original post corrected -
tuscl.net