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 CHAPTER XIV

The Black Tragedy of Amboina

HE great drama of English and Dutch ascendancy in Eastern seas is now rapidly moving towards its tragic dénouement. When the curtain lifts again nearly three years have passed since the gallant Courthope made his plunge to death near the scene of his hard-fought struggle for the honour of his country's flag. In the interval much has happened in the West to alter the current of Eastern events. The slow wheels of diplomacy revolving in England have ground out with many checks and much creaking that famous instrument known as the Treaty of Defence which was designed to set at rest the vexed controversies that for so long had disturbed the harmony of the representatives of the two races in the East. It had been received on its first promulgation in the theatre of war with manifestations of joy in the rival camps. The two fleets instead of falling upon each other in deadly combat, as they would inevitably have done in the absence 209