Spanish East Indies while Spanish-Mexican colonists brought with them Hispanic and indigenous Mexican customs, religion, languages, foods, and cultural traditions to the Philippines, Guam, and the Mariana Islands. In 1606, the Spaniards established trade links with the Maluku Islands, which continued until 1663. Contacts with Japan were also established and Sebastián Vizcaíno was sent as ambassador in 1611, until Japan closed its trading post in 1630. In northeastern Taiwan, the Spaniards built Fort Santo Domingo near Keelung in 1626 and a mission in Tamsui in 1628, which they occupied until 1642. Several Pacific islands were visited by Spanish ships in the 16th century,
East Indies theatre of the French Revolutionary Wars French Convention had abolished slavery in August 1794 almost plunged the island into civil war, and only the intervention of Governor Malartic prevented conflict. The Dutch Empire held the Dutch Cape Colony, Dutch Ceylon and the Dutch East Indies. The latter, now Indonesia, was governed by the Dutch East India Company from the highly lucrative port of Batavia. Batavia was the centre of East Asian trade, reaching as far as Nagasaki in Edo period Japan, supported by other towns and ports including Sourabaya and Griessie. The Cape Colony at the Southern tip of Africa was far less significant, acting principally