 To keep the archipelago productive, the VOC repopulated the islands (including Api), mostly with slaves taken from the rest of modern-day Indonesia, India, the coast of China, working under command of Dutch planters ("perkeniers").The original natives were also enslaved and were ordered to teach the newcomers about nutmeg and mace agriculture.The treatment of the slaves was severe—the native Bandanese population dropped to one hundred by 1681, and 200 slaves were imported annually to keep the slave population steady at 4,000..

Volcanic eruptions of Gunung Api were sometimes explosive; several lava flows reached the coast.