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THE INDIAN EMPIRE :
ITS PEOPLE, HISTORY, AND PRODUCTS.
By the HON. SIB W. W. HUNTER, K.C.S.I., C.S.I., C.I.E., LL.D.,
Member of the Viceroy's Legislative Council,
Director-General of Statistics to the Government of India.
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ESSAYS ON THE SACRED LANGUAGE, WRITINGS,
AND RELIGION OF THE PARSIS.
T,\ MARTIN IIAUG, Pil.D.,
Lute of the T'niversities of Tubingen. Cottingen, and Bonn ; Superintendent
-..nskrit Studies, and Professor of Sanskrit in the Poona College.
KDITID AND ENI AK<;I:I> UY DR. E. W. WEST.
To which is added a liiouraphical Memoir of the late Dr. HAUG
l.y Prof. !:. P. El
I. History of tlie Researches into the Sacred Writings and Religion of the
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II. 1 : ilu: Pani Scripture*,
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1 V. Tin- Zoroastrian Keligion, as to its Origin and Development.
1 Writings, :ui<l Religion of tlie. 1'arsis,' liy the
i l.y l>r. I-;, w. Wen. The author Intended, on his return
iiid the materials contained in this work into a comprehensive,
the XoioHstrian religion, hut the design was frustrated l>y his untimely
form, a history of tlm researches
f tlie 1'arsis from the earliest t lines down to
the pi n on the Ian :ua^es of the I'arsi Srript ures, a translation
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TEXTS FROM THE BUDDHIST CANON
COMMONLY KNOWN AS " DHAMMAPADA."
With. Arroinjminjiny Narratives.
Translated from the Chines,- l>y S. 1JEAL, B.A., Professor of Chinese,
t'niversity C'olk-ge, London.
The Dhatnmapadn, as hitherto known by the Pali Text Edition, ns edited
i .usholl, by Max Mailer's English, and Albrecht Weber's (Jerman
i.itions, consists only of twenty-six chapters or sections, whilst the
Chinese version, or rather recension, as now translated by Mr. P.eal, con-
..f thirty-nine sections. The students of Pali who possess Eausboll's
the above named translations, will therefore needs want
Mr. 1 : dering of the Ch: n ; the thirteen above-
.us not being accessible to them in any other foi in ;
for, even if they understand Chinese, the Chinese original would be un-
ile l-y them.
.f tin; Chinese translation is a most valuable aid ;
[t I ' mis authentic texts gathered from ancient
led with MUM, incident in tlie hist-
throw ui>oii
.d which th. tt. and njion
under of the religion. i
i]>ally j.arai -.iplicity of the tales and 1 i
which they h upon
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1 rule
rthi! minds of myriads. :ind which is now noTninally
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IIOHC fouudcr denied a Gud, now woi-ships that fouu .
' Scotnnan.
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THE HISTORY OF INDIAN LITERATURE.
BY ALBRECHT WEIJKIl.
Translated from the Second German Edition by JOHN MANN, M. A., and
THKODOK ZACHAKIAK, Ph.D., with the sanction of the Author.
Dr. BlJHLER, Inspector of Schools in India, writes: "When I was Pro-
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A SKETCH OF
THE MODERN LANGUAGES OF THE EAST INDIES.
BY ROBERT N. CUST.
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THE BIRTH OF THE WAR-GOD.
A Poem. BY KALIDASA.
Translated from the Sanskrit into English Verse by
RALPH T. H. GRIFFITH, M.A.
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twenty-six years ago, and which we are glad to see made once more accessible."
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A CLASSICAL DICTIONARY OF HINDU MYTHOLOGY
AND RELIGION, GEOGRAPHY, HISTORY, AND
LITERATURE.
r.v .iniix nmvsox, M.H.A.S.,
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SELECTIONS FROM THE KORAN.
]!Y EDWARD WILLIAM LANE,
f " The Thousand and One Nights ; " .Vc., ka.
.\ Xe\v Edition, Revised ;iiid Enlarged, with an Introduction by
STANLKV LANK POOLE.
"... lias lieen long esteemed in this country as the compilation of one of the
ilo scholars of the time, the late. Mr. I/ine, the well-known translator of
\rahian Nights.' . . . The present editor has enhanced the value of his
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MODERN INDIA AND THE INDIANS,
P.KING A SERIES OF IMPRESSIONS, NOTES, AND ESSAYS.
P.Y MONIER WILLIAMS, D.C.L.,
Hon. I.F.. !>. of the University of Calcutta, Hon. Member of the Ilombay Asiatic
i .Sanskrit in the University of Oxford
Third Edition, revised and au-mented by considerable Additions,
with Illustrations and a Map.
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Williams has brouglit before the public in a pleasant form m inners
bfeota than we c'ver rememl
l-'.n-lisliman for (],;
ith which we should be
r Hindu,
r his clojir ex]H,sition of their manners, their ereeds, and
necessities." Time*.
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METRICAL TRANSLATIONS FROM SANSKRIT
WRITERS.
:i an Introduction, many Prose Versions, and Parallel Passages from
Classical Authors.
Mrn;. r.u.;.. D.O.L., LL.D., IM..I).
"... A- utroduet.ion to Hindu poetrv." Tn>,<x.
\ v.,lume which m., .iij| ;c uf 1]lc ro .U,H,, lls
:iio legendary lore of the beat Sanskrit writer* "
rj/A Daily Review.
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THE GULISTAN;
OR, ROSE GAHDKN <>K SIIKKH MUSHLIU'D-DIN SADI OF Sllli: AZ.
Translated for the First Time into Prose and Verse, with an Introductory
Preface, and a Life of the Author, from the Atish K;id;ih,
BY KDNVAIM) I 1 ,. KASTWICK, C.B., M.A., F.R.S., M.R.A.S.
" It Is a very fair rendering of the original. "Times.
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MISCELLANEOUS ESSAYS RELATING TO INDIAN
SUBJECTS.
Br BRIAN HOUGHTON HODGSON, ESQ., F.K.S.,
Late of the Bengal Civil Service ; Corresponding Member of the Institute ; Chevalier
of the Legion of Honour ; late British Minister at the Court of Nepal, &c., &c.
CONTENTS Oh VOL. I.
SECTION I. On the Kocch, B6d6, and Dhnnal Tribes. Part I. Vocabulary.
Part II. Grammar. Part III. Their Origin, Location, Numbers, Creed, Customs,
Character, and Condition, with a General Description of the Climate they dwell in.
Appendix.
SECTION II. On Himalayan Ethnology. I. Comparative Vocabulary of the Lan-
guages of the Broken Tribes of Ne"pal. II. Vocabulary of the Dialects of the Kiranti
:age. III. Grammatical Analysis of the Vayu Language. The Vayu Grammar.
-IV. Analyst* of the BAbtog Dialect ot the Kinmti Language. The Billing Gram-
mar. V. On the V.-iyu or H;iyu Iribe of the Central Himalaya. VI. On tne Kiranti
Tribe of the Central Himalaya.
CONTENTS OF VOL. II.
SECTION III. On the Aborigines of North-Eastern India. Comparative Vocabulary
of the Tibetan, B6d6, and Garo Tongues.
SECTION IV. Aborigines of the North-Eastern Frontier.
SECTION V. Aborigines of the Eastern Frontier.
SECTION VI. The Indo-Chinese Borderers, and their connection with the Hima-
layans and Tibetans. Comparative Vocabulary of Indo-Chinese Borderers in Arakun.
Comparative Vocabulary ot Indo-Chinese Borderers in Tenasserim.
SECTION VII. The Mongolian Affinities of the Caucasians. Comparison and Ana-
lysis of Caucasian and Mongolian Words.
SECTION VIII. Physical Type of Tibetans.
SECTION IX. The Aborigines of Central India. Comparative Vocabulary of the
Aboriginal Languages of Central India. Aborigines of the Eastern Ghats. Vocabu-
lary of some of the Dialects of the Hill and Wandering Tribes in the Northern Sircars.
Aborigines of the Nilgiris, with Remarks on their Affinities. Supplement to the
Niigirian Vocabularies. The Aborigines of Southern India and Ceylon.
M.< TION X. Route of Nepalese Mission to Pekin, with Remarks on the Water-
shed and Plateau of Tibet.
SECTION XL Route from Kathmandii, the Capital of Nepal, to Darjeeling in
Sikim. Memorandum relative to the Seven Cosis of Nepal.
SECTION XII. Some Accounts of the Systems of Law and Police as recognised in
the State of Nepal.
SECTION XIII. The Native Method of making the Paper denominated Hindustan,
Nepalese.
SECTION XIV. Pre-eminence of the Vernaculars ; or, the Anglicists Answered ;
Being Letters on the Education of the People of India.
" For the study of the less-known races of India Mr. Brian Hodgson's 'Miscellane-
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THE LIFE OR LEGEND OF GAUDAMA,
THE BUDDHA OF THE BURMESE. With Annotations.
The Ways to Neibban, and Notice on the Phongyies or Burmese Monks.
BY THE EIGHT REV. P. BIGANDET,
Bi.shop of Ramatha, Vicar-Apostolic of Ava and Pegu.
"The work is furnished with copious notes, which not only illustrate the subject-
<ut form a perfect encyclopedia of Buddhist lore." Tinn-*.
' A work which will furnish Kuropean students of Buddhism with a most valuable
help in the prosecution of their investigations." Edinburgh Daily i\
11 Kishop Migandet's invaluable work." Indian Antlqim ,-11.
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CHINESE BUDDHISM.
A VOLUME OF SKETCHES, HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL.
BY J. EDKINS, D.D.
Author of "China's Place in Philology," "Religion in China," &c., &c.
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who are concerned in the propagation of Christianity. Dr. Kdkins notices in terms
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English writers." liecord.
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LINGUISTIC AND ORIENTAL ESSAYS.
WKITTKX FROM THE YEAR 1846 TO 1878.
BY KOBKUT NEEDHAM CUST,
Late Member of Her Majesty's Indian Civil Service; Hon. Secretary to
the Royal Asiatic Society;
and Author of " The Modern Languages of the East Indies."
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with so much learning, sympathy, and literary talent." Ac"-
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" ]|i unt, of information. The result ..f thirty-five years
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Mbit such a thorough acquaintance with the history and ann.pnties of India
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untry and the people which gives such a vividness
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BUDDHIST BIRTH STORIES; or, Jataka Tales.
The Oldest Collection of Folk-lore Extant :
BEING THE JATAKATTHAVANN ANA,
For the first time Edited in the original Tali.
IiY V. FAUSBOLL ;
And Translated by T. W. RHYS DAVIDS.
Translation. Volume I.
"These are talcs supposed to have been told by the Buddha of what he had seen
and heard in his previous births. They are probably the nearest representatives
of the original Aryan stories from which sprang the folk-lore of Europe as well -is
India. Tne introduction contains a most interesting disquisition on the migrations
of these fables, tracing their reappearance in the various groups of folk-lore legends.
Among other old friends, we meet with a version of the Judgment of Solomon." Times.
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this subject by his able article on Buddhism in the new edition of the ' Encyclopaedia
Britannica.'" Leeds Mercury.
" All who are interested in Buddhist literature ought to feel deeply indebted to
Mr. Rhys Davids. His well-established reputation as a Pali scholar is a sufficient
guarantee for the fidelity of his version, and the style of his translations is deserving
of high praise." Academy.
11 No more competent expositor of Buddhism could be found than Mr. Rhys Davids.
In the Jataka book we have, then, a priceless record of the earliest imaginative
literature of our race ; and ... it presents to us a nearly complete picture of the
social life and customs and popular beliefs of the common people ot Aryan tribes,
closely related to ourselves, just as they were passing through the first stages of
civilisation." St. James't Gazette.
Post 8vo, pp. xxviii. 362, cloth, price 143.
A TALMUDIC MISCELLANY;
OR, A THOUSAND AND ONE EXTRACTS FROM THE TALMUD,
THE MIDRASHIM, AND THE KABBALAH.
Compiled and Translated by PAUL ISAAC HERSHON,
Author of " Genesis According to the Talmud,".. &c.
With Notes and Copious Indexes.
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and indifferent, and especially extracts that throw light upon the Scriptures."
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THE CLASSICAL POETRY OF THE JAPANESE.
BY BASIL HALL CHAMBERLAIN,
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; studying the poetical literal mv of tlie Japanese, and rendering eharacteristic
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and in the volume before us we have a selection from that poetry rendered into
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THE HISTORY OF ESARHADDON (Son of Sennacherib),
KING OF ASSYRIA, B.C. 681-668.
Translated from the Cuneiform Inscriptions upon Cylinders and Tablets in
the British Museum Collection ; together with a Grammatical Analysis
of each Word, Explanations of the Ideographs by Extracts from the
Bi-Lingual Syllabaries, and List of Eponyms, &c.
By ERNEST A. BUDGE, B.A., M.R.A.S.,
Assyrian Exhibitioner, Christ's College, Cambridge.
"Students of scriptural archaeology will also appreciate the 'History of Esar-
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THE MESNEVI
(Usually known as THE MESNEVIYI SHERIF, or HOLY MESNEVI)
OF
MKVLANA (OUR LORD) JELALU 'D-DIN MUHAMMED ER-RUMI.
Book the First.
Together with some Account of the Life and Acts of the Author,
of In it Ancestors, and of his Descendants.
Illustrated by a Selection of Characteristic Anecdotes, as Collected
by their Historian,
MEVLAXA RHKMHU-'D-DIN AHMED, EL EFLAKI, EL 'ARIFI.
Translated, and the Poetry Versilinl, in English,
BY .IAMKS W. REDHOUSE, M.R.A.S., &c.
" \ complete treasury of occult Oriental lore." Saturday Review.
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EASTEKN PROVERBS AND EMBLEMS
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" Altogether, it is quite u feast of good things." Globe.
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INDIAN POETRY;
Containing a New Edition of the " Indian Song of Songs," from the Sanscrit
of the "Gita Govinda" of Jayadeva ; Two Books from "The Iliad of
India" (Mahabharata), "Proverbial Wisdom" from the Shlokas of the
Hitopadesa, and other Oriental Poems.
BY EDWIN ARNOLD, C.S.I., Author of "The Light of Asia."
" In this new volume of Messrs. Trubner's Oriental Series, Mr. Edwin Arnold does
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the power of Indian poetry to stir European emotions. The ' Indian Song of Songs '
is not unknown to scholars. Mr. Arnold will have introduced it among popular
English poems. Nothing could be more graceful and delicate than the .shades by
which Krishna is portrayed in the gradual process of being weaned by the love of
' Beautiful Radha, jasmine-bosomed Radha,'
from the allurements of the forest nymphs, in whom the five senses are typified."
Time*.
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" The translator, while producing a very enjoyable poem, has adhered with toler-
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"We certainly wish Mr. Arnold success in his attempt 'to popularise Indian
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THE MIND OF MENCIUS ;
OR, POLITICAL ECONOMY FOUNDED UPON MORAL
PHILOSOPHY.
A SYSTEMATIC DIGEST OF THE DOCTRINES OF THE CHINESE PHILOSOPHER
MENCIUS.
Translated from the Original Text and Classified, with
Comments and Explanations,
By the REV. ERNST FABER, Rhenish Mission Society.
Translated from the German, with Additional Notes,
By the REV. A. B. HUTCHINSON, C.M.S., Church Mission, Hong Kong.
" Mr. Faber is already well known in the field of Chinese studies by his digest of
the doctrines of Confucius. The value of this work will be perceived when it is
remembered that at no time since relations commenced between China and the
West has the former been so powerful we had almost said aggressive as now.
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11 in a trans-
to pun 1 jiliil..
pliilo-
ould be ditlii
phical
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THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA AND THE EARLY
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I. Some Accounts of Quedah. By Michael Topping.
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THE SATAKAS OF BHARTRIHARI.
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ANCIENT PROVERBS AND MAXIMS FROM BURMESE
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MASNAVI I MA' NAVI:
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THE LIFE OF HIUEN TSIANG.
BY THE SHAMANS HWUI LI AND YEN-TSUNG.
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is a valuable sequel to the Si-yu-ki, correcting and illustrating it in many
particulars.
Post 8vo.
A SKETCH OF THE MODERN LANGUAGES OF
OCEANIA.
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Author of "Modern Languages of the East," "Modern Languages of
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ESSAYS ON THE INTERCOURSE OF THE CHINESE
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];v E. BRETSCHNEIDER, M.D.,
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MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS
RELATING TO
INDO-CHINA
AND THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.
REPRINTED FOR THE STRAITS BRANCH OF THE
ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY
FROM THE "JOURNALS" OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC, BENGAL ASIATIC,
AND ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETIES; THE "TRANSACTIONS"
AND "JOURNAL" OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BAT AVI A;
AND THE "MALAYAN MISCELLANIES."
SECOND SERIES.
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EDITORIAL NOTE.
IN the Second Series of Papers reprinted for the Straits Branch
of the Royal Asiatic Society the Editor has been guided by the
same principles and considerations which he had laid down for
himself in the previous volumes. He may, therefore, confine
himself in this Note to a few remarks in reference to some of the
Papers of which the present series consists.
The two articles by the late J. R. Logan, who did so much for
literary research in connection with Malaisia, were selected as
supplementing his various contributions to the "Journal of the
Indian Archipelago," a serial well known and highly appreciated
throughout the Straits.
To the courtesy of Mr. W. P. Groene veldt, of Batavia, the
Council of the above-mentioned Society is beholden for the
permission to incorporate in the series a new and carefully
revised edition of his valuable monograph on the Malayan
Archipelago and Malacca, from Chinese sources.
Dr. H. N. van der Tuuk's Essay on the Malagasy language,
though seemingly far afield and out of place in a collection of
opuscula dealing with Malaisia in its restricted sense, was thought
to possess a strong claim to consideration because of its recog-
nized importance as forming the foundation and corner-stone of a
scientific intercomparison of the Malayan languages as a class.
Originally intended as the first instalment of a more compre-
hensive treatise, but not carried further on account of the author's
vi EDITORIAL NOTE.
return to the Archipelago, this Essay, consisting as it does of
nothing but an introduction and a chapter on phonology, initiates,
even in its fragmentary form, an era in this department of com-
parative linguistics. It appeared in 1865 ; but the canons estab-
lished in it have but in recent years been confirmed, improved
upon and extended.
No apology is needed for the re-issue of the English translation
(revised from the Dutch original) of Friederich's " Preliminary
Account of the Island of Bali." The continued existence, in
unabated vitality, of a nationalized Hinduism, blended with
pre-Hindu customs and practices, among a spirited and vigorous
people, is not only, in the words of Sir Stamford Raffles,* quoted
by Count Limburg Stirum in his recent graphic address on Bali,
"a kind of commentary on the ancient condition of the natives
of Java," it allows us also to draw a fair inference as to the kind
of Hinduism at one time prevailing in other parts of Malaisia less
favoured by historical records, where ruthless Islam has since
obliterated to a great extent the traces of other creeds, traditions,
and institutions. It is indeed essential to a proper understand-
ing and estimate of the religious and social condition of the
various and wide-spread Malayan tribes that the influence which
Hindu civilization has, in a greater or lesser degree, exerted upon
them, should as far as possible be investigated. To this end,
Friederich's "Preliminary Account," though written forty years
ago, still supplies the greatest number of facts and materials.
Considering that it bristles with names and terms, both Hindu
and vernacular, a certain inconsistency in their transliteration has
been the less avoidable because the Balinese alphabet is but ill
* History of Java (London, 1817), II., App. p. ccxxxvi. ; see also Discourse
delivered by him before the Asiatic Society of Batavia on the nth of Sept.
1815 (in " Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap," 2nd ed., vol.
viii. [1826], p. 46); Proceedings of the " Tijdschrift van het Nederlandsch
Aardrijkskundig Genootschap " for 1887, P- 4-
EDITORIAL NOTE. vii
adapted for the correct reproduction of Indian words. However,
the Indian spelling will be found to have been generally adhered
to in the case of Hindu names. It would have been desirable to
give after the dry details of Friederich's Essay a translation of
Count Limburg Stirum's picturesque and most interesting sketch
of the visit he paid to the island but last year. But the part of
the Proceedings of the Dutch Geographical Society in which his
address is given, was not published till several months after
Friederich's article was in type. It must, therefore, suffice to
have drawn attention to that address.
The unaltered reproduction, from the " Malayan Miscellanies/'
of Dr. W. Jack's paper on Malayan Plants had for some time
been in type when the Editor's attention was called by Sir J. D.
Hooker to the fact of two reprints being already in existence
viz., in his father's "Botanical Miscellany" (London, 1830-31),
vol. i. 270-90; vol. ii. 60-89; an d i n the "Calcutta Journal
of Natural History," vol. iv. (1844), 1-62; 159-231; 305-71.
But while it may be assumed that these reprints are not readily
accessible in the Straits, their very existence would attest the
value of that paper if we had not also the concurrent testimony
of Sir Stamford Raffles and Dr. W. Griffith as to the excellence
of Dr. Jack's botanical researches. The present reprint, however,
has also received welcome additions from two quarters. The
vernacular names have been subjected to a philological examina-
tion by the Hon. D. F. A. Hervey, and Sir J. D. Hooker has
kindly supplied the modern names of the plants and the references
to the works in which they are described. To both scholars the
Editor tenders his heartfelt thanks. In conclusion, the follow-
ing answer which Sir Joseph has given to a query respecting the
frequent discrepancies between Jack's and Filet's nomenclature
is well worth transcribing : " To do justice to either Jack or Filet,
without a critical knowledge of the Flora of the Peninsula and
viii EDITORIAL NOTE.
Sumatra, is impossible. It is a task to be undertaken when the
Flora of the Peninsula is put in hand, as I hope it will be, by
Dr. King. I have urged that the Government of the 'Straits
Settlements' should contribute the funds for such a Flora; and
in case of its being undertaken, I would suggest that an intelli-
gent educated native, with an eye for, and a knowledge of, the
important trees, shrubs, &c., should be consulted as to every
native name adopted in the work. I know by experience how
little trust is to be put in native names collected anyhow, and
that the credit given to natives for a really trustworthy native
nomenclature is, beyond a certain point, visionary."
R. ROST.
LONDON, September 1887.
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
PAGE
I. Journal of an Excursion from Singapur to Malacca and Pinang.
By J. R. Logan, Esq 1-20
II. The Rocks of Pulo Ubin. By the same .... 21-71
III. Notes on some Species of Malayan Amphibia and Reptilia.
By Dr. F. Stoliczka 72-87
IV. On the Land-Shells of Penang Island. By the same . . 87-125
V. Notes on the Malay Archipelago and Malacca. By W. P.
Groeneveldt, Esq 126-262
VI. Outlines of a Grammar of the Malagasy Language. By Dr.
H. N. van der Tuuk 263-286
VII. Account of the Mantras. By the Rev. Father Borie . . 286-307
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOL. I.
Plate XI to face p. 77
Plate A 88
Plates I., II., Ill ,,125
Outline Map of the Malay Archipelago . . . ,,262
MISCELLANEOUS ESSAYS.
i.
JOURNAL OF AN EXCURSION FROM
SINGAPUR TO MALACCA AND PIN AN G.
By J. R. LOGAN, ESQ.
[From the "Journal of the Royal Geographical Society," vol. xvi. p. 304-24].
THE following notes were written in the course of a visit to
Malacca and Pinang, in March, 1845. After a residence of some
years in the island of Pinang, the writer removed to the younger
and more thriving settlement of Singapiir ; and having obtained a
short period of leisure, after two years of unremitted labour there,
he employed that interval in a visit to Malacca for professional
purposes, extending his voyage to Pinang. These notes were
principally written on the spur of the moment for the amusement
of distant friends ; and I have only made some slight additions
to render them more intelligible to those who are not so familiar
with the Straits as my "constant correspondents" in Scotland by
this time probably are, in the belief that, though but skimmings
from the surface, they may perhaps be found not to be wholly
uninteresting to those who are desirous of becoming more
familiarly acquainted with our settlements in the Eastern Archi-
pelago.
Malacca, March 8, 1845. Yesterday I was in the midst of
all the bustle of the Commercial Square at Singapiir, and am
now in perfect solitude on a little open bangala on the sea-side,
three miles from the quiet old town of Malacca. I left Singapiir
about five o'clock yesterday afternoon in the new steamer Fire
Queen, which has just begun to ply between Calcutta and the
settlements on the Straits. Among my fellow-passengers there
were two gentlemen from S. America ; one of them, extensively
concerned in the guano trade, had brought a quantity of guano
SECOND SERIES. VOL. I. B
2 JOURNAL OF AN EXCURSION FROM
from the islands near the S. American coast to China, thinking
that it might be sold there advantageously; but the speculation
seems not to have met with the expected success. The Chinese
husbandmen, who never let anything be wasted which can serve as
manure, had no great need of guano ; and in the Straits of Singa-
piir, or close upon their northern entrance, there are islands of our
own which yield large supplies of a substance very serviceable, if
less rich than the American guano. The other passenger to
whom I alluded above was a captain from China, engaged in the
opium traffic, who had much to tell of Hong Kong. There were
also two other passengers, Dutch gentlemen from Batavia, who
were indefatigable in examining charts, reading Newbold, and
consulting the Pinang Almanack and Directory. One of the
latter is a well-informed and zealous officer in the Dutch navy,
the Baron Melville de Carnbee, who has been engaged for the
last ten years in scientific surveys of the Dutch islands, and is now
on his way to Europe in order to publish large maps of all the
eastern possessions of the Netherlands (Neerlands Indie), with a
description of their volcanoes and mountains, the heights of which
have been ascertained barometrically or trigonometrically. From
him I learned that all the west coast of Sumatra, from Padang
northwards, has been accurately surveyed ; and that one of their
medical men, who lately passed a whole year in the country of the
Battas, is about to publish an account of what he saw, which, from
his talents, is likely to be very valuable. We reached Malacca at
half-past two P.M., having been above twenty-two hours steaming.
On landing, I proceeded to the house of H , a retired Chinese
merchant, reputed to be the wealthiest man in the Straits, whose
desire to consult me had occasioned my visit to Malacca. The
Chinese houses here, at least the two or three I have been in,
which are about the best in the place, struck me with admiration.
They are unlike anything I have ever seen in the Straits, and
bear a close resemblance to the representations of dwelling-houses
in China which may be seen in books on that country. Koon
Swee's house consists of two halls, from the ceilings of which are
suspended many very beautiful and tasteful lamps of a peculiar
kind. The walls are hung with pictures : some English, some
Chinese, and a few French, the last not of the most chaste descrip-
tion. The second hall opens into a large court, of which the
middle is depressed about a foot and a half below the level of the
sides. Curious trees in pots are ranged in the centre. The private
rooms open into an upper balcony, which overlooks the court.
At the further end of this court is the Shcw-chit* or ancestral
say, rather, paternal altar, for they are only their more imme-
diate predecessors whom they hold in remembrance. A wide pair
of folding-doors thrown open disclose a long inner court stretching
* Shcvv-chu i.e., the seat of the departed spirit. F. S.
SINGAPUR TO MALACCA AND PINANG. 3
down towards a clump of trees. All the doors being open, the
current of air flowing over the tiled floors keeps the rooms de-
liciously cool. At five o'clock a splendid dinner was served up in a
little snug room adjoining the outer hall of H 's house, of
which repast he, out of complaisance, partook, but in which Koon
Swee was prevented, by a vow, from joining, having, on occasion
of the sickness of some relative many years ago, sworn that if she
recovered he would not eat on certain days, save of some simple
fare, which the pigeon soup, laksa soup, stewed ducks, curries,
&c., before us did not include. So, at least, he excused his
abstinence ;. but the jolly countenance of my aldermanic friend
bore so little of a fasting look, that I was inclined to think his
chopsticks had already served their turn for that day. After
dinner, H loaded one palankeen with my luggage, and
brought me out here in another. He busied himself for about
two hours in making everything comfortable ; a couch, lamps, a
goodly basket of champagne, sherry, beer, and eatables followed
from Malacca. The place I occupy is a sort of bungalow, or
rather bdldi* open all round, about thirty feet square, having two
small rooms in the landward corners. The sea dashes against
the beach within twenty feet, and is fast sapping the roots of a
row of very old senna-trees. It has already worked up to their
trunks, and they cannot hold out much longer. The scene at
night, when I was left alone, was peaceful and beautiful beyond
anything I had seen for a long time. The air was still ; the stars
gleamed amongst the high leaves and branches of the senna-
trees. The cocoa-nuts threw their dark shadows on the land
behind, and the sea in front glimmered in the starlight. The
next morning I was on foot by half-past five o'clock, and took a
long walk along the road in the direction of Tanjong Kling.
When clear of the cocoa-nut plantation in which the bungalow
stands, I found myself amongst paddy-fields, stretching away, on
the land side, into a plain of large size bounded by low jungle,
and on the other side not broader than a field in England.
Presently the road turned towards the coast, and, as far as I pro-
ceeded, followed it, having only a row of senna-trees t separating
it from the sandy beach. On the land side were clumps of cocoa-
nut trees, sometimes running into each other so as to form a
continuous screen; at other places broken, and showing the
paddy-plains stretching inland. At short distances were doors
opening through fences into Malay and Chinese huts. The latter
proved to be shops ; as daylight increased these were opened, and
a few Malays took the road, carrying bundles of salt fish. The
quietness of the road, the few houses, each separate, like a villa,
from its neighbour, and the absence of crowds of children and
* Bala'i, an open hall of audience like the African Bentang. F.S.
t A species of cassia (?).
B 2
4 JOURNAL OF AN EXCURSION FROM
fishing boats, sufficiently distinguished this scene from the coast of
Wellesley Province, north of the Prye, which in other respects it
somewhat resembles. I was delighted again to see plains of
paddy in the ear. The greater part was already reaped. I
struck off the main road, and proceeded about half a mile across
the bindang* Everything had a quiet indolent look ; the very
buffaloes were not to be disturbed by the intrusion of a stranger,
and cropped the paddy-stalks and licked their calves without
paying the slightest attention to my presence. The Wellesley
Province buffaloes would have given a different and less agreeable
reception to an brang putih t who ventured to approach them. I
walked till I perceived there was little more to be seen unless I
prolonged my excursion beyond my walking powers. The tout
ensemble is considerably inferior to the Mooda and Penaga districts
of Wellesley Province. The paddy is stunted in comparison ;
instead of long lines of permatangs^. covered with trees and full
of inhabitants, there are only here and there a few scattered
cocoa-nut trees, on the same level as the bindangs, with a solitary
hut beside them. On all sides, too, the view is closed by jungle
growing in the sawah level, and everything indicates a state of
extreme indolence, and an absence of all enterprise or persevering
industry.
On my return, I found a cart had just arrived with a barrel of
fine spring water from Biikit China, |J on the other side of Malacca,
for my ablutions. " Well ! " thought I, " it is really worth while
for once to be the guest of a wealthy Chinese." 1 had scarcely
completed my toilet when my host made his appearance. I
should have mentioned, however, that after I came in from my
walk, my Singapiir friend K. paid me a visit. I strongly im-
pressed on him the propriety of taking a young Malacca damsel
to wife, when he had so good an opportunity ; a piece of advice
in which his uncle H afterwards heartily concurred. The
immense disproportion of the sexes in Singapiir is one of its most
remarkable, and, in its consequences, worst, characteristics. It is
principally owing to the preponderance of Chinese among the
inhabitants, the scantiness of the Malayan population in the adja-
cent territories, and the habit to which so many of the Malacca-
born Chinese, the first Asiatic merchants of Singapiir, still
adhere, of keeping their families at Malacca. So long as the
Chinese husbandmen find it impossible to intermarry with the
women of these countries, the permanent agricultural improve-
ment of Singapiir will remain impossible.
After dinner I strolled along the beach towards Malacca. I
* The little compartments into which the paddy plains are divided by
embankments for the purno.se of irrigation.
t White man : such is the -enmc term for Kuropcans and other fair races.
-t Sandy rid^< s alterwards more particularly n
IVct paddy-land. || China Hill.
SINGAPVR TO MALACCA AND.PJNANG. 5
omitted to notice that I found the soil of the paddy-land to be
a light-coloured clay, with ferruginous streaks, supporting a
blackish mould of a few inches in thickness, which forms the bed
of the paddy. This upper soil consists of the clay, thoroughly
mingled and imbued with decayed vegetable matter, and enriched
in some considerable degree, no doubt, by the droppings of the
buffaloes. To what extent this mould may be the effect of culti-
vation I have not had an opportunity of judging. In my after-
dinner stroll I found that the same soils were continued to the sea.
The sea, in fact, is gradually eating into the soft clayey plain ;
the rocky line farther north, running out to Tanjong Kling, causes
the encroachments of the sea to assume a crescent-shaped form.
A narrow line of reddish sea-sand is thrown up against the freshly
broken land, where the clay is exposed to the depth of about three
feet. The black mould is, in some places, a foot and a half in
depth. I also found some traces of black clay, a good deal
resembling that of Singapiir ; but both the clays here are much
less stiff, and do not seem to harden so much. I came to a sugar-
cane field cultivated by Chinese ; this cane has a strong, healthy,
vigorous appearance, and, with its black mould in which it grew,
told strongly against the Singapiir plantations. I returned by the
road, and, now that I could look more leisurely on the face of
the country, its beauty pleased me very much. There are no
hedge-rows, but, instead of them, rows of a curious tree which
grows pretty tall, covered with a white bark which seems to be
constantly in a state of exfoliation, and hangs round it like an
old tattered garment : it has no large lateral branches, and the
leaves are small and narrow. The cocoa nuts here are very good ;
all that I have examined appear to grow out of the same soil as
the paddy. I went into a small plantation which I was told
belonged to Koon Swee. Some of the trees had at least one
hundred nuts on them. His people were busy carting sand from
the sea-beach, and spreading it over the ground. I should mention
that the soil of the paddy-fields on the Malacca side of Klaebang
appeared to me to have a thicker bed of black mould than the
tract which I examined on the other side. In comparing the
Malacca plains with those of Wellesley Province, it is to be kept in
mind that the one coast is exposed to the swell of the Bay of
Bengal, while the other is in the middle of a narrow sea 400
miles in length, and at Malacca, not more, I suppose, than fifty
in breadth. There is a little island at some distance in front
covered with wood, the red (granitic) rock of which is visible at
low water.
March 10. I have been sitting for half an hour on the
roots of a senna-tree, now prostrate, from the soil on which it
grew having been washed away by the sea. This is the furthest
tree of the row on the north side. It is merely united to the
6 JOURNAL OF AN EXCURSION FROM
land by the extremities of the landward roots. The clay has
been hollowed out below, but the grassy surface is still left. This
too has disappeared in some places, and through the roots we
look down on the bed of mud which they have helped to retain,
and which is washed smooth by the sea. Although the lower
part of the trunk is daily covered by the tide, and the greater
part of the roots are also exposed to the salt water, the branches
continue to put forth fresh leaves and flower-buds. The next
tree is also undermined a little inside of the trunk, and is bent
down over the sea. The other three in front of the bungalow
still stand erect, but the sea is within a foot of their trunks. It
was not, however, in examining this invasion of the sea that I
was occupied, but in gazing on the line of coast stretching
northward to Tanjong Kling, which is exquisitely beautiful. The
sea is now smooth, with a gentle ripple. Flocks of white sea-
birds skim along its surface or cover the fishing-stakes. A few
boats are afloat. The margin of sand is surmounted by one
unbroken but irregular wall of trees, among which the senna and
cocoa-nut are easily distinguished. The long horn projecting out
to Tanjong is opposite me; the morning sun is behind it, and
that sweep of trees is bathed in light, and their outlines, as it
were, distinctly defined by the white gleaming radiance in which
they rest. The nearer portion of the coast is finely marked.
The green rounded masses of the senna-trees, the smooth floor of
sea-sand partly covered with their shadows, and the white gleam
of the mirror-like sea, produce an exquisite effect. One group of
senna-trees is particularly striking. A small stream flows into the
sea close to me. On its northern side is a small paddy-field, with
cocoa-nut trees and huts surrounding it on the land side. I
picked up some masses of red granite on the beach, and the sand
is evidently formed from this rock. I find on examining the iron-
stone that it is very different from the Singapur ferruginous clay;
at least, the specimens here are so, and they are similar to those
I observed as we entered, strewed about, marking the walls of the
old fort. This rock has somewhat the appearance of a lump of
clay from an ant's-hill, being full of chambers. It is quite hard :
traces of the yellow-ochry matter, with which these chambers
have been filled, are visible. Although at some places in
Singapur a similar appearance is assumed by that called laterite,
it generally consists of sharp angular fragments, and, instead
of being hard, is of a crumbling nature. Between eight and
nine o'clock I went into town : this was the first time I had
seen the road by daylight. The first part, near Klaebang, I
have already described. For some distance it preserves the
same features paddy-fields, clumps of trees, sea-views, inland
rivers (?), &c. road narrow, no hedges a Chinese garden, with
vegetables, sugar-cane, occ., occasionally. Presently, the cocoa-
SING A PUR TO MALACCA AND PINANG. ^
nut trees and houses, particularly on the side towards the sea,
become more numerous, and at last continuous on both sides.
There is much diversity in the construction of the houses (which
are for the most part very neat), and in the appearance of the
inmates. Hindoos at first predominate. Then we observe a
considerable admixture of Portuguese (i.e., Malacca Portuguese),
until the road imperceptibly passes into a street, with here a neat
Chinese house, by-and-by a succession of old-fashioned but clean
and neat-looking Dutch houses trees more or Jess abounding
ending in a continuous row of houses, without any gardens,
chiefly belonging to Chinese. Some of their houses are very neat
and well fitted up. For a considerable part of the way the soil
seemed to be the same as that at Klaebang, many of the planta-
tions having merely a top-dressing of sand ; but near the suburbs
the soil itself becomes sandy. The trees (cocoa-nuts, with few
exceptions) had a very fair number of nuts ; but in many places
I should say in most they were not improved by cultivation.
I visited the court-house, which is one half of a room in the
stadthouse, and heard the new president, Mr. Lushington, give
judgment, or award, as he called it, in a case. A crowd of
Malacca Jdwi Pakans, a race of rogues, filled the room. The
walls of the stadthouse are very thick. Each window has two
little seats in the corners, of solid brickwork, with a wooden top.
All the woodwork is of teak, brought from Java. The church is
a very plain, old-fashioned edifice, close to the stadthouse. The
latter, from its size and solidity, has a particularly respectable
appearance, from which its very plain old European style does
not detract. There is no semblance of veranda about it ; nothing
but substantial square windows. About the middle of the day I
went out to Pringate, and saw Mr. Salmond. The first part of
the road is through low ground covered with a mass of cocoa-nut
and fruit trees. The huts are not nearly so numerous as on the
way from Klaebang. A very small part of the road is through this
ground. It soon crosses the base of a small low hill, the soil of
which is nothing but red gravel or pebbles, precisely like those so
abundant in Singapiir on the top and sides of Mount Victoria, for
instance. The rest of the road leads over the sides of similar hills :
Pringate itself is the same. All these hills are covered with fruit-
trees, of various sorts ; some are very large forest-trees, yielding
fruits. At some places a few cocoa-nuts were to be seen in the red
soil, looking pretty well. Although the bottoms of the hills on
the left are covered with a thicker growth of trees than the upper
part, open spaces occasionally appear, through which the paddy
plains are visible. The view from Pringate is very fine ; you look
down on an extensive and varied landscape sheets of yellow
paddy-fields, with huts, low jungle here and there, hills with
masses that of forest, and blue mountains at a distance. Notwith-
8 JOURNAL OF AN EXCURSION FROM
standing that the red gravel, of which the hill consists, is of the
most barren description, the fruit-trees which are scattered over
its slopes have a fine light-green colour, and, though not equal in
effect to large forest-trees, give it a park-like appearance, to which
some fine cows grazing not a little contribute. Beneath some of
the fruit-trees coffee is grown, but the bushes are lanky. I dined
with Koon Swee, and again admired the coolness and neatness of
the rooms. He put an excellent dinner on the table, partly con-
sisting of European and partly of Chinese dishes. After dinner
we drove out, following the road to Pringate for some time, and
then turned off to the right and went round Biikit China, another
of these red hills which the Chinese use as their burying-ground.
This hill is on the right. On the left are fruit-trees in dense
thickets. Beyond them a glimpse is obtained, once or twice, of
extensive paddy-fields. To the S.W. of this hill rises another,
called St. John's, belonging to H , covered with fruit-trees,
and surmounted by a little Dutch fort. We walked up this hill
by a very gradual ascent, which becomes rather abrupt near the
top. From the fort you look down on the narrow red line of road
at your feet, through the branches of old fruit-trees, which cling
to its almost precipitous side. The view all round is very splen-
did, particularly southwards. In front and to the S.W. lies a
large tract of cocoa-nut trees. The dense unbroken mass of
leaves of a deep-green colour gives an appearance of high health
and vigour to these plantations ; and, in reality, I understand, they
are very prolific, growing out of a soil of mingled sand and black
vegetable earth. A small tract of mangrove thicket lies between
them and the sea. Behind the cocoa-nuts lie extensive paddy-
fields. Huts are scattered over them, but they are without any
trees or other vegetation than the paddy itself. A line of scat-
tered fruit and cocoa-nut trees, stretching across the paddy-fields
in a southerly direction, marks a road I believe. The plains, as
usual, are terminated by brushwood. Mount Ophir rises grandly
behind. To the E. the eye encounters an elevated broken
country, dark with fruit-trees ; and to the N. a plain of no great
extent, partly covered with cocoa-nut and fruit-trees and partly
by paddy, lies between this hill and St. Paul's, on the summit of
which rest the grey walls of the ruined Portuguese church built
by Albuquerque. After what I have said of the different roads
our drives passed over, it is not necessary to add anything more
regarding my general impressions of the scenery of Malacca : as
a whole, it is, of all the settlements on the Straits, decidedly the
best adapted for agriculture. The large tracts of flat country
with a whitish clay or loam, less tenacious than any of the sort I
have elsewhere seen near the Straits, and with a surface-soil of
dark mould, are capable of being formed into any kind of planta-
tions. Judging from the tracts still in a state uf jungle that
SING A PUR TO MALACCA AND PINANG. 9
everywhere meet the eye, even when walking along the roads near
the beach, there must be a great deal of land available for the
planter.* The most striking characteristic of the inhabitants is
that they have apparently nothing to do. I really saw nobody at
work all the time I was in Malacca, if I except Mr. Lushington.
There were not many persons in the streets, and those few were
lounging about their own doors. I ought to have noticed in its
proper place that on Sunday morning a boat crowded with
Malays passed in front of Klaebang, slowly pulling towards the
town, with musical instruments, a fine-toned gong, and the voices
of the joyous Malays uniting in a pleasing air. In the evening I
met a long train of Portuguese, men, women, and children, gaily
dressed, wending their way back to town from some excursion.
I have omitted to mention, as a feature in all the sea-views, the
water-islands to the S.W. of the town. They are rocky, but
covered with trees. There are some famous Malay krammats, or
tombs, of ancient worthies, on them ; and at one particular season
every year the whole population for days continue to visit them,
and pass the joyous time in eating and making merry. I cannot
conceive any place better fitted than Malacca to soothe and tran-
quillize the mind when it has been fretted and worn by the toil
and strife of Singapur. But, without a companion, the somniferous
influence of the place would soon unfit one to return to the bustle
of the emporium. Of the inhabitants, further than as they appear
on the mere surface, I had no opportunity of judging ; but I was
struck by a sort of knavish and forward look which characterized
theJTdwi Paka?is, who predominate amongst the idlers in town.
The view of Malacca from the sea is pleasing. The coast forms
a long curve : the green hill of St. Paul's crowned by the ruined
church, a few plain European houses along its base, a line of
small dingy houses along the beach to the N. of the river, and the
continuous cocoa-nut plantations, backed by the mountains of
Rumbdwi, &c., all make a very pleasing landscape; which I
recollect struck me very much when I first saw it on my way to
Singapur two years ago. I was pressed with business during my
three days' sojourn, and had no time to make inquiries regarding
anything ; all I saw being little but hurried glimpses.
i \th. I left Malacca for Pinang this afternoon, in the Govern-
ment steamer Diana. The coast, as far as Cape Rachado,f
is more or less rocky, and apparently wasting, like that of
Malacca.
i2//z. This morning at six o'clock we entered the Straits of
Callam the route which Captain Congalton invariably follows in
* A European company has lately been formed in Singapur for the cultiva-
tion of the sugar-cane at Malacca. There are some difficulties connected with
the landed tenures, which differ from those at Pinang and Singapur. The
subject is at present under reference to the Supreme Government Tune i,
1846. t I.e., Cleft.
io JOURNAL OF AN EXCURSION FROM
his frequent voyages between Pinang and Singapiir. The Strait
is like a large river, or canal. The islands between which it lies
are merely flats, and formed of black mud, covered with mangrove
thickets : so that it exactly resembles the mangrove creeks which
are so abundant in the peninsula and archipelago. For some
time we steamed on, seeing nothing but the wall of the thick man-
groves on either side. In some places, where a yard or two of
fresh sand had been deposited on the margin, young and slender
trees, or seedlings, grew up literally as thickly as a crop of corn.
Towards the northern extremity of the thickets, one place of con-
siderable extent was quite naked, and covered with flying foxes,
which have settled here for many years. At midday we were
opposite the Salangdr Hill, which seemed scarcely higher than
a clump of trees ; with a glass, its sides were seen to be covered
with cocoa-nut trees, and its summit by a grove of senna trees.
To the S. a low mangrove swamp of great extent stretched along
the coast. Behind it the country bore an appearance of cultiva-
tion; cocoa-nut trees, as usual, taking the lead. To the N. a
portion of the coast is rocky. Cocoa-nut trees, and huts among
them, are seen in this direction also. Shortly afterwards we
crossed a broad turbid tract of a reddish colour, occasioned
by the waters of the Salangor river. From this time (one A.M.)
till dusk we were in sight of a perfectly flat country, covered
with brushwood, and extending a long way back towards the
mountains.
i3//z. At daybreak this morning the Bindings were seen con-
siderably in the rear. On the right, the lofty mountains of Perak *
rise at a distance ; the highest of these, Giinong Biibii, is a fine
object in the view from the Pinang hills. Between seven and eight
o'clock the eye could occasionally catch the outline of the highest
summits of the latter, appearing like a fine filament. It was not
till nearly midday that the outline of the island became quite
distinct, though still faint. At three o'clock we had passed Ptilo
Kindi, and were abreast of Piilo Riman, with its cocoa-nuts on the
beach and straggling up its side, among brushwood, to its rocky
summit. The southern face of Pinang lay before us, bold and dark
with wood. The S.W. point is rocky and abrupt. Within it,
stretched towards us, the long curvilinear sandy beach of Tulloh
Kumbar Bay, and the cocoa-nut covered coast of Biyan Lepa
separated by a round hill, yellow with lalang and grass. Right
ahead jutted out the S.E. point of the island, rocky and hilly like
the other. Before we reached this point, the hills of the island,
the channel, and the main land had appeared jumbled together in
inextricable confusion ; so that, familiar as I had long been with
the whole from other points of view, I found it impossible to dis-
* Pelrsih in Valentyn (Beschrtjvin* van Cost-Indie], whose orthography is
usually correct. F S.
SINGAPUR TO MALACCA AND PINANG. n
tinguish one from another ; but, as we entered the channel, they
seemed, one by one, to change as if by magic separating from
each other, assuming new arrangements, and altering their outline
till all my old acquaintances looked down upon me with an
air of friendly welcome. The feelings with which I gazed on the
shifting scene as we proceeded up the channel were many and
strong, and I thought this hour had been almost cheaply pur-
chased by two years' absence. I was most forcibly impressed, on
reaching the centre of the channel, with the contrast between the
low and unattractive aspect of Singapiir and the grand massive
character of the island itself, stretching along the channel as a
bold dark irregular mountain-wall. When at last the town and
harbour, with its shipping, came distinctly into view, the scene
became indescribably varied, from its union of so much that is
grand with so much that is soft. The channel, landlocked on all
sides, shone like a broad glittering lake or inland sea. Nearest
to us on the left lay the Batii Lanchong range of hills, with the
quadrangular mount Restalrig and pyramidal Batii Bayas resting
on the Batii Lanchong range of hills, which sink undulating into
the channel. Over this range were seen the Pentland hills, with
the peaked summit of Bellmont, surmounted by its bungalow,
forming the background of the pass between Mount Restalrig and
Batii Birtam. Beyond Lansdowne and Sans-Souci, northern mem-
bers of the last range (once covered with clove trees and crowned
with their bungalows, but now abandoned to Nature), the north-
western or principal mountain group of the island springs up, and
continues in a northerly direction, gradually rising till it attains
its greatest eastern elevation in Government (or, par excellence, the
Great) Hill. The face of the Batii Lanchong range is grassy ;
grey rocks are scattered over it in abundance, and clumps or tufts
of brushwood appear here and there in moist hollows. The
steep side of the northernmost range is one dark mass of forest.
Lying against it is the partially cultivated hill called the High-
lands ; its lowest slope covered with nutmeg-trees, and its higher
flanks with cloves. A narrow neck of great steepness connects
the great range with Mount Olivia, where Raffles laid the founda-
tion of those acquisitions which earned for himself so much
celebrity, and might have gained for his country so much
advantage. Beyond Mount Olivia, where the house is still
standing, is the now deserted Mount Erskine, the low wooded
peak of which, resting on the northern channel, forms the centre
of the picture. The beach fronting these hills, stretching from
Glufor to the south end of the town, is decked by a continuous
fringe of cocoa-nuts. From the extremity of this, and on an
apparent continuation of the same low line, stretch, in a long
narrow zone, the houses and fruit-trees of the town, with the fort
and shipping, till they meet a group of low hills on the mainland,
1 2 JO URNAL OF AN EXCURSION FROM
north of the province, thus completely closing in the channel.
Above this group towers, in all the majesty of its proportions,
Giinong Jerrai, or Kedah Peak, magnificent from its height,
breadth, and sharp serrated outline, and now clothed in its usual
blue, misty robe. The long curved sandy beach of the Wellesley
Province, with its row of cocoa-nuts, forms the margin of the
channel on the right. Behind it the scarcely seen summits of
Biikit Jalutong, and the other higher hills on the frontier of the
province, seem to lie at the feet of the dim blue mountains in the
interior of the peninsula.
20/7;. Bukit Merah in Wellesley Province. Yesterday, at half-
past three o'clock A.M., I descended Mount Restalrig. The day
began to break as I reached the valley of Pyah Triibong, and the
freshness of the morning air and pleasant recollections rendered
the walk to the village of Azer Etam, where I procured a hackney
palankeen to convey me to George Town, delightful. In the
evening I crossed the channel, pulled up the Paxe river to Bagan
Srye, and, guided in the dark by a friendly Malay woodcutter,
who was returning to his home at Permatang Pau, but volunteered
to prolong his walk, I arrived here at half-past eight o'clock. This
morning I retraced my last night's road as far as Permatang Pau,
and then struck off southwards. From Biikit Merah to Perma-
tang Pau is rather more than a mile across the paddy plain,
which extends nearly the whole breadth between the rivers Prye
and Jiirii, or somewhat less than six miles. The Malays are still
gathering their paddy, about one-third of the crop being yet upon
the stalk. Women and old men are employed in this labour. The
produce varies a great deal even in bindangs adjoining each other,
owing, probably, to a difference in the care and skill of the culti-
vators ; and in a greater degree in tracts which, from difference of
level and other causes, are unequally irrigated. The soil I did
not examine closely in many places, but where 1 did it was a
dark mould resting on and partially mixed with clay. There are
large tracts where, owing to depression below the general, level,
vegetable matter has accumulated and is in excess, and other
tracts where it is sufficient (deficient?) I was informed by the
Malays that almost everywhere on this plain, in digging wells,
they come, at the depth of a man's height, to sea-shells, and that
sea-mud is the universal sub-soil of the flat tracts. They all
appear to be impressed with the belief that the sea formerly
occupied the site of their paddy-fields, and that the perma tangs
were sand -banks. There cannot be a doubt that these long
bands of sand traversing the clayey or vegetable alluvium of this
plain were successively the beaches of the sea ; and it is highly
probable that some of them at least, before they were annexed to
the land or rose above the level of the sea, existed in the channel
as banks. As I approached Permatang Pau the soil suddenly
SINGAPUR TO MALACCA AND PINANG. 13
changed from clay to sand, but continued to maintain nearly the
same level, and to be used as paddy-ground. On reaching its
margin it rose at once a few feet, and was seen stretching away to
the right and left at the same elevation above the plain. It is of
considerable breadth, and about two miles in length. A public
road passes along its centre, and I took that route (the only
practicable one at present) southwards. The permatang now
forms a most interesting scene, all the population of the plain
being congregated on this dry belt. It is, in fact, one large
straggling village, with huts scattered over it at irregular intervals,
each in its own kampong (enclosure), filled with cocoa-nut and
fruit trees, principally the former. The point where it is crossed
by the Bagan Srye and Biikit Mt'rah road is, I suppose, about its
centre. Here are several shops adjoining each other on the
roadside, an old Attap village mosque, and a pangiilii's tanah.*
After proceeding along the road for some time the scene changed,
from the huts becoming less numerous, and the cocoa-nut and
other trees being entirely replaced by the jangiis (cashew-nut),
which grows here to an unusual size. Here and there boys were
merrily climbing the trees and gathering the fruit, and groups of
children were playing under the trees.
Towards the southern extremity of the permatang the huts
again thickened till they grew into another village, with a
mosque, and shops called Sange Diiraka Jiirii, lying upon a small
stream, which marks the termination of the permatang. The
road now lay through the open paddy-plain in a nearly straight
line for about two miles, exposed to the full heat of the sun, and
unenlivened by any huts or trees. It then enters a pass between
the two westernmost of three low hills, which run almost due E.
and W., and are called Biikit Tangah (i.e., Middle Hill). The
lower face and bottom of this little range has a fine appearance as
it is approached from the N., being densely covered with fruit-
trees of a dark foliage, and large cocoa-nuts. The paddy-plain,
on the right or west side of the road I have passed over, is of no
great breadth until past the village of Diiraka Jiirii, the mangrove
swamp of the Piiz stretching down in a south-westerly direction,
and preventing the extension of cultivation. After that village
has been passed, the western boundary of the paddy-plain bends
towards the sea, causing the plain to bulge out till it attains a
breadth of about two miles from the road. Several small perraa
tangs, with their usual accompaniments of fruit-trees and huts,
were scattered over it. The division of the plain eastward of the
road is of considerable extent, forming a somewhat irregular area
of more than three miles square. Towards the road every inch
is as fully cultivated as the plain on the western side ; but
nearer to the hills it is studded here and there with forest-trees,
* Chief's estate.
i 4 JOURNAL OF AN EXCURSION FROM
showing that it has more recently been reclaimed from a state
of Nature. Some portions also seem to be only half cultivated.
In riding from Diiraka Jiiru to Biikit Tangah the object which
most attracts the attention is the great domed mass of Biikit
Moratajam, which appears throughout to be quite close on the
left hand, but yet continues to preserve the same apparent
distance. The fact is, its base is of great extent, and its flanks
come down into the plain over such a large area, that it presents
a wide and imposing front throughout the whole circuit from
Biikit Merah to Biikit Tangah. It is above 1800 feet in
height.
It was an agreeable change to leave the hot plain at once, and
pass into the low defile between the Biikit Tangah hills. On the
right a portion of the most westerly hill is planted with nutmeg
trees. A Malay woman was at work among them. I asked who
the planter was, and she replied " Che Ahmat," and pointed to a
Malay man who was busy digging out the lalang at the further
end of the plantation. On seeing me he put down his changkul
(a kind of hoe, the universal substitute for the spade), and came
forward with the courteous, good-humoured, and obliging manner
which distinguishes the natives of the Wellesley Province, or, I
should rather say, the Kedah Malay, and entered into conver-
sation. He invited me to rest during the heat of the day in his
house, and after I had ridden forward and looked over the country
to the S., I returned with him. He struck off westward, con-
ducting me along the foot of the hill through a grove of trees to
his house, which I found to be quite an uncommon edifice for a
Malay, being very neat, and having a pleasant little veranda with
Venetian windows. One could not wish to take shelter from the
sun in a more quiet and sequestered spot.
I rested here luxuriously for about two hours. No sooner had
I entered than one of the inmates hastened to climb a cocoa-nut
tree, select a nut, and open for me its secret fountain of the most
delicious beverage that a thirsty traveller can drink. We had
much talk about the return of Malays to Kedah, the paddy crops,
late seasons, my host's own history and that of his family, ending
in a geological discussion respecting the oceanic origin of the
plain. As a striking proof of this, it was mentioned that a perma-
tang to the E. of Biikit Tangah, called Permatang Batii, was
almost wholly composed of sea-shells, and that shells were found
in abundance on the top of Biikit Diiraka Jiiru, a low hill a little
to the N.E. of Biikit Tangah. I was curious to see this remarkable
deposit, and we proceeded to the place, crossing a number of
paddy-fields which lie between the two hills. The paddy was
strong in general, but in some places had suffered from super-
abundance of water ; it was also not so far advanced as the crops
farther N. The hills, for there are two, lie close to the
SINGAPUR TO MALACCA AND PINANG. 15
mangrove thicket, and have been islands or an island at a recent
period. The one nearest Biikit Tangah we ascended first. The
path lay over an abutment which runs out into the plain in a
westerly direction, to the length of perhaps 80 or 100 feet; but
of this I could not well judge. Its height, where the path crosses
it, seems to be about fifteen feet above the paddy plain. The
top, so far as I examined it, was wholly composed of modern
sea-shells lying very close to each other, and embedded in a stiff
blackish soil. At one or two places I noticed points of granite
rock protruding. We descended the other side of this abutment
into the hollow between the N. and S. hillocks, which is covered,
as is the side of the southern hill, with fruit trees, chiefly magnifi-
cent diireyans,* of a height I do not recollect to have elsewhere
seen. We then ascended to the top of the southern hill, which is
composed of large rounded granite rocks. On the southern face
of the other hill there is another plantation, or kampong, belonging
to an en-panghiihi f mokim. This plantation, to judge from the
appearance of the cocoa-nut and other trees, must be very old.
A road leads from this kampong through the mangroves to a
creek, which, taking its rise in the paddy plains to the N., bends
inland to this point, and then pursues a N. direction to the Juni
river. Boats of six kdyans \ burden ascend to this place. At the
bottom of the eastern side of the northern hill are immense rounded
and flattish granite rocks, with deep hollows between them,
strewed over a considerable space. They are far too large to
have descended the slight declivity of the hillock, nor could the
force of the rain pouring from it have washed away the earth and
disintegrated the surface of the hillocks ; so that there cannot be
any doubt that this has been the work of the tides and waves of
the sea, which do not now approach within a mile, save by the
creek. We returned to Che Ahmat's, and after resting another
hour I returned leisurely to Biikit Merah. On the way I dis-
mounted at Diiraka Juni, where a number of Macao Chinese
are settled as paddy-planters. They were busy cleaning the
paddy, which they did with more rapidity than the Malays,
having winnowing-machines, &c. They are chiefly renters from
the Malays, but some possess lands of their own. The soil of
Biikit Tangah is a coarse granite. Che Ahmat had dug a well
and a tank on his ground, the former of considerable depth, and,
so far as I could see (to the depth of eight feet or so), the soil was
uniform. Water is found in abundance all round the hill, on
digging to a small depth. The surface, from the prevalence of
quartz, is coarse and unfruitful. The hill was formerly cleared
for pepper, but, with the exception of its lower part and the
piece cleared by Che Ahmat, it is overgrown with lalang, and
* Durio Tibethinus, Linn. f Appointed head man.
t i koyan = 48 pikul = 6400 Ibs,, nearly 6 cwt. F. S.
1 6 JOURNAL OF AN EXCURSION FROM
towards the top with low brushwood. In the evening I crossed
the plain from Biikit Merah to Permatang Pasir, and struck
across it to Biikit Jalutong, which is composed of the same rock
and soil as Mrah. The colour varies considerably ; at its N.E.
corner it has a redder hue than on the side directly facing
Merah ; a fine white clay, exactly resembling it in everything but
colour, is also found there, and some other intermediate colours,
such as yellow, pink, c., resembling in this respect, as well as
in the alternate shades of colour, the clay strata of Pearl Hill near
Singapur. The clay is so fine in its particles, and imprints itself
so readily, that it may be used like chalk or slate for marking.
Its mark has the colour of the clay, except some of the tawny
stones, which give a red streak. Strewed along the foot of that
portion of the hill which they are at present clearing, were some
large fragments of a harder' rock, nearly approaching in appear-
ance some varieties of laterite, particularly from its dark or
blackish colour, but it yields a red streak, similar to that of the
soft clay mentioned above. Near the surface also, particularly in
the section on the upper side of the road, which Colonel Low is at
present cutting along the northern base of the hill, there is an
irregular layer of indurated gravelly stone, exactly resembling
such as characterize some hills of laterite. The surface of the
higher part of Bukit Merah is full of this gravel. These indu-
rated blackish fragments and gravel are doubtless the clay of
which the hills consist, metamorphosed in different degrees by
volcanic action and a greater elevation, and having been ejected
through fissures whose courses would probably be exposed, were
sections made in the shape of dykes and veins, as is often the
case in the Singapiir hills. These hills may be considered as
members of the semi- volcanic zone of the Straits of Malacca.*
* " In coasting along the W. shore of the peninsula from Pi'nang to Cape
Rachado, a high chain or rather series of ranges of mountains is observed
inland nearly the whole way, which, from their generally sharp-peaked sum-
mits, the nature of the detritus brought down from them by the rivers, and the
evidence afforded by the lew points winch they have reached, we are justified
in believing in great measure of plutonic rocks. In front of this
r.mge we discern a broad tract of country, often appearing to be perfectly flat,
y little above the sca-beac.h for miles together ; from which sometimes
low hills ri:>e like islands out of the lulls are frequently quite soli-
tary, and at a great distance from the central mountain, or near the coast.
Farther inland they seem to be generally in groups, and towards the mountains
intry in some places appears hilly and undulating. At Malacca these
low hi. .nally so much grouped as closely to resemble portions of
Singapur, and they are covered by pebbles and scoriform and altered fragments
rly similar to those found on some of the Singapiir hills (which I
C to b" related to volcanic fissures of eruption, opened con-
ly with the elevation of the hill>). In some of the hills opposite
imilar fragments. In both cases the soil had a deep-red,
ferrugii Rachado is described by Crawfurd as consisting of
M veins of clayey iron ore. That most of
the hills scattered along the western plains of the peninsula were islands in the
SINGAPUR TO MALACCA AND P2NANG. 17
At the point of Biikit Jalutong, on the side which I visited,
the sandy soil of Permatang Pasi'r commences. On this plain,
about twenty feet from the foot of the hill, a well has just been
dug. At a depth of three feet from the surface there is a bed of
white clay of the same texture as the rock of the hill. On the
face of the hill there are some coffee-plants, but from want of
shade they do not flourish. The vegetation on these red clayey
hills is distinguished by its dark-green hue. The nutmeg-trees
with which Biikit Mrah is covered are decidedly the finest in
the three settlements ; their dense dark foliage gives them indeed,
an aspect quite peculiar. Unlike Biikit Tangah, these hills have
no springs. The soil is of a loamy clay, and entirely similar to
the finer marls (not calcareous) of the Devonian system ; it is of
a deep red colour, whence the name of the hill Bukit Merah,
i.e., Red Hill. When dipped in water it rapidly falls away into
a fine powder. Similar soils in England are very fertile, and
produce rich crops of all sorts. Besides the volcanic pebbles and
fragments, small pieces of quartz are found interspersed among it.
The hill is about four miles from the present coast of the province.
" From the steep scarped appearance of its seaward face (or that
which must have been opposed to the waves rolling in from the
Bay of Bengal) and its general configuration, it may be inferred
that a considerable portion of it was washed away by the sea, and
its existence as an island continued during a long period subse-
quent to its elevation."*
The contrast between the frank simplicity and humour, har-
monizing well with a certain grave, dignified self-possession and
genuine politeness which characterize the manner of the Malays
of Kedah, and the bravado, sinister, and impudent bearing of the
insular Malays at the southern extremity of the peninsula, is
very remarkable. The former, though polite, distant at first to
Europeans (as a class either too repellant or too rudely obtrusive
in their manners to commend themselves to the good-will of the
Malayan peasant, who, beneath his often unpromising exterior,
conceals a lively sense of his own honour, and respect for that of
others), are no sooner addressed in their own language with good
humour and courtesy, than all reserve disappears, and is replaced
by the most obliging communicativeness. The latter, on the
other hand, are, in general, saturnine or impertinent, and answer
sea at no remote period, there can be no doubt. The plains from which they
spring are flat, generally only a few feet above the level of the sea, alluvial, and
in some places abounding in marine shells of the same species as those at pre-
sent found in the straits." "On the Local and Relative Geology of Singa-
pur," &c., by the writer.
* From a paper by the writer " On the Strait of Malacca and the Alluvial
Plains on its Borders."
SECOND SERIES. VOL. I. C
1 8 JOURNAL OF AN EXCURSION FROM
inquiries with a degree of suspicion and dislike which forbids any
profitable or genial intercourse with them. Thus, while the
agricultural Malay of Kcdah makes one of the best companions
in the world, the maritime, and most frequently semi-piratical,
Malay of the southern islands, proves about the worst. The
Wellesley Province, during the few days of my sojourn at Biikit
Mcrah, wore an aspect of abundance and general hilarity that
Arcadia might have envied. During the harvest-season an
unwonted excitement and a livelier geniality pervade the breasts
of the Malays. Their hearts open to each other, and are more
deeply impressed with thankfulness to the unseen powers, and to
Tiiwati Allah,* whose ministers they are, for having heard the
invocations with which they sowed the seed, and caused the food
of man to be again plentiful in the land. Hence they begin the
harvest with religious observances ; and, as their houses become
filled with paddy, give vent to the general gladness in musical and
dramatic entertainments. During the whole evening the sound of
the ti'dyang, indyong, and mdyln mandrah from the villages around
reached Biikit Mcrah ; and on awaking before the dawn, I heard
it still prolonged.
I was informed by several Malays at different places that the
crops of paddy had been inferior for some years past. The rents
appeared to average three dollars an orlong (a square measure
equivalent to about an acre and a third). At the large Chinese
establishment at Dunika, I was told that the farmer, like other
Chinese engaged in the business, owned some lands himself, and
rented the rest. In this quarter the rent is generally four dollars.
At the lime of my visit the attention of European capitalists was
much attracted to the province in consequence of the Supreme
Government of India, after for some years resisting the solicita-
tions of the merchants and planters of Pinang, having, under
instructions from England, placed this settlement on the same
footing as Bengal with respect to the importation of sugar into
England. A sudden impetus was thus given to the cultivation of
the sugar-cane, which had hitherto been carried on at a great
disadvantage ; and some planters seemed inclined to purchase
paddy-lands for making sugar plantations, rather than clear waste
tracts for that purpose. The Malays in the neighbourhood
of Biikit Tangah had been too long inhabitants of the province,
and had formed too many family connections, to be willing to sell
unless at high prices perhaps thirty to forty dollars. Those at
Sangi Susat were selling out, in order to return to their native
country, Kedah, at ten to twenty dollars per orlong. In the
vicinity of Biikit Mcrah, the rents were paid in kind at rates from
* Or Ti'than Allah i.e., Lord God. If they believe in any other unseen
powers, that part of their creed is a relic of the idolatry of their ancestors. F. S.
SINGAPUR TO MALACCA AND PINANG. 19
four to six ndlitis per orlong.* The produce per orlong varies
greatly, so much as from one and a half to five kitnchas The
value of lands and rents has fallen considerably of late, owing, in
some measure, to the too rigorous exaction of" assessment (a new
burden, to which the Malays were strangers, and which they could
>nly regard as a second rent in addition to the quit-rents reserved
by Government with their grants), but principally to the old
Malayan chiefs having been allowed by the Siamese to return to
Kedah, whence they were expelled under circumstances of great
treachery and diabolical cruelty in 1821. The Chinese (from
Macao) are increasing in number. They plough the land better
than the Malays, and get heavier crops. At Duraka I found
from forty to fifty Chinese engaged in cultivation of paddy, about
eighty at Pan, as many at Paoyo, twenty to thirty at S. Susat : in
the neighbourhood of Biikit Tangah there were about eighty but
there they plant sugar-cane, cloves, &c.
The river Prye, as far as I went up it on this occasion, and
much farther, even beyond the limits of the province, is a broad
and deep salt-water creek, in the middle of a belt of mangroves.
The Malays informed me that the head of the creek is at the
Labu Butmg, where a small stream runs into it. Its proper name
rther up is the Siingai Kalim, and it has two tributaries, the
:i Jara and Sungai Labu Marijam, or Siingai Baru. The
course of the creek is very winding, and at some places it touches
the dry plain. One of these places is at Bagan Srve, on the left
bank, where it is washing away the land.
sort .This morning I again rode to Biikit Tangah, and thence
southwards. Beyond Biikit Tangah the country changes from a
flat alluvia plain to an undulating sandy track. This is succeeded
by a broad level belt, of which a small portion on the N. side
above the level of the sea, consists of a whitish clay, with streaks
of red, and is cultivated as a sugar plantation by Chinese.
art comes a swamp covered with mangroves, and the southern
largin of the belt is washed by the Juru, here flowing close to
low hills of pure white sand, at least on the surface in no way
ffermg from that on the sea-shore. The mud of the swamp
spreads over the sand at its border. For some distance beyond
this the country is undulating and sandy. It is in the southern
districts of the province that the great field for sugar-planters
will be found for some years to come. Many eligible tracts for
* The Malayan corn-measures universally used in the province are the
Kal . 4 of which = i Chupak
4 > i Gantang
16 i Nalih
10 5 , i Kunchah
_5 . , . I Koyan
60,033 Iks. avoirdupois, according
C 2
Chupak
Gantang
Nalih .
Kunchah
20 S1NGAPUR TO MALACCA AND PINANG.
plantations exist between the Juru and the Prye, and in the great
paddy-plains to the N. of the latter river ; but planters look to
immediate profit, and would find it impossible within any limited
time to buy up, from the numerous native holders, a piece of
ground in one place sufficiently large for their purposes. The
paddy-lands are, for the most part, subdivided among their owners
in pieces varying in size from fifty to two or three orlongs.*
After passing a month in Pinang, a great portion of which was
employed in exploring one of the mountain ranges, described at
some length in a paper communicated to the Asiatic Society in
Bengal, I left it with much regret. The exceeding magnifi-
cence of its mountain views, the richness and variety of their com-
ponent parts, and the coolness and transparency of the atmosphere
which this country enjoys, give a freshness and elasticity to the
mind never experienced in the sultry plains of India. I have now
explored nearly every part of the settlement, and hundreds of
scenes most interesting and dissimilar have rewarded my toil. It
is almost inconceivable how Nature, in so small a compass, has
contrived to crowd such a wonderful diversity of objects. The
old mossy rocks, fir-trees, and ferns of the higher hills, beautiful
and odoriferous flowers which adorn all the forests in spring, the
deep ravines lined with dense and picturesque shrubs, in the rocky
dells of which the streams force their way the gloom of the more
gigantic and yet unscathed forests, haunted only by wild animals,
where silence is broken only by the melancholy cries of the apes
and the notes of birds never heard in inhabited districts ; the slow
winding rivers, generally solitary for miles together, but sometimes
bearing the light prahus (barks) and flowing past the kampongs of
the Malays, are but a few of numberless and infinitely varied
scenes and objects which make a delightful and indelible impres-
sion on the memory.
' ! ' : I hiring the last twelve months several new plantations have been com-
menced in the southern districts two on the Juru, four in the central part of
those districts, in addition to three which had been formed at the time of my
visit, and two on the Krian River, June I, 1846.
21
II.
THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN,
WITH SOME REMARKS ON THE FORMATION AND STRUCTURE OF
HYPOGENE ROCKS AND ON THE METAMORPHIC THEORY.
By JAMES RICHARDSON LOGAN.
[" Verhandelingen van het Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen,"
vol. xxii. Batavia, 1846.]
PULO UBIN is an island lying in the strait between Singapore
and the coast of the Malayan Peninsula, of which the eastern
extremity faces the entrance of the Johore river. It is about five
miles in length, with a general direction from E. by S.E. to W. by
N.W., and has a varying breadth from a mile to three-quarters of
a mile.
In detailing the results of four or five visits which I have made
to it within the last few months, I shall first endeavour to convey
some conception of the distinctive aspect of the island, or that
which would strike a stranger ; and this object will be best served
by giving my own first impressions as they were written down at
the time in my journal, even although they embrace some ideas
that were afterwards corrected by a wider survey. I shall next
describe the rocks of the island, so far as I have observed them,
noticing slightly the scenery where it is most remarkable for its
beauty. The concluding portion of the paper will be occupied
with some deductions from the preceding details, a notice of the
relations between the island and the adjacent localities and
some remarks upon its bearing on geological theories current at
present.
To begin, then, with the impressions made by the first sight of
the island. I crossed from a small Malayan campong on the
coast of Singapore opposite Pulo Ubin, called Passier Ries.
There is here a deep indentation in the Singapore coast, or
rather two hilly and wooded points (Tanjong Changy and Tan-
jong Pongal) advance from it towards each extremity of P. Ubin,
and include, with its southern shore, a noble sheet of water about
three miles long and two miles broad, save at its extremities,
where it is contracted between the Points and P. Ubin to straits
of about one mile in breadth. This island-fronted bay must
originally have been much greater on the Singapore side, as the
creek of Sirangoon winds through a broad expanse of mangrove
jungle, and terminates in a swampy valley, the whole of which
has been accumulated on the old sea bed. As we left Passier
22 THE ROCKS OF FULO UBIN.
Ries, the strait, land-locked on all sides and smooth on its
surface, appeared like a lake amongst low hills. It is seemingly
quite surrounded by jungle, the mangrove predominating wherever
there has originally been a deep indentation in the shore. On
the north the opposite side of the Old Strait of Singapore (Salat
Tambroh) is completely excluded from view, save at one point,
by P. Ubin, which shows like a densely wooded low hilly range.
A broad bay on its shore is nearly filled by a low flat island, or
mud bank, called Pulo Tarn (properly Ktam), which is covered
by a thick sheet of green gleaming mangroves. We stood across
the strait towards this island, passed its eastern extremity, and
then proceeded eastward along the shore of Pulo Ubin. Several
rocky points slightly project from it, and these are covered with
trees of no great size, but which, from their not being so densely
crowded as tropical jungles generally are, unite luxuriance with
grace and freedom of growth. The abundance and abruptness of
the rocky masses which are partially visible, clothed with mosses
and lichens and with shrubs rooted in their clefts, prevent the
trees from approximating, raise their trunks here and there into
view, and, by limiting their number as in an artificial wood, afford
space enough above for the branches to expand into full-leaved
wide-spreading canopies, on the dark and cool shadows of which
the eye, dazzled by the radiance of the sea, wishfully lingers.
The rocks are, however, less seen themselves than by these their
effects, for such is the profusion of shrubs, underwood, creepers,
and parasites of various sorts, that the dead mineral masses seem
to be imbued with botanic fecundity, and wrapped in a living
garment woven out of their own breasts. The little bays between
the Points are nearly obliterated by level sheets of mangrove,
which, by their growth externally, tend constantly to convert the
original irregular into a straight coast line.
( )ne of the most striking features of the lake-like scenery of the
strait between Pulo Ubin and the Singapore shore is Gunong Bau,
a broad pyramidal hill, which, as we approached the eastern
extremity of Pulo Ubin, and the wide estuary of Johore river on
left or north-east, and the wider mouth of the old Singapore strait
on the right or south-east, gradually opened was seen up the
former at a distance of five or six miles. Although termed by
seamen Little Johore Hill, it is in reality higher than Marbukit or
Johore Hill, which forms one of the most prominent landmarks on
entering the Straits of Singapore froTi the China Sea. From the
regularity of its cone, which from this point of view seems to
descend with almost perfect evenness on all sides to a level a
little above that of the sea, and its apparent isolation, it resembles
a volcanic hill.
We stood across the strait between Pulo Ubin and P. Tikang
THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN. 23
to the small islets called P. Sejahat. On our return we pulled
close in to one of the points on the south side of Pulo Ubin,
where there are several Chinese quarrymen engaged in splitting
granite for the supply of the builders in town. We were struck
by the extraordinary appearance of some of the granite rocks on
the beach. Their sides were grooved or fluted, presenting regular
vertical furrows and ridges. A little way in from the beach, and
on the lower face of a hill, stood a very large rock, of which two
faces were visible, the remainder being concealed by luxuriant
jungle, and the summit overhung with shrubs and trailing plants.
At a little distance it was hardly possible not to take it for a
portion of an ancient temple rudely sculptured out of the solid
rock, since from its front stood out what seemed to be a range
of colossal misshapen images. On ascending to it through
the brushwood my amazement increased ; for while it was too
irregular to be a work of art, it seemed to be too close an
imitation of one for a natural production. Amidst the jungles of
the granitic mountains of Pinang I had been familiar with all the
shapes and positions which I had considered detached masses of
that rock capable of assuming. I had there seen it in solid
boulder-like blocks of vast size, sometimes cubical and sometimes
approximating to globular. I had also seen it in smaller blocks
piled one over another with all the regularity of Druidical
masonry. But I had never seen or read of granite carved by
Nature after the fashion of the mass before which I stood. In the
perpendicular face of the rock were scooped out, from top to
bottom, deep concave hollows or grooves varying in breadth and
depth. Between these the rock projected in huge unshapely
columns like a row of rude idols. Towards the top these pillars
were rounded. In some a slight curved groove or fissure crossed
the upper part, the convexity being downwards, and thus convert-
ing the summit into a globe resting in a cup. Below the line of
the fissure the pillar contracted very much on both sides, as if it
had been at this place scooped evenly out. It then bulged out
on both sides, but much more on the left than the right. The
sides next converged, and, lower down, approached more rapidly.
They then bulged out again till the soil hid the rock from further
view. In some of the columns the curves of the sides assumed
the form of a vase. The bottoms of most of the hollows or
channels between were nearly uniform in depth, although some-
what uneven or conchoidal. Of these singularly shaped columns
five or six had a close resemblance to each other. When viewed
from the side they were all seen to be scooped quite round at the
places where in the front view they contracted, so that their edges
appeared thus :
THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN.
In this figure a, a, is the last of these pillars. Beyond it to the
right the regularity is broken, and the grooves appear as in the
shaded portions of the figure. The groove on the right of a, a,
marked c, c, is a remarkable one. The upper part has a regular
semi-cylindrical shape. At the line , b, it abruptly, but with all
the regularity of art, slopes inwards at a sharp angle, so that the
part darkly shaded forms a cavity apparently about five feet in
depth. A slight groove, an inch or two in depth, is shown at d,
and deeper grooves appear further along. The pillars, whose side
view is as above, are on the other side, or to the left of , a.
Ascending the hill, I managed to clamber to the top of the rock,
where I found the grooves to be partially prolonged on the
surface in an inclined direction. The surface at some places was
hollowed into cup-like depressions. Climbing further up the hill
I came, at no great distance, to another rock of much larger
dimensions. It was reft or traversed by a chasm from six to
eight feet broad. The sides of the chasm were much fresher
than the external surface, and the mass had evidently been split
across at a time subsequent to its existence as a separate rock
and the formation of the grooves with which it also was traversed
in front. The extremity of one of the two masses projected for
some distance over the sloping ground so as to form a capacious
cave. At another side a larger fragment had fallen from the rock
and lay against it. On its surface was a cup or rather spoon-
shaped cavity about two feet in diameter and one in depth. At
another place a second projecting rock occurred, forming another
cave, about thirteen paces in length. The entire length of the
THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN. 25
rock which thus projected seemed to be about forty paces. On
the same side there were numerous grooves, some not exceeding
a few inches in depth and breadth, others above two-and-a-half
feet deep and about two feet broad. One groove I observed about
six feet deep and two feet broad, with small secondary or inner
grooves fluting its surface. While examining this rock a heavy
shower of rain began to fall, and as my time was exhausted I was
obliged to leave before I could make more precise observations
or any measurements, and, in truth, before I had recovered from
my first sensation of wonder. It appeared to me that the rock
must have been split on being elevated from a lower level. On
returning I observed many smaller rocks near the beach with
channelled sides. On the top of one of these there was a long
deep trough, with small grooves converging into its upper end,
like the ribs of a fan. The rest of the surface was covered with
slight depressions.
I believe this is the first time that grooved rocks have been
observed so close upon the equator. Their absence has been
considered an argument in favour of the glacial theory of the
boulder formation. None of the channels or grooves, however,
which I observed resemble the parallel inclined or approximately
horizontal furrows which are caused by the motion of glaciers in
descending the rocky trough of a valley. But they appear to
correspond strikingly, save in being vertical, with the giant
cauldrons, passing into long deep grooves, which are described
by Agassiz as being produced in the Alps and Jura by streams of
water falling over the sides of chasms in advancing glaciers, and
acting as a locomotive erosive force upon the subjacent rocks.
My hurried and restricted observations hardly warrant a con-
jecture as to the probable origin of the Pulo Ubin grooves. The
idea that occurred to me on the spot was that the several rocks,
before they were shattered and separated by the force which
placed them in their present positions, and in some different local
distribution of land and sea from that which now prevails, had
formed the site of a cascade of no great force, which had
gradually worn the sides of the rocks into channels. A suc-
cession of falls would account for the relative positions of the
rocks with respect to each other, and for the spoon-shaped
hollows on the surfaces of some of them. It appeared to me
that ordinary meteoric erosion and decomposition were totally
inadequate to explain the shapes and size of the grooves. In
many places they are overgrown with mosses, and in some, if not
in all, they are prolonged beneath the ground, and thus protected
by the soil of the hill, which must have covered them for a consi-
derable period, since large trees are rooted in it. The aspect of
the rocks is not such as rapidly disintegrating granite wears, but,
on the contrary, resembles that of an ancient building. I could
26 THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN.
find no trace of any fissures coinciding with the direction of the
furrows. Yet there can be little doubt that, to whatever agency
they may be referred, the grooves were first opened along lines
where the cohesion of the granite was comparatively weak. The
regularity with which the projecting columns of the rock first
noticed are scooped round at two places across the direction of
the grooves, seems to prove that the granite has an internal
arrangement similar to that so frequently observed in this rock,
and which causes it to be shattered into blocks more or less
cubical. In one of the lower rocks which the Chinese are
quarrying we found two parallel vertical veins traversing the
entire rock, so as to include between them a plate about an
inch in thickness. One side of this plate sparkled with metallic
grains of a golden hue (iron pyrites). The other was covered
with a rusty stain, resulting probably from the fissure on that side
having been permeable by the air and the consequent decomposi-
tion of the grains.
As we pulled away from this place and looked back, even the
want of light and shade, and the heavy rain that was falling, did
not prevent our acknowledging that it possessed a character of
picturesque beauty of a very pleasing and uncommon kind. It, in
truth, united the luxuriance and gracefulness of tropical vegetation
with the open and irregular aspect of a wood on some river's bank,
half rocky, in England. The jungle trees of Singapore do not in
general attain sufficient size to assume that air of grandeur which
distinguishes those on the Pinang mountains, and they are so
blended with the underwood, which grows up like a thick crop of
rank weeds between them, and so interwoven by creeping and
pendent plants into a dense mass of green, that their individuality
is extinguished. The display of botanic life is wonderful in its
measureless, all pervading exuberance, and this very profusion
ministers to a deeper sense of the silent, soft, spirit-like, but most
potent and most motley, power of vegetation. Still no tree or
humbler plant invites us to dwell delightedly on its own perfection.
At this spot, however, many stately trees rose up in self-dependent
strength and beauty, and expanded in mid-air into their complete
proportions, or, if they sought companionship, they did not woo a
promiscuous throng, but each embraced a single partner. The
number of double or married trees congregated at this particular
spot was indeed remarkable, and, recollecting that the Hindoos
either select the neighbourhood of such trees as the sites of temples
or plant them where they do not grow naturally, and that, in those
ages when they flourished over the Indian Archipelago, the strait
between Pulo Ubin and Pulo Tikang was the portal of one of
their earliest and most renowned colonies, Zaba on. the J chore
river, it was again difficult to avoid surrendering the mind to a
belief that the grey pillared and fluted piles, that assumed more
THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN. 27
and more an artificial appearance as each stroke of the oar reduced
their size, were really the remains of some great fane overborne by
many centuries of desolation.
It will be borne in mind that the above are first impressions,
and that, having been conducted to one particular locality to see
the furrowed rocks, I believed they were confined to it. My next
visit undeceived me, and proved that I had been nearer the truth
ivhen looking for tokens of an internal structural arrangement in
the granite, than when conjecturing the former existence of a
cascade, a conjecture which a wider exploration of the same point
would have shown to be baseless.
I now proceed to notice the rocks at the different places which
I have visited, beginning with the eastern portion of the southern
coast after passing the quarries, going then to the western division
of the island, and finally returning to the point where my desire to
examine the island was first awakened.
The seaward extremity of the lateral hill or ridge to the east of
the Chinese quarries is environed by mangroves.
The succeeding point advances out of the mangrove fringe. At
the W. side a large mass of solid granitic rock of a greyish colour,
varied by light brownish red (and consisting of grey felspar and
transparent quartz with some black mica interspersed) stretches
transversely along the beach, from which it rises a few feet. The
beach at its base is a band consisting of the upper edges of soft
semi-decomposed vertical laminae. Further on another mass has
its face composed of solid, slightly projecting nuclei of different
shapes, with laminae between. The nuclei are similar in com-
position to the preceding rock, but in the laminated portions the
black mica is so thickly interspersed as to form about a third of
the whole. A quartzose vein about an inch in thickness traverses
the face of the rock, cutting through both the solid and laminated
portions. Beyond this extended tabular rocks occur, along the
flat surfaces of which fissures and divisional lines run in a direction
N.E. by N. to S.W. by S. A portion of the surface is covered
with a ferruginous vesicular crust, volcanic in appearance. The
next considerable rock is a ledge running out into the sea, about
thirty feet in length and six to eight in breadth. A portion of it
is marked by a network of contemporaneous veins of a larger
grain and more micaceous than the body of the rock ; at some
places the veins send tongues into the latter. This structure is
analogous to that which the more decomposed rocks, consisting of
solid nuclei and laminated curved bands, exhibit.
Along this coast wherever the junction of the rock with the
superjacent soil of the hill-side is visible, there is, in general, an
irregular band of angular fragments of the former partially inter-
mingled with the latter, evidently resulting from the slowly de-
scending disintegration of the rock ; at some places, however, a
28 THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN.
layer of rounded pebbly stones is interposed between the broken
surface of the rock and that of the soil. An example of this occurs
here. The pebbles are chiefly of three sorts a porcellanous
rock, probably semi-decomposed granite and syenite, brownish
red ferruginous rock, and jaspideous. The first is by far the
most abundant. On the beach in the vicinity are numerous
pebbles of the same description, and also some rounded scoria-
ceous stones similar to those which are so common in Singapore.
As the S.E. angle of the island is approached, regular spherical
nuclei with concentric spherical laminoe are found. The most
remarkable point in the character of the rock where it assumes
this structure is the abundance of black mica, which indeed con-
stitutes the entire mass, with the exception of a little felspar which
serves as a basis. It is to this circumstance that the tendency to
this peculiar arrangement of the crystals is in all likelihood owing.
The predominating rock around these laminated micaceous globes
is greyish and faint greenish quartzo-felspathic, with minute par-
ticles of mica and hornblende interspersed. In decomposing it
takes a rusty colour. It is obvious that the weathering of such
globular foliated portions of a compact rock, in situations where
the whole was less preyed on by the sea, would give rise to cups
and spoon-shaped cavities on the surfaces of the more compact
masses, and that rows of such spherical portions gradually exca-
vated would ultimately assume the appearance of grooves like
those formerly described.
The S.E. point has at one place the appearance of having been
subjected to the action of heat since the rock was formed. The
sides of cleavage fissures have a blackish brown ferruginous hue,
and a thin hard lamince or seam having the same character some-
times fills them. Some veins of a similar substance are vesicular.
I believe, however, that this appearance has resulted solely from
the iron contained in these portions of the rock. Close to this is
a band, about eight feet in breadth, of vertical lamince half decom-
posed and with crustated projecting edges. Internally it is com-
posed of crumbling felspar having minute scales of mica scattered
through it. Towards the surface the hue is rusty and some deep
black stains occur throughout.
Near the point the rock exhibits great variety in its composition
even within a small compass. One specimen has a greenish-grey
saccharoid felspathic base, in which crystals of quartz and nests of
mica are sparingly disseminated. Another is somewhat similar,
but the base is a dark brownish grey. In others whitish felspar,
and black mica and hornblende are united in different propor-
tions, equal and well separated, or more finely granulated and
mingled, so as, when the mica is absent, to approach to the
character of a syenitic greenstone.
Among the other interesting examples of varying structure and
THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN. 29
composition at the Point there are some solid blocks of a rudely
globular shape, with the rock in the spaces between in folise from
one-sixth to one-eighth of an inch thick. Adjoining these are
some blocks, which, within a circuit of a few feet, change in their
appearance and composition, passing from a black doleritic rock
into a well-crystallized compound of hornblende and felspar
(syenitic dolerite) in which the former is greatly in excess into
a similar rock in which the felspar greatly increases, and which at
one place is intersected by a rhomboidal network formed by
felspathic veins crossing each other, and lastly, into a whitish grey
rock similar to that around the globes before noticed. The
crystallization between the opposing convex sides of adjoining
blocks exhibits yet another and still more strongly marked variety,
becoming abruptly very coarse, so that some of the specimens
which I took from the line of junction have, on one side, either a
granite as minute in its granulation as fine sandstone or a compact
dolerite, and, on the other, crystals of felspar and scales of mica of
an unusually large size.
A little beyond the S.E. angle there is a band of semi-decom-
posed rock about two feet broad, consisting of small globular and
cuboidal bosses, from three to six inches in diameter, of a very
fine grained granite or eurite imbedded in and protruding from
yellowish white clay. The former are composed of minute mica-
ceous and hornblendic grains thickly disseminated in a base of
granular quartz and felspar. It so strikingly resembles fine
ground pepper, especially after decomposition has commenced,
that it may be called pepper granite. The latter has originally
been in great measure felspathic.
At the S.E. point the slight superficial depressions marking
divisional planes, the principal fissures and chasms, and the longer
sides of separate ledges, are all in N.E.-S.W. lines, or lines not
deviating far from these directions. The first have given rise to
the two last. The cohesion of the rock at the divisional plane,
originally least, is further weakened by partial decomposition
along that line. The alternations of temperature from exposure
to the rays of a burning sun succeeded by immersion under the
waves, and the removal of support on either side by the mechanical
action of the sea, cause the rock to split along the plane, and thus
a fissure is formed. A ledge or band between two fissures is
either broken up mechanically by the waves, or wasted away
chemically from being more susceptible of rapid decomposition
than the adjoining bands, and thus wider fissures or chasms are
produced.
There is a small rocky islet or group of rocks near the S.E.
point of P. Ubin called S'kodo, from a fancied resemblance of one
of the blocks to a frog. Those in the middle are large and con-
nected by sand, in which some shrubs grow, and those scattered
3 o THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN.
around are smaller and much worn by the waves. Some large
rocks also lie in the sea on the south side of the central collection,
and the longer sides of those run S.W. by W., N.E. by E. Parallel
reddish lines or bands about half an inch broad traverse the sur-
faces and mark the planes of weaker cohesion. The sides of some
of the blocks are peeling off in parallel layers. In some, another
set of divisional planes, transverse to the former, are well marked.
Where the rock is breaking down, these two systems of planes
divide it into rhomboidal fragments.
The rocks are of a large grained granite, and are in fact the best
specimens of well-marked and regular granitic crystallization that
I have seen around Pulo Ubin. The hornblende, instead of being
collected in nests of small granules intermixed with felspar, or dis-
seminated in minute particles, as is generally the case even in the
most highly crystallized rocks of the island, is here in well-defined
crystals of various sizes, and mostly of a fibrous structure. Mica
is present of a fine lustrous black colour with a faint blush of red.
Nests occur from an inch to a few inches in diameter, composed
principally of finely granular hornblende intermixed with a lesser
proportion of felspar, and containing occasionally a crystal of
mica.
The eastern end of the island, in place of contracting to a mere
point like the western, presents a coast of considerable extent.
This arises from the eastern portion of the island, consisting of two
hill ranges, with a flat mangrove tract between them. The ter-
mination of the northern range constitutes the N.E. point. The
beach is composed of extended tabular masses of rock, which slope
curvately beneath the sea, and rise only a few feet above it. They
are crossed by fissures and small grooves, the direction of several
of which is S. by S.W. All the principal lines have a general
direction towards S.W., although they vary within a small range.
In these a row of circular cavities lined with a ferruginous crust
sometimes occurs ; and where this is the case, the surface of the
rock has a semi-calcined aspect.
The rock varies, but is principally composed of an opaque
bluish grey saccharoid felspathic and quartzo felspathic base,
enclosing crystals and grains of hornblende, and translucent
crystals of felspar. It bears a close resemblance to a specimen of
Vesuvian lava including hornblende crystals which I possess. In
some places it becomes compact, or the hornblende granules are
so minute as to appear like fine black dust sprinkled on snow.
Where they prevail over the felspar the rock has a bluish colour.
The base has frequently a reddish brown and brownish grey
colour; but this is probably the result of incipient decomposition.
Rounding the point and proceeding westward along the
northern coast, the rocks preserve the same character. They are
traversed here and there by rifts, and marked by fissures or grooves
THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN. 31
of a greater or less depth, but mostly shallow. Where I noted
the bearings of the divisional lines, those producing the rifts on
the faces of rocks sloping abruptly into the sea were found to be
either nearly S. or S. by S.W., and dipping easterly. Those pro-
ducing the slight grooves crossed the others, dipping to the west-
ward, and with a S.E. bearing. Another system traversed the
faces of the rocks in a horizontal direction. The action of the
weather and the tides had deepened many of these fissures, so as
to form an irregular system of shallow channels. The rocky shore
to the south and west of the point is, like all the other projecting
portions of the coast, the base of a hill. Off its western extremity
(which is separated from the eastern by a small tract of mangrove,
and is, perhaps, a distinct hill), there is a large insular rock. The
external form of this islet is very plainly due to the divisional
planes of the rock. Of these the principal are parallel to its
N. and S., or longer sides, bear a very little S. of E., and dip at
an angle of about 45 to the S. Hence, while the south edge of
the islet has a smooth slope, being formed of the uppermost layer
produced by these planes, the northern side, on the contrary, is
steep and rough, presenting a series of broken ledges rising over
each other and dipping inwards. The surface of the rock is
indistinctly marked by lines at right angles to the principal ones.
At the western end, where the remnants of some of the layers
stretch into the sea, and are broken up by the waves, they are
divided by these cross planes into irregular fragments. Other
lines are occasionally distinguishable, running N.E. by N. The
rock is very like those at the adjoining point, but has a greater
tendency to a compact horriblendic character. The point is suc-
ceeded by a considerable tract of mangrove.
The next point is the steep narrow end of a spur covered with
jungle, save at the summit, from which rises an enormous rock
partially visible through the foliage from the water. With some
difficulty I walked and ciomb round it through the jungle, and a
minute examination on all sides proved that its general external
configuration was the result of its internal structure. The northern
face, or that which overlooks the channel, is very lofty and
picturesque. Its lower portion is of great length, stretching quite
across the hill, and rises to a considerable height perpendicularly,
or rather with a slight inclination inwards. Above this wall the
rock, as it rises, retires and narrows by successive irregular steps,
so as to present a ruined castellated appearance. The nearly
perpendicular wall is the face of the outermost of the layers of
which the whole mass is composed. Its direction, agreeing with
that of the internal planes of weaker cohesion, is E.S.E. nearly;
but it is slightly curved. The face is marked by two systems of
imperfect grooves crossing each other. One set approaches to
vertical, but dips some degrees to the W. The other approxi-
32 THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN.
mates to horizontal, but has a dip of a few degrees to the E.
Similar markings are found on the southern face of the mass, and
they show the directions of two systems of divisional planes. The
eastern side of the rock dips inward concavely, and probably
exposes the true form of one set of the divisional planes. On one
side the continuity of its surface is interrupted, and the layers
assume a tendency to enwrap nuclei. The west face of the rock
dips outwards, descending by irregular steps. These are formed
by two of the systems of divisional planes. They are much broken,
and in some places traversed by channels of some regularity,
which are evidently formed in planes of division. All the planes
seem to be in some degree curved.
The internal structure of the rock not only determines its
general external figure, but even the vegetation which it supports.
Thus the S. and N. sides, being nearly perpendicular, do not
retain moisture, or afford beds for the larger rock plants. They
have a partial covering of lichens. The E. face is bare. The west
face, on the contrary, from its slope, roughness, and numerous
hollows, retains moisture, and is clothed with a thick mass of dark
green ferns, mosses and other plants. The rock is a variable
mixture of felspar and hornblende confusedly aggregated, and,
from the preponderance of the latter, decomposes into a deep
red soil.
A very extensive tract of mangrove succeeds, occupying the
wedge-shaped space between the two hill systems of the island, or
rather, as seems probable, between the two islands. At a point
near the eastern end of the island a rock is exposed, which is
splitting into small cuboidal fragments. It possesses a twofold
mineralogical character, being either a remarkably large grained
and beautiful compound of opaque white felspar tinged green, and
blackish green hornblende, or a very fine grained black green-
stone approaching to basalt, in which the felspar is thickly dis-
persed in minute granules in a granular base of hornblende. It
is occasionally traversed by minute veins of felspar. The more
felspathic rock is in like manner traversed by hornblende veins.
The junction of the two characters in a specimen is sudden, but
from the hornblende nests in the larger rock frequently resem-
bling the fine grained rock, and the felspar near the plane of
junction assuming a greener tinge, the transition does not appear
abrupt.
The western point of Pulo Ubin is eminently beautiful. A
group of large blackish wave-worn rocks advance in front into the
sea ; and, from the acuteness of the point (hence by the Malays
called Tanjong Tajam), stand out from the land in full relief, as
if they had been planted there to stem the force of the western
currents, and defend the island from their assaults. Behind these
rise great masses, with their perpendicular faces sinking into the
THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN. 33
water, and their serrated summits overshadowed by the branches
of lofty trees. The peaks of other and probably still larger rocks
are partially seen through the branches, and in the forest twilight
behind. Rounding the projecting group of blocks the coast pre-
sents a succession of noble and varied rocks, here advancing into
the sea, there abiding by the land, and sometimes stretching along
it continuously like a grey rampart ; while, over all, a glorious pro-
fusion of many formed, many coloured, foliage is spread out, in
which gay flowers are not wanting ; and the massy forest ascends
high and dark behind, or where the rocky wall is broken and
irregular, advances some of its mighty children into the breaches.
The trees here, as indeed almost everywhere around the shores
of Pulo Ubin, are strikingly varied, beautiful and imposing.
I have only partially examined the northern coast near the
eastern and western points. Not far from the latter there is a
very large grooved rock half concealed by mangroves. The
grooves are curved in their descent, and those at one place in an
opposite direction to the others. The grooves face N. by N.W.
After passing a mangrove tract to the eastward the spur of a hill
projects and exposes a broad rocky face. From this, plates from
three to four inches thick are falling off. These are composed of
laminae from one-fourth to one-fifth of an inch in thickness.
The direction of the laminar planes is S. by S.E., and they slightly
dip to W. by S.W. Parallel divisional planes intersect the face of
the rock at irregular distances of one, two, or more feet, dipping
southerly about 45. The rock is a syenitic greenstone, consisting
chiefly of crystallized felspar, in which dark green hornblende is
disseminated, frequently in aggregations mixed with granules of
felspar, sometimes the one and sometimes the other predominat-
ing. It also occurs in small cloudy spots and fibres of extreme
tenuity in the felspathic base, so as to give it a faint varying
greenish hue. At the base of the rock are large angular frag-
ments of a dark blackish greenstone similar to that of Pulo
Sejahat.
To the east of Tanjong Tajam, along the southern shore, rocks
are abundant. I landed at an open sandy place where there were
marks of footsteps, and ascended through the jungle by a crooked
path, half concealed beneath brushwood, to the brow of the hill.
Here an acre or two has been recently cleared by Malays, who
occupy two little huts or rather pondos. Close below on the E.
is the bottom of a valley separating this from the adjacent hill,
and running N.N.E. and S.S. W. The soil is sandy clay, and seems
to be decomposed granite of a light reddish colour. Granite,
very hard and with quartz apparently predominating, protrudes at
some places. It is covered by small parallel veins or fissures,
running E. and W., and S.E. and N.W. The faces of two of the
blocks are very slightly grooved. In the soil are some pieces of
SECOND SERIES. VOL. I. D
34 THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN.
altered rock, like those which abound on many hills in Singapore,
and which I had considered altered granite. One piece which I
picked up is quite calcined to appearance, like the ordinary
scoria? of Singapore.
On, or rather in front of, the beach, and within the influence
of the tide, there are large blocks of various sizes, and from twenty
to three or four feet in height. On the beach behind them are
smaller rocks, and further in large blocks again, projecting from
the soil of the hill-side. The E. side of one of the latter has a
singular aspect, appearing as if, to the depth of three or four
inches, it had been torrined. The surface is rough, serni-vesicular
and blackened, the sides of veins or fissures reddish black. The
interior is like the half-decomposed granite found in fragments
on Kaynan's hill in Singapore. The S.W. face of one of the large
blocks on the beach slopes seaward and is furrowed, but the
furrows are not very regular or well marked. This rock is a
syenite. It nearly resembles that of Mr. Dyce's hill in Singapore,
but the hornblende is of a lighter green. On the S.S.W. side of
the next large block to the west, the grooves face the S.S.W. On
the sea face there is a deep split or crevice half-way through the
rock, and varying from two to three feet in breadth. Its direction
is about N.E. by E. The N.N.W. side of the rock has large
grooves which face the S. W. nearly. On the W. side there is one
groove and on the N.W. none.
Beyond this (to the W.) a large flattish slightly convex rock
occurs, somewhat in external aspect like that of P. Sejahat.
Further W. there is another extended convex ledge. The
surface at some places appears as if it had been much acted on
by fire, so as to be covered with a rough partially vesicular coating
of altered granite. Where most altered, and also partially in the
veins or fissures, it in some degree resembles the ferruginous
scoriaceous parts of the torrified sandstones to the S. of Singapore
Town. Where least altered, the granite resembles the ferruginous
fragments of Kaynan's hill. This rock is traversed by two rough
horizontal grooves and numerous veins or slight fissures, running
in the direction of its length, or N.W. by W. and S.E. by E.
nearly, a line which cuts the hill of Tanjong Pamoodang on the
main. In the lower of the two grooves or channels there is a
cup, the surface of which is rusty coloured. Two sharp pieces of
rock project from it. One of them is of a very dark green, owing
to the hornblende greatly predominating. In the cup I also
found a globular volcanic stone, semi-vesicular on one side. It
is very heavy, consists of a rusty substance, and exhales a strong
chalybeate smell ; at right angles to the above there are other
splits. At one place, where the beach is formed of decomposing
rock, a ledge about six inches high and two feet broad, runs out
and dips below the water ; originally it was probably harder than
THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN. 35
the rest, but is now soft. It has a whitish and yellowish red
colour. Felspar predominates in this neighbourhood. On the
beach altered fragments are strewn. Some are large rounded
blocks, which, internally, are of a deep brick-red colour. The
shore of the next point is strewed with blocks of various sizes.
Further in there are large masses, of which some are broken.
The Point is the rounded extremity of a low hill (or one of the
flanks of the range of the island) which rises from the beach.
Piles of rock are partially seen through the jungle on the hill-
side. From the west angle I ascended the slope. A few yards
up there is a remarkable mass of rock, partially split. The S.W.
portion is, in its general outline, as viewed from the S.E., a
pyramidal block, separated on the N.E. from the rest of the
mass by an irregular chasm, and, where its base rests on the
mass below, also fissured. Its face is grey with lichens and
mosses, and so rough with channels as to appear wholly wrinkled.
The channels face the S.E. and are mostly inclined to the N.E.,
but they are frequently irregular, curvilinear, or slightly sinuous.
The rock is a syenite, consisting of felspar, dark green hornblende
and quartz, the first greatly in excess.
At the bottom the syenite changes abruptly into a greenish
black hornblendic semi-flinty substance, similar to that of P.
Sejahat. At some places it is about two feet thick. This was
probably the thickness all along the base originally. The fissure
between this block and the mass on which it rests runs through
this substance, as the upper surface has in some places a thin
coating of it. It is broken with great difficulty. I hammered
at the edges for some time with no other effect than to knock
off the thin coating of decomposed rock, and had to be satisfied
with fragments of some small rhomboidal masses, which I found
loose in the fissure of junction. The rock decomposes at the
surface into a soft yet tough greyish powdery substance. The
line of junction between the hornblende and syenite could not
be minutely examined on account of the weathered state of the
surface. I succeeded in knocking off one small specimen at
the junction. In this the black flinty rock first passes into a
greenstone, then the grey felspar increases till the hornblende
appears in cloudy spots, streaks and grains, dispersed in a base
of felspar. Then, in this compound base, crystals of felspar
appear. The number of crystals increases till the base entirely
disappears. The parent mass is of great size, stretching from the
fissure which divides it from the block described above to the
S.E. Beyond this it turns to the N.E., and exposes a high per-
pendicular face, of which the upper half is deeply channelled,
and the summit broken into irregular sharp pinnacles the ter-
minations of the ridges that separate the channels. One of the
channels, the second from the S.W. angle, reaches a little lower
D 2
36 THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN.
than the others, gradually shallowing like them as it descends ;
the stem of a tree rooted at the base ascends the face of the
rock and enters the bottom of the groove, following it till, as
the depth increases, it is lost to sight; at the summit it re-appears
and spreads its branches above the rock. At the N.E. extremity
of this portion of the face, the rock retires a few feet, and then
stretches again to the N.E., showing a high quadrangular face
with only a few channels.
Facing this side, and at a distance of fifteen to twenty yards,
a much larger and more regular mass rises in the jungle. The
face opposite (and I am particular in noting the directions of
the faces, because they appear always to coincide with structural
planes of division or imperfect cohesion) is about N.E. by N.,
that is, nearly the same as that of the rock opposite. This face
is nearly quadrangular, and, judging by the eye, somewhat above
thirty feet in height. The upper portion exhibits a few furrows,
some of considerable depth, but, as the face slightly inclines in-
wards, these terminate near the top. The N.W. and S.E. face
(i.e., that facing the strait or S.W.) is more imposing still. It is
iro feet ir. length and about forty in height. It is slightly in-
clined inwards, and is exfoliating. The upper part alone shows
two or three furrows, a few feet in length. It is surmounted by a
thicket of shrubs. The rock is a syenite, white felspar in general
constituting the great bulk. In some places portions of it have
a light greenish hue. The hornblende is irregularly dispersed,
generally in a state of confused aggregation, and sometimes mixed
with felspathic grains, but frequently also in long-drawn streaks
and seams. At one place it was so much in excess as to give the
fractured surface of the rock a very peculiar variegated appear-
ance, blackish-green, light green, and a light iron hue, being
variously intermixed with a lesser proportion of white and greyish.
On the S.E. side the rock slopes to the ground so that 1 was
enabled to climb to the summit and examine it. It is throughout
more or less furrowed, but the furrows are irregular in their size,
positions, and directions, and do not approach to the symmetrical
or artificial appearance of those on the sides of some of the rocks.
About the middle of the rock, from the bottom of the slope on
the S.E. to the edge of the opposite or N.W. side, there are some
well-marked divisional lines running N.W. by N. nearly, but
there are others less marked at various angles with these. The
rough holes and gutters on this part generally follow the same
direction, which is also that of the general slope. Toward the
X. K. face the summit slopes in that direction, and the hollows
take the same course. Some of these are prolonged in channels
which descend the vertical N.K. face, which is of considerably
less height than the S.W. The examination of this rock satisfied
me that the slope of the rock, and the direction of the structural
THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN. 37
planes of imperfect cohesion, determine the direction of the
channels, and, this being the case, the conclusion seems inevit-
able, that rain has been the great agent of erosion. On the S.E.
face, where there is a gradual slope to the ground, the hollows
cover the whole surface, but are irregular, because there the rain
torrents descended with less impetus, and their action was not
greatly aided by the gravity of the masses on which he acted. At
some places it has worn depressions of considerable depth and
breadth along a line of division, but, owing probably to the
occurrence of portions of rock of a different and le'ss decompos-
able arrangement or apportionment of ingredients, these are
separated by solid walls or small fissures. Occasionally a small
channel has been worn through the bottom of these dividing
walls.
On the S.W., where the structural planes are inclined inwards,
and the sheets of rock between them are falling off, there are only
a few well-marked grooves at the upper edge. At one place
where the rock has less deeply exfoliated on one side of a cross
divisional plane (i.e., one perpendicular to the face) than on the
other so as to present a side of a few feet broad at right angles
to the face, a channel, about three feet deep and one foot broad,
opening on this side and parallel to the face of the rock, shows
clearly that here a portion of the sheets has been loosened, split,
and then fallen out. The bottom has afterwards been worn con-
cave from its serving as a rain channel.
The N.W. face, so far as the rock continues nearly perpen-
dicular, presents deep furrows, and, when it inclines inwards,
these disappear.
The N.E. face, being perpendicular or slightly inclined out-
wards, presents channels from the summit to the base.
The N.W. and S.W. faces may have originally been grooved to
the bottom, as the channels are (on the latter very obviously)
decreasing in length by the gradual exfoliation of the rock in
planes which intersect them. The lower surface is fresh. Where
the channels exist the rock has a black, grey, or hoar, antique
look. If the channels are altogether owing to an operation which
is still in progress, the period required to produce them must
have been very long, as the weathering now going on must be
extremely slow. The surface is covered with such a close vege-
table covering, that it must, in great measure, protect it from the
mechanical action of the rain. Descending a little to the east of
the spot where I had entered the jungle, I examined some large
syenitic masses which rose from the beach. One of these was
divided by a chasm, and on one side, to the breadth of a foot or
more, and on the other, to the breadth of three or four feet, the
rock was a black hornblendic basalt inclining to flinty, similar to
that before mentioned. This must originally have been a con-
3 8 THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN.
nected zone or dyke, about eight feet broad. The basalt has
been freshly quarried, and this, at one limited place, exposed
the line of junction of the two rocks. It is sharp and well defined,
and on each side the rocks possess precisely the same character
which they have at a distance from it. Some of the fragments
lying around, however, exhibited the two rocks blending at
the line of junction somewhat in the manner of the specimen
mentioned above, but frequently thin lamince of the basalt
penetrate the crystallized portion of the rock. From the very
variable nature of the syenites and volcanic rocks of this island,
and the abruptness with which the proportions of the constituents
of the same mass often change so as entirely to alter its aspect,
I had been previously led to suppose that the whole belonged to
one and the same formation. The appearance of this zone at
once pointed to the contemporaneity of its origin, and I have no
doubt that it was formed in the mode suggested by Mr. Darwin*
viz., by the opening of a fissure in the syenitic mass, while yet
viscid, into which the most fluid ingredient, hornblende, drained
from the sides or rose from below. The basaltic rock is inter-
sected by three systems of parallel planes of imperfect cohesion,
which divide it into rhomboidal pieces, the sides of which are
white, owing to a slight superficial decomposition. Of these
systems of planes one has a strike N.W. by W. nearly, and is
almost vertical, but with a slight dip easterly. Another runs N.E.
by E. nearly, and deviates more from vertical to the S.E. by S.
than the other.
Proceeding along the beach to the eastward I found a large
mass, on the S.E. side of which was the remnant of a basaltic
dyke, which was marked by a few horizontal grooves. The face
of the remnant is cavernous, and looks as if it had been terri-
fied. Further on I noticed a small portion of basalt adhering to
a large syenitic block. The next noticeable rocks were some
masses of soft semi-decomposed syenite with the surface to some
depth vesicular. This is possibly due to the continued action of
the waves and the atmosphere.
To the E. of this I found on the beach a small globular rock,
three to four inches in diameter, of a volcanic appearance. Ex-
ternally it had a smooth enamel of a reddish and blackish brown
colour. This is succeeded by a red and reddish yellow band from
one quarter to half an inch thick. Internally it is a uniform
finely vesicular mass of a dull brown hue and with a portion drusy.
Near this the beach was plentifully strewed with small stones,
many resembling those found on some of the Singapore hills, and
amongst which ferruginous fragments of semi-decomposed rocks,
granite, syenite, greenstone, &c., can be recognized.
The hilly point was succeeded by a mangrove flat, which con-
* "Darwin on Vo'canic Islands," p. 124.
THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN. 39
tinued till we reached the point opposite the western end of Pulo
Tam. The mangroves fringe the point, which is the extremity of
a hill of a brownish red soil without any rocks exposed. The soil
appears to be deep and tolerably friable. The forest trees are tall
and luxuriant, but many of the finest have been felled by Chinese
woodcutters, by whose tracks I was enabled easily to ascend the
hill.
Beyond this point, and along the greater portion of the strait
of Pulo Tam, the coast is a mangrove jungle. There is a small
creek at one place, and so far as I could judge from the appear-
ance of the hills on either side it seemed probable that the man-
groves here extend quite across the island, and that it formerly
consisted of two separate islands. The northern coast on the
opposite side of the island is also the margin of a broad mangrove
swamp which I observed to be likewise penetrated by a creek.
If there is one continuous creek across there must still be in fact
two islands. Towards the E. end of P. Tam, where we again
come in sight of the Singapore coast, two lines of high jungle
rising over the mangroves mark the direction of the next hill flanks.
The base of the first is wholly enveloped by mangroves. The
next advances to the beach at one spot where a reddish rock rises
immediately from the water to the height of about twenty feet.
The front alone is exposed. The sides are shaded by the jungle,
and over the summit is a luxuriant canopy of shrubs and small
trees which fairly entitle it to be called the fertile rock. One of
the trees is exceedingly beautiful, being covered with a dense mass
of dark green glossy foliage, which it seems to spread triumphantly
towards the loftier trees growing around it and rooted in the soil
but less adorned than their sister of the rock. The face of the
rock is scaling off. It decomposes into a deep red earth, and the
prevalence of iron which colours the soil probably also gives the
dark green to the vegetation which it supports. The whole rock
is one rudely rounded mass and apparently composed of concen-
tric layers. Towards one side a wide chasm penetrates it, leaving
at the eastern angle a columnar portion divided by a horizontal
fissure into two rounded blocks, of which the upper is still at the
top connected with the mass. The neck of junction consists of
the remnants of numerous layers wedged in as it were, one-half
with their convex sides to the spectator or embracing the rock
above, and the other half with their concave sides towards the
spectator or capping the block beneath, thus presenting the ap-
pearance which a number of somewhat stiff sheets of paper, or
other flexible substance, do if they are compressed tightly in the
middle and their ends made to diverge on both sides.
Beyond Pulo Tam a point occurs from which a large furrowed
rock advances into the sea. This I inspected with some minute-
ness. The channels, even on the same face, run in different directions
40 THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN.
so that they sometimes cross ; but, more frequently, after meeting,
one only is continued. In all cases they evidently occupy the
lines of division or imperfect cohesion. On the side facing the
N.W. the direction of the larger ones is nearly N.E. and N.W.
On the S. side they are deep and face the S. These latter, it ap-
peared to me, had been gradually excavated by the alternating
action of the sea and the atmosphere. A little further to the E.
the gutters of the rocks faced N.E. by N. nearly; at one place
the rock is nearly worn through, and the breach is half filled with
large angular fragments, the remnants of the layer or ledge which
had originally occupied the cavity. Its sides are parallel and
mark two planes of division. The furrows beyond this were gene-
rally in one or other of two directions according to the slope that
is, either facing the N.E. by N. or W.N.W. nearly. The general
surface at some places is uneven, which occasions varying slopes,
and it appeared clear that the directions of the furrows at these
places were fully explained by the directions in which the slopes
would cause the rain currents to run clown them. In many cases,
the latter did not exactly coincide with the former, because no
fissures or lines of division did. But of the two systems of parallel
divisional lines by which the surface was intersected, that which
most nearly agreed with the slope had given their directions to
the gutters. Where the face of the rock was slightly hollowed the
gutters converged. The ridges between the divisional lines are
sometimes crossed by gutters, but only where this would be
rendered necessary for the descent of the water.
It was not until I had examined both the eastern and western
portions of the island that I was able to revisit the point where
my acquaintance with it had commenced. It proved that I had
seen only one small section on the S. side, and that the S.E. and
E. faces possessed the principal rocks. These stand in great pro-
fusion along the beach or rise from the water in front, while the
hill behind appears like some ancient " castled steep," with rem-
nants of flanking walls midway up, and broken battlements frown-
ing from the summit. Many of the piles are on a grander scale
than any that are found elsewhere ; they have a greater air of
antiquity; and rising as they do in diversified forms here in solid
cubical masses, there traversed by deep chasms and bristling with
sharp pinnacles, at one place standing out in full relief in their
grey mossy coating, and at another covered with a trellis-work of
roots, trees ascending from their summits into mid-air, and the
entire rock buried under a load of varied vegetation the effect
of the whole is at once picturesque and imposing in an extraordi-
nary degree. I can only afford to notice a few of the most re-
markable rocks, although a faithful description of the whole is
desirable, since the Chinese quarryrnen are proceeding so rapidly
in their work of destruction that it is to be feared these grand
THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN. 41
and singular natural phenomena will, in a few years, have been
entirely obliterated.
One of the most striking of the rocks is a connected pile of
great bulk and extent which stretches from the base of the hill
across the beach into the sea. It is cleft in a few places by nar-
row dark chasms, three of which, in particular, divide it into four
principal portions. The inner is a great cuboidal mass based in
the land, and its sides, being very slightly furrowed, rise perpen-
dicularly like solid walls. At the N.W. angle rises what may be
called a great columnar turret, partially severed from the mass by
a deep narrow chasm, and traversed from top to bottom by deep
channels divided by narrow ridges, and with its summit ascend-
ing some yards above the level of the pile. A tree rises from the
pinnacled summit, and the whole of the western side of the colum-
nar mass is reticulated by its roots. The principal of these run
down the channels to the ground, and, as they descend, give out
numerous lateral branches which closely embrace the rock, follow-
ing its sinuosities and entering the cleft between it and the main
mass. The roots are so numerous and so interlaced that they conceal
the greater part of the rock ; and, towards the summit, where they
converge beneath the trunk, only some narrow portions of the
ridges are visible. These differ so little in shape and colour from
the roots, and are so closely united with them, that, from some
points of view, the whole appears as the solid ' stole of the tree.
From other points of view some of the acicular summits of the
turret are free from the network of roots, and others pierce through
it. One of the long nearly horizontal branches of the tree which
stretches seaward above the pile is literally covered with air plants
save at its extremity. The second mass of the pile is also cubical,
but distinguished by a bulky awkward-looking protuberance, which
rises above it towards its edge and leans to one side, but for which
it is impossible to find any architectural prototype. Its rounded
shapeless edges and partially depressed sides give it a form more
resembling a bit of ginger root than anything ever shaped by art.
The W. side of the mass above which it rises is traversed by a
few furrows nearly vertical, but dipping a little from N. to S. The
upper portion, or about two-thirds, of the east side is rather more
furrowed. The lower portion bulges out and is smooth. The
furrows incline to the southward, bending more decidedly in that
direction as they reach the bulging portion of the rock, on the
upper surface of which they terminate. The third portion of the
mass is smaller than the preceding, and its upper surface slopes
seaward. Its sides are much channelled. The upper portion of
the southern face of the fourth or external mass slopes curvately
from the cleft that separates it from the preceding mass till its
lower portion approximates to vertical and dips beneath the sea.
Its surface is on all the three exposed sides an uninterrupted series
42 THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN.
of sharp ridges, and included furrows which vary in depth and
breadth. The depth is from two to five feet. Some are broad
and deep semi-cylindrical concavities, the surfaces of which are
grooved or fluted all round. The grooves are continued without
interruption, and with all their regularity of form, beneath the
level of the sea, where they are quite covered by shell-fish. The
axis of the grooves on the front runs N.W. by W. and S.E. by E.
nearly.
At the S.W. side there is a curious ladle-shaped cavity of which
the bottom is flat and about a foot in depth. A channel leads
into it from the upper edge of the rock and another, very shallow,
descends from it. On one side is a small heart-shaped hollow.
A band of black hornblendic rock traverses the upper part of the
cup and includes the hollow.
The appearance of the whole mass from the sea is very remark-
able. The summit seems to consist of numerous peaks, the lower
being the projecting extremities of the ridge, and the higher rising
well above the mass-like turrets, while the tree spreads its arms
protectingly over the whole.
On the vertical surface of an adjacent rock there is a deep cup-
like depression. The Chinese have partially broken the rock at
this place, and below the surface of the cup it is seen to be
arranged in concentric folise corresponding with the cup.
A little to the E. of the pile above described, a large wedge-
shaped rock rises out of the sea. It is furrowed on all sides.
Half-way up the hill behind, there is another very remarkable
mass, the face of which stretches along the hill in a horizontal
direction for apparently 150 to 200 feet, and with a height in
some places of 40 to 50 feet. A peculiar feature of this rock is,
that, while the western portion is grooved vertically, the eastern
is traversed by a series of parallel clefts or furrows dipping from
E. to W. at an angle of apparently about 45. The belts of rock
between them are broken through in many places by irregular
channels often approximating to vertical. The surface of this side
is further back than that of the rest, and as a small projecting
portion of its upper edge, which is continued in the same plane
with the latter, presents vertical channels of similar dimensions
and aspect to those which mark it, I conclude that after the whole
face of the rock had been channelled out, a tabular mass here fell
off, leaving only a portion where the cohesion was firmer, and that
the next layer or lamince, possessing a different structural cleav-
age, has been since furrowed in the direction of its principal
divisional lines. This conclusion is strengthened by the circum-
stance that this portion of the face has an angular broken ap-
pearance, and that neither its inclined nor its approximately
vertical channels have the smooth regularly curved surfaces which
characterize the grooves of the rest of the rock in common with
THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN. 43
the other masses in this locality. It is to the latter, like the first
rude angular outline shaped by the sculptor to his finished work.
Nevertheless it also bears the impress of a high antiquity, being
covered by vegetable incrustations, and embraced by the reticula-
tions of the roots of a tree similar in species to that before noticed.
Many of the principal roots run along the bands or ridges between
the grooves. Some prefer the latter, and some pass from one
groove to another by the gutters which intersect the dividing ridge.
The summit of the rock presents a dense mass of vegetation.
On the top of the hill, which is here very steep, there are several
piles of rocks whose perpendicular sides project from the declivity,
while their summits are nearly on a level with that of the hill.
One of these is divided into distinct entire masses by wide verti-
cal chasms. The perpendicular faces are grooved. Another ad-
joining pile, on the other hand, has been broken up into a number
of cuboidal blocks, and long tabular masses resting on these.
The passages between the former are in many places broad and
deep, and, where they are covered by the superincumbent rocks,
form dusky cavernous hollows, which are tenanted by bats. Some
of the external passages are like doorways, being about seven feet
in height and six across. At the side of one of these entrances
half of the horizontal surface of one of the supporting rocks is ex-
posed. It is hollowed out into a shallow basin, about six feet in
diameter and six inches deep, which is filled with vegetable debris
and water. One of the horizontal tabular masses is about thirty-
feet long. On its under surface, which is smooth, are two semi-
globular hollows. An adjacent mass is about forty feet in length,
and eight in breadth. On its under surface also I observed a cup
about three feet in diameter and one in depth at the centre. The
hill is here very narrow and slopes steeply on the inner side to a
mangrove flat. On this side there are also several rocks. One of
considerable size had a smooth rounded surface unmarked by any
furrows.
The rocks along the beach, although with a few exceptions not
remarkable for their size and architectural features, are geologically
interesting. At the farthest Chinese hut to the eastward are broad
flat masses stretching across the beach, and only a few feet in
height. Their surfaces are traversed by parallel rectilinear fissures
and slight grooves, marking divisional planes, and the direction of
these, and also of the longest edges of the rocks, is almost due
N.E. and S.W. Proceeding along the beach to the westward, a
fine example of concentric or parallel curved exfoliation occurs.
Of what has originally been an extensive mass of rock there only
remain a few solid blocks, of cuboidal and rudely spherical forms,
which rise from the decomposed and semi-decomposed bed worn
down nearly to the level of the beach. Embracing the rounded
bases of these nuclei, and forming the bed, are the upper edges
44 THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN.
of parallel curved lamincc, which continue till those spreading out
from an adjacent nucleus meet them. Sometimes the same
lamina; are seen, after embracing the end of one block, to bend
reversely, and embrace another nucleus, so that the surface or
horizontal section exhibits a series of narrow parallel S. -shaped
bands. The variation in the curves, according to the form of the
sides of the nuclei, is very great and striking. The lower corner
of one of the blocks is conical, and the concentric sheaths or caps
have the same shape. In the triangular spaces left where three
systems of laminae meet are prismatic masses, solid, but of a
crumbling structure, and in composition similar to the laminae.
Near one of the Chinese houses I observed that the face of a
rock, freshly split by the Chinese, was a regular curve, and on the
hill the side of a large rock had a similar curve. I partially re-
examined the rock mentioned (ante, p. 27). The W. side is
marked by deep grooves, of which the axes are N.E. by E. nearly.
The planes in which these are formed also determine the direction
of the face of the rock overlooking the channel. Many of the
grooves on the west side are a succession of deep pear-shaped
cavities. I think there can be no doubt that these are owing to
sheathed nuclei having been gradually excavated. That such
nuclei are very abundantly dispersed amongst the rocks is evident.
A little to the W. of this rock and towards the beach there is a
large flattish rock. One side is a curve in which parallel lamina:,
after retaining their continuity for some thickness, part in the
middle and give off two systems perpendicular to the first. If
this rock, which is nearly buried in the soil, were exposed to
meteoric action, a deep groove would soon be formed in the line
where the lamince part and bend inwards.
The metallic vein formerly noticed runs N.E. by E. The whole
rock is traversed by other planes in the same direction, as appears
from slight scorings on the surface. Another principal divisional
plane is S.E. by S., as is well seen by the direction of the edges of
some large rocks adjoining.
To the S.W. of the grooved rock first described, the rocks on
the beach are either extended and flat, and a few feet above the
level of the beach, or, were worn down nearly to the level
of the beach, they are broken into small cuboidal and spherical
fragments, disposed, where this has been recently done, in
regular lines. It is obvious how readily rocks with such a
structure may be worn into cavities and channels.
Having now sufficiently gone into details for the scope of this
paper, it remains to explain the conclusions to which I have been
led by my observations. In truth, however, I have not much to say
on this subject (save what is of a general speculative nature) that
has not been anticipated in the second portion of the preceding
remarks. The first circumstance worthy of note is, that the
THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN. 45
observer, after he has partially explored the island, is wholly unable
to conjecture, at many of the points, whether the next few paces
along the shore will bring him to a granitic, a syenitic, a dioritic,
or a basaltic rock, or even whether the mass before him, although
at the place where he has broken off a fragment decidedly a
granite, may not in other places be found to consist of any or all
of these other minerals. The island, in its general mineralogy,
seems to break through all arbitrary distinctions of plutonic and
volcanic, and to confirm, in a very striking manner, the conclusion
to which most geologists have arrived that these great classes of
rocks are essentially similar in origin. The difference in struc-
ture, as between a compact basalt and a crystalline granite, is
referred to the difference in pressure to which the basalt, cooling
near the surface, and the granite, cooling at great depths, were
subject at the time of their solidification. That this may, or rather
must, have a great influence is certain ; but the occurrence of such
rocks as these of Pulo Ubin cannot be explained by difference of
pressure, and, indeed, proves that there are in Nature causes inde-
pendent of variations in pressure, adequate to the contemporaneous
production of rocks belonging both to the volcanic and the plutonic
series.* Under whatever circumstances the granite of the island was
produced, under the same circumstances were the syenites and
greenstones also produced ; and some other cause than great differ-
ence of depth and consequent pressure must have determined the
mutation in the mineral character of the mass. But if it be certain
that such cause existed, would not that cause of itself be adequate
as a general origin of the difference in igneous rocks attributed
to inequalities of pressure? Mr. Lyell (perhaps the most dis-
tinguished of our English writers on geology, whether we consider
the originality of his views, the philosophical spirit in which they
are generally conceived, or the graceful simplicity of the language
in which they are expressed), in the chapter of his "Elements " in
which he treats of the plutonic rocks, and in which he refers them
to a deep subterranean source, quotes the following passages from
Dr. MacCullogh's " System of Geology " :
"The ordinary granite of Aberdeenshire is the usual ternary
compound of quartz, felspar and mica ; but sometimes hornblende
is substituted for the mica. But in many places a variety occurs,
which is composed simply of felspar and hornblende ; and in
examining more minutely this duplicate compound, it is observed
in some places to assume a fine grain, and at length to become
undistinguishable from the greenstones of the trap family. It also
passes in the same uninterrupted manner into a basalt, and at
length into a soft claystone, with a schistose tendency on exposure,
* Mr. Lyell confines the term plutonic to granites (" Elements," vol. i. p. i
and vol. ii. chap. 32), and I here use it in the same sense. Oiher writers, an
perhaps Mr. Lyell himself, occasionally give it a wider meaning.
46 THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN.
in no respect differing from those of the trap islands of the western
coast." The same author mentions, " that in Shetland, a granite
composed of hornblende, mica, felspar, and quartz, graduates in
an equally perfect manner into basalt." Mr. Lyall continues :
" In Hungary there are varieties of trachyte, which, geologically
speaking, are of modern origin, in which crystals not only of mica
but of quartz are common, together with felspar and hornblende.
It is easy to conceive how such volcanic masses may, at a certain
depth from the surface, pass downwards into granite."*
This is very true, but although the facts previously cited from
Dr. MacCulloch prove the easy gradation between basaltic and
granitic rocks, they seem as little reconcileable as the rocks of
Pulo Ubin are with the theory of a necessarily deep tartarean
origin of the latter, and less subterranean origin of the former. In
Singapore there are blocks of greenstone as highly crystallized as
any granite, but in which large isolated portions become compact
and approach to basalt. In these cases it is impossible to refer
the change from a compact to a crystalline structure merely to the
mechanical pressure of the superincumbent crust, for such a force
must have acted uniformily throughout the whole mass before
solidification. The cause of the variations in the igneous rocks
(excluding those which cool in or near the atmosphere), must be
chemical or electrical more than mechanical. It is probable that
Mr. Darwin, in drawing attention to the established influence of
disturbance in causing certain of the ingredients of a molten mass
of different elements to crystallize and separate from the mass, and
thereby attain the power of ascending or descending through it to
a different level according to the specific gravity of the crystals,
has discovered a very potent mechanical agent which is sub-
servient to the chemical causes of the gradations in the plutonic
and volcanic rocks. While believing, however, that the influence
of continued uniform pressure (and this implies the absence of
disturbance) will be chiefly exhibited in communicating a homo-
geneous character to the fluid rock solidified under it, I would not
be understood to limit the effect of disturbance to the mere
separation of ingredients by their different relative gravities. It
rather appears tome that a very important operation of mechanical
agitation has been overlooked by Mr. Darwin.
This leads me to notice the next remarkable feature of the Pulo
Ubin rocks, their cuboidal, globular, laminar and zoned structure,
which I conceive to be intimately connected with their varying
mineralogical character ; and, in fact, to be an effect of the same
cause. As the varying crystallization of the rocks seemed to
reject the distinction of plutonic and volcanic, so their structure
not only approximates to that of both those divisions, but even
* Lyell's " Elements of Geology " (2nd. ed.), vol. ii. p. 334.
THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN. 47
partakes often in a striking manner of that which characterizes
some of the principal members of what Mr. Lyell terms the meta-
morphic series. The alternation of beds or zones of different
composition, and the approach where mica abounds, to the struc-
ture of gneiss, frequently assimilate them to rocks of that series ;
while the predominance of granitic types, and the general character
of the whole rocks, demonstrate their direct origin from igneous
fusion. The close approximation of this development of igneous
rocks at some of its points to certain points in gneissose develop-
ments will be more particularly considered in the sequel.*
Some geologists appear still to doubt whether granite ever had
an original concretionary structure. Thus, Sir H. de la Beche, in
his valuable report on the " Geology of Cornwall, Devon, and
"West Somerset" (p. 450), in reference to the detached blocks, pro-
truding rocks, and hollows called rock basins, which abound in
the granitic tracts of that district, says that, after having given
much attention to the subject, he is far from perceiving good
evidence in favour of the opinion that the globular blocks are
owing to an original concretionary arrangement of the granite.
He adds, that after much careful observation, he is inclined to refer
the rounded character of a large proportion of the blocks, either
scattered over the surface or still existing in the tors of the granitic
districts, more to the decomposition of surfaces produced by
divisional planes than to any other cause. Many of the exposed
granite blocks on the Pinang mountains are rounded at the edges,
and this is undoubtedly there the result of mere weathering. That
an originally angular block must disintegrate more rapidly on the
edges than elsewhere is evident, for there two faces, both subjected
to meteoric action, approximate and meet, so that the edge decom-
poses quite through, and being in every fall of rain converted into
the summit of a petty waterfall, the same mechanical process,
which, on a grand scale, is wasting the cliffs of Niagara, wears down
the decomposing edge. But such an operation would not explain
the occurrence of really globular blocks, and as these are seen on
Pulo Ubin in the very act of separating from the original compact
masses in which they had been formed, and exposing the concen-
tric coats of which they consist, the fact of granite assuming this
structure under certain conditions is matter of ocular demonstra-
tion. The fact, however, is not new, for, although it is not noticed
by Lyell, Phillips, or any other of our recent English writers on
the plutonic rocks with whose works I am acquainted, and Sir H.
de la Beche is evidently not aware that a concentric laminar struc-
ture had ever been actually observed in granite, it is distinctly
mentioned by one of Werner's pupils, the most able and learned
of our few mineralogists, Professor Jameson, of Edinburgh, in his
article on mineralogy and geology in the "Edinburgh Encyclopaedia,"
* See further on, p. 50.
48 THE ROCKS OF PULO VEIN.
and it seems to be also well known to many continental geologists.
Professor Jameson says : " Some granites are disposed in rounded
balls or concretions, which are from a foot to several fathoms in
diameter. These balls are sometimes composed of curved lamellar
concretions, which always include a harder central mass or nucleus.
The spaces between the concretions are filled with granite of a
softer nature, which decays readily, and thus leaves the harder
central masses heaped on each other or strewed about. Such
heaps or tumuli have been erroneously described as rolled masses
brought from a distance to their present situation by the agency
of currents that formerly swept the surface of the earth. Examples
of this kind of structure occur in the island of Arran, Bohemia,
the Hartz, the Fitchtelgebirge, and in other countries."*
In the Pulo Ubin rocks the laminar structure is seen well
defined and unequivocal. In the globular form it is as regular
as that of trappean rocks ; and Mr. Scrope's description of some
remarkable examples of this structure in a resinous trachyte, or
pitchstone porphyry, in one of the Ponza Islands might be applied
verbatim to some of the Pulo Ubin rocks. It is not confined to
spherical concretions, however ; for, as we have seen, it sometimes
occurs in rectilinear zones, f or on the plane surfaces of cubical
masses,? and, at other places, in irregular variously curved
planes. In these latter cases it is not improbable that the
nuclei are spherical or hemispherical towards their centres, and
that the laminae only began to depart from this form as the
expanding nuclei approached each other and prevented further
independent development. In such cases it is obvious that the
upper portions of the laminae have been decomposed and removed
by meteoric or oceanic action, and sometimes by both combined.
Whether the nucleus in most of these cases, where only the
upper portion is exposed, be wholly globular or pass internally
into a cylindrical form, I am not at present able to say.
In a paper of great interest upon the granitic mountain of the
Brocken and its " sea of rocks," read before the Berlin Academy
of Sciences, on December 13, 1842, and of which an abstract is
given in the first number of the " Journal of the Geological Society
of London," M. von Buch refers the external blocks with which
the mountain is covered and the concentric laminar structure of
granite bosses in general, to contraction of the mass on cooling.
He gives this view a grand application by suggesting that the
body of ellipsoidal granite mountains consists, like small bosses,
of concentric layers, each repeating the form of the mountain on
a diminished scale the whole of this structure resulting from the
mechanical operation of refrigeration. This structure is well
marked in the granites of Devon and Cornwall, which have a
* "Edinburgh Encyclopaedia," vol. xiv. p. 414. t Ante, p. 26, c.
Ante, p. 30, &c. Ante, p. 28, 40, &c.
THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN. 49
stratified appearance, the beds conforming to the surfaces of the
schistose rocks when these are superincumbent. Sir H. de la
Beche considers that the laminae or beds probably agree in form
with that of the original surfaces of the granite masses after pro-
trusion. He observed at one place alternating beds of a decom-
posed and hard granite, and he thinks that the difference of
original structure may be due to a tendency of the whole to
arrange itself in false beds coinciding with the surface of the
erupted mass. At another place he observed a similar alternation
of beds, which, however, in this case appeared to be at right
angles to the bearing of the granitic mass in which they occurred.
Schorl rock and granite were seen in another locality in alternate
zones. These phenomena appear to be similar to some of those
of Pulo Ubin which we are considering.
Whatever were the mechanical conditions under which the
mass of Pulo Ubin solidified from a fluid state, we must admit
that to no single uniform cause can we ascribe the phenomena
which it presents. Assuming, as I think observation requires,
that the whole is of one contemporaneous origin, we must allow
that the chemical ingredients of the mass were irregularly dis-
tributed, if not originally, then at a time immediately preceding
solidification. Variable mechanical disturbance may have been
mainly instrumental in producing local inequalities in chemical
and polar action during the transition from a fluid to a solid state,
and this might have the effect of attracting certain elements
to particular places, and there exciting particular mineralogical
developments. A portion of the rocks beneath which the granite
rose may have been melted into it, and varied the relative pro-
portions of the old ingredients, or added new ones. It is perhaps
rash to pursue this subject without an exact chemical analysis of
the rocks under consideration. But so far as we can take the
ascertained general composition of minerals as a guide, we may
inquire whether the passage of the same connected mass from a
rock in which mica is entirely absent into one in which it pre-
dominates does not support the above views ? Can the frequent
substitution of hornblende for mica be otherwise explained ? It
is true there is a great similarity in the chemical composition of
the different minerals which make up the rocks of the island, but
some powerful forces must have operated to cause the segregation,,
in limited spaces, of certain elements from the surrounding fluid
mass. Mica is very inconstant in the proportion of its ingredients,
and there are species which approach very closely to hornblende ;
but even in these the lime of the latter is represented by potash.
Where we find the mica ceasing, and hornblende taking its place,,
we must suppose that in^the original fluid or viscid mass lime had
been segregated in the space now occupied by the latter.
A circumstance mentioned by Sir H. de la Beche with respect
SECOND SERIES. VOL. I. E
50 THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIX.
to the granite of Devon and Cornwall bears materially on this
subject. He says that towards the borders of the granitic tracts
that is, where the granite comes in contact with the circum-
jacent rocks it alters its character, passing from a compound of
quartz, felspar, and mica, to a schorlaceous rock. The mica first
disappears, being replaced by schorl, and then commonly the
felspar also disappears, and the rock is converted into a compound
of quartz and schorl which are generally aggregated in nearly
equal proportions. Sir H. de la Beche also mentions that near
the joints by which the granite is traversed its character alters,
and that it is adjoining these joints that the character of the mass
at its confines becomes particularly quartzose and schorlaceous.
In the lower spurs of a granite chain in Pinang I remarked that
the rock was devoid of that general uniformity throughout con-
siderable tracts which distinguished the central ridge. It was
variable in its composition and texture, being frequently coarse
grained. Quartz was largely developed, and in some places
schorl (which I do not recollect having anywhere noticed in the
ridge) appeared in large, crystals and fibres. Sir H. de la Beche
seems to consider that the joints, and the change in the mineralo-
gical character of the rock at their sides must have been produced
subsequent to the consolidation of the granite, since in many
places the same joints traverse the schistose rocks. Would it not
be a simpler explanation of these phenomena to suppose that the
schistose rocks were heated, and consequently expanded, by the
fluid granite ; that the crystallization and solidification of the
granite commenced in a band or layer next the surface where it
would sooner cool, and where the contact of the solid schist, the
immersion of fractured portions of it in the granitic fluid, and the
greater disturbing motions * would favour crystallization ; that,
under such conditions, quartz and schorl are developed at the
surface ; that, as the heat escaped, or crystallization advanced,
planes of minor tension, ultimately giving rise to the joints or
planes of disconuity, were produced by contraction, variable
motion, polar action, or the mutual action of regularly arranged
spheroids ; that they traversed the schistose mass immediately
above, because, being heated by the adjacent granite, any effect
produced by contraction or refrigeration, the forces of crystalliza-
tion or polar action, would, to a certain extent, be common to
both, and extended through the superjacent schists to some
distance, because a splitting of a solid mass tends to extend itself
mechanically, and the schist was probably in a state of tension
from the upward pressure of the granitic bubble ; that, finally, the
* It is evident that where the surface of a granitic bubble, swelling up
from a vast fluid expanse, came in contact with aqueous rock-;, pali
unequal resistance, there must have been greater and more variable mechanical
disturbance than in the body of the bubble.
THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN. 5 r
granite, being still in a viscid state when the joints were formed,
the surfaces of the joints became quartzose and schorlaceous ?
Why the granite towards the joints should have an excess of
quartz at some places, and of quartz and schorl at other places, is
a question as difficult as it is important. It may be considered
under two hypotheses : either that foreign ingredients were not
introduced on the opening of the joints, or that they were. If we
believe the joints to have been formed at a period in the gradual
cooling of the fluid mass, some time prior to complete solidifica-
tion, and while the crystals, whether incipient or ultimate, were in
a viscid state and admitted of motion amongst themselves/" we
shall then have a separation of the mass into geometrical cubes,
prisms, &c., in each of which crystallization would proceed
separately. If in these cubes we suppose the non-siliceous elements
to have united first with the proportions of silex necessary for the
formation of felspar, mica, &c., and the crystals thus formed to be
then attracted together, leaving a base of silex for ulterior con-
solidation (as seems to have been the case, from the quartz in
common granite filling the interstices between the other ingredi-
ents), then if there be a considerable surplusage of quartz, we
should expect to find it accumulated towards the surfaces of the
cubes. In those cases where schorl accompanies the quartz, some
of the ingredients necessary to the schorl, such as boracic acid,
may have risen in a state of gas or vapour through the joints.
But without resorting to this hypothesis, let us suppose that from
the first, all the ingredients existed together in the mass. The
external portion of the cube, &c., differs more in mineralogical
than in chemical character from the internal. The schorl of the
former, compared with the felspar of the latter, has a great excess
of alumina, and a great deficiency of silica. But this difference is
compensated, and the balance of ingredients restored, by the
quartz which accompanies the schorl. If we therefore reduce the
internal and external portions to their constituents, we shall find
that the essential difference is only about 10 per cent, and that it
consists in the latter having about 9 per cent, of oxide of iron
instead of only 2 per cent., and in having about 2 per cent, of a
new ingredient boracic acid. We can hardly err in attributing
the difference mainly to the chemical action of the acid, which,
whether by itself or in combination with soda, is remarkable for
its fusibility, and its power of communicating this property to com-
pounds. The tendency of certain substances in a fused mass to
retire towards the surface, when other substances are there found
for which they have a stronger affinity than the other constituents
* \Ve must believe that granite existed for a considerable period in a
transition state between fluidity and solidity i.e., as a viscid or pasty sub-
stance and that the ultimate crystals which solidified were not produced
during the early stages of this period.
1 . --
52 THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN.
of the mass, is well known. But there is no difficulty in conceiving.;
that such a transfer may have been mainly mechanical. The
boracic acid may have retained a portion of the matter with which
it was in combination in a fluid or viscid state for some time sub-
sequent to the crystallization and partial solidification of the
felspar, &c., and the internal pressure of the semi-solidified mass
alone may have forced this towards the sides, and caused it to rise
to the surface. It is ascertained that both felspar and quartz
remain in a viscid state at temperatures greatly inferior to that at
which they are fused, and hence there must have been a degree of
internal pressure subsequent to crystallization. The fugitive
character of schorl is more than once pointed out by Sir H. de la
Beche in his Report. Amongst other instances of alterations pro-
duced on sedimentary rocks by contact with granite he mentions-
some slates in which schorl has been introduced between the
laminae. A more remarkable case occurs in a granite consisting
of large felspar crystals in a base of schorl and quartz. At some-
places the felspar crystals have been decomposed and replaced by
crystals of schorl crossing each other in various directions, and the
schorl in the surrounding base is evidently deficient.
The abundance of quartz at the surface may be due in some
measure to the circumstance that the boracic acid, whether ex-
pelled from the interior on the crystallization of the felspar and
mica, or derived from without through the joints, would, wherever
its ultimate locality was, be hostile to the formation of felspar and
mica there.
However we may account for it, the fact of the schorl taking
the place of felspar and mica in the Devonshire and Cornwall
granites, appears to be analogous to that of hornblende replacing
mica in the granites and syenites of Pulo Ubin, and if we extend
the preceding speculations regarding the one transition to the
other, we shall find them in harmony with the views formerly
expressed. We must in the first place consider the island itself as
the summit of one granitic bubble, of which much of the external
portions have disappeared. A portion of the bubble (its superja-
cent rocks, whatever they were, having been swept away), is now
elevated above the sea, so as to expose a belt below high-water
mark to the action of the waves which are working into the nucleus,
and in their progress laying bare the structure of the external layer
of the bubble. This portion we must conceive to have been
nearer the pre-existing superjacent rocks than the central and
higher mass (which was probably denuded to the nucleus before
it was elevated to its present level), and the great variations in its
structure and ingredients may have resulted from that circumstance
under the influences previously adverted to.*
* If the views advanced in a subsequent part of this paper are correct, we
must recognize in grauilic fluid masses a period, in the gradual diminution of
THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN. 53
The leading fact relating to the structure of the rocks, is that
the principal vertical or approximately vertical planes of division
have a general direction approximating to N.E. S.W. It is
also observable that the zones of softer rock and the majority
of the grooves have the same directions. Pulo Ubin lies in the
great plutonic band of elevation, stretching from Assam to Banca,
-and having, from Junkceylon southwards, a south-easterly direc-
tion. The divisional planes are therefore nearly at right angles
to the axis of elevation. Is this a general geological phenomenon ?
It probably is, because in a locality so far removed as the south-
west of England, it is repeated. Sir H. de la Beche informs us
that the divisional planes of the granite and other rocks in
Cornwall and Devon, are generally N.N.W. S.S.E. The grand
conclusion which he draws is, that this direction approximates
to the present magnetic meridian of the district, and may, there-
fore, in its origin, be related to it. Pre-occupied with this view,
he has overlooked the fact that this direction is at right angles to
the direction of the principal granite masses of the district
.(E. 24 N., W. 24 S.,* which, beginning at Dartmoor, are con-
tinued to the Scilly Islands. Not merely the south-western division
of England, but the general configuration of the British Islands,
seems to be due to axes of elevation, having the same or an
approximate range. Thus the great body of Scotland and Ireland
may be considered as one connected mass upraised on such axes.
Professor Phillips t mentions that the anticlinal axes of the High-
lands and Lammermuirs in Scotland, prolonged to Donegal and
Cavan in Ireland, and those of the Cumbrian mountains, the Isle
of Man, and North Wales, all range N.E. and S.W. It also
appears from Professor Phillips's diagram, showing the result of
his examination of the joints in the mountain limestone districts
of the north of England, that the great majority of the divisional
planes are there in N.N.W. and S.S.E. lines. J A coincident range
has been observed in the joints in other localities in England,
and also in France ; " more particuhrly,'"says Sir H. de la Beche,
"in granites and grauwacke." I think it probable, therefore, that
the jointed structure of rocks will be found to be much more
connected with the directions in which igneous rocks have swelled
up and been injected, and islands, mountains, and continents
their temperature to the fusing point, when the external layer, having just
extended itself into the superjacent rocks by melting them into its substance,
was arrested in its further extension by crystallization. Hence the external
layer should often be variable, and partake of the chemical ingredients of the
adjacent rocks, because time was not allowed for their thorough mixture with
the general mass. In fact this layer must often be merely a layer of the adja-
cent rock fused down and immediately crystallized into a granite. (See note,
p. 60, post.) * De la Beche's " Report," p. 157.
t " Treatise on Geology," vol. ii. p. 258.
% Ibid., vol. i. p. 65. " Report," p. 275.
54 THE A' OCA'S OF PULO UBIN.
been consequently upraised, than with the magnetic meridians.
If due to mere tension, it may have originated under both or one
of two influences. If we conceive, what is most reasonable and
consistent with observation, that the formation of mountain chains
is accomplished by a slow movement, or succession of movements,
prolonged during a great geological period, then we must admit
that the upper layers of the gradually ascending and cooling mass
have been exposed to continued or repeated pressure from below,
which, of itself, would cause the partially hardened or viscid crust
to crack, or would give rise to planes of inferior resistance to
tension in which the mass would have a tendency to part. But
there is another source of tension which may co-operate with-
external pressure, or exist independently of it, and that is simple
contraction after crystallization on cooling.
In and near Singapore we find the stratified rocks in general
elevated into low ranges of hillocks, of which the axes coincide
with that of the Malay Peninsula and the Islands from Singapore
to Banca. The strata have commonly been tilted up at very high
angles, frequently approaching vertical. Considering the Penin-
sula and its prolongation in the Archipelagoes, south of Johore,
as one band which has been subjected to elevatory plutonic
forces,* the first external effect of these forces must have been
to cause a great tension, from N.E. to SW., across the zone,
followed by a rending and displacement of the superincumbent
strata, and injection of ignifluous matter along lines at right
angles to that of tension, or from N.W. to S.E. The principal'
divisional planes must have been the result, not of a transverse
tension like the first, but of a subsequent longitudinal one.f
The great rending and displacement of the strata, and the
circumstance of the heads of adjoining strata being sometimes
broken up and intermingled, prove that mechanical movements
of great violence, and combining a horizontal vibratory with a
vertical action, must have attended their upheaval. The direc-
tion of these movements must have agreed with the line of
tension, because they were nothing more than the effect of the
tension reaching the limit which the rocks subject to it could
bear. The strata are generally inclined from S.W. to N.E.,
although there are several exceptions. The elevatory force
therefore acted, to a certain extent, in this direction. Was there
an actual propulsion of the fluid or viscid matter from S.W. to
N.E., or merely an undulating motion in this direction? Such a
* Whether a simultaneous action elevated both the central granitic chains
of the Peninsula, and the semi-volcanic hills along their base and to the south
of the Peninsula, or the latter were due to a later subsidiary action connected
with the shif;ing of the subterranean forces to Sumatra, docs not affect the
above reasoning, since the fact of agreement in direction is clear.
t See Mr. Hopkins' papers, " Researches in Physical Geology," c_
THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN. 55
motion is even now experienced in a slight degree along the
western border at least of the Peninsula when the subterranean
forces are acting beneath the western border of Sumatra.* There
is a source less remote of motion in the upper portion of volcanic
and plutonic fluid, or semi-fluid masses, which I have not seen
noticed by geologists. When the superincumbent strata were
fractured in N.W. S.E. lines, and the fluid mass pressed into
the openings, the adjoining portions would acquire a temporary
motion towards the openings, or at right angles to the lines of
fracture. In all cases of plutonic elevation there must either be
a slow continued motion upwards as the strata insensibly give
way to the pressure, or an accelerated motion when great rents
in the strata are abruptly produced. In most cases the viscid
granitic mass has probably been of too great extent, and the
motion too slow and uniform, to give rise to any variableness of
structure.
If a motion, however induced, of the igneous fluid from S.W. to
N.E. be assumed, the alternations which we find in the Pulo Ubin
rocks in bands running S.W. N.E., might, perhaps, be explained
on the same principle by which Professor Forbes accounts for the
viscid mass constituting a glacier being zoned in the direction of
its length an explanation which Mr. Darwin has applied to the
lamination of volcanic rocks of the trachytic series. In the case
of the Pulo Ubin rocks, the general agreement in direction between
the zones of variable mineral character and the principal joints,
renders it in a high degree probable, if not certain, that, if not
contemporaneous in origin, the continued action of the same cause
superinduced both. This cause must have begun to operate when
the mass was in a fluid or viscous state. Now as some zoned
glaciers are of as great bulk as many exposed granitic masses, such
as those of Cornwall or that of Pulo Ubin, we may safely consider
that the influx of a viscous body of granite into fissures gradually
enlarging into great cavities, would, at least sometimes, under a
certain range of motion, and where the conditions assimilated to
those of glacier motion, be attended with mechanical structural
effects somewhat similar to those observed in glaciers, and repeated
in the experiments made by Professor Forbes on other viscid sub-
stances. The conditions under which plutonic masses rise must
vary very greatly, but there is no difficulty in believing that they
sometimes, and particularly in masses of no great bulk, approxi-
* In the most recent instance of an earthquake of great power that ex-
perienced on the west coast of South America in 1835, and the phenomena of
which clearly proved the identity of piutonic and volcanic power the undula-
tions appear to have proceeded from the S.W., extending consequently in
N.W S.E. waves. Mr. Darwin says: "The fissures in the ground
generally, though not uniformly, extended in a S.E. and N.W. direction, and
therefore corresponded to the lines of undulation or of principal flexure."
DARWIN'S Journal, p. 311 (2nd ed.).
56 THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIX.
mate sufficiently to those which, in glaciers, produce parallel bands
of variable tension, vertical towards the surface.
Reverting now to the analogies between the rocks of Pulo Ubin
and rocks of a decided gneissose structure,* let me request that,
in reference to tin's subject, the preceding discussion be kept in
view. Mr. Darwin remarks that such facts as the vertical or highly
inclined lamination of felspathic rocks, such as he observed at the
island of Ascension, and which exist elsewhere, " are manifestly of
importance with relation to the structural origin of that grand
series of plutonic rocks which, like the volcanic, have undergone
the action of heat, and which consist of alternate layers of quartz,
felspar, mica, and other minerals." f The origin of this series of
rocks is one of the great debatable questions of geology. As in
so many other instances, both of physical and metaphysical
questions, where an array of probabilities can be advanced on each
side, both parties may be in the right and both in the wrong ; or
rather, Nature, capacious and multiplex while harmonious, can
embrace and assimilate the ideas of both. If we limit our views
to India, we can hardly deny an identity of origin to granite and
gneiss. Upon the question generally I shall not enter, but it may
help us to a better understanding of Pulo Ubin, if some facts
gathered from the papers of Indian geologists, be here placed side
by side with those local facts with which they appear to be con-
nected by some general law. Dr. Voysey, one of the earliest and
ablest labourers in the field, remarked in 1823 : " Up to the pre-
sent time I am inclined to think that both the granite and gneiss
of India are contemporaneous, as they are perpetually passing into
each other and have the same subordinate rocks. I think it pro-
bable they owe their difference of structure to a different mode of
consolidation."! Dr. Buchanan Hamilton's recently published
report on the Eastern Districts of Bengal confirms Dr. Voysey's
view, and suggests still more important considerations bearing on
the geology of the Malay Peninsula and its Archipelagoes. In
reading it I was struck with several features of the hill ranges of
Bengal which strongly reminded me of those of Singapore. I have
been led to think that the same relation subsists between these
hills and the great mountain ranges behind them between the
lower hill ranges on both sides of the Peninsula of Southern
India and the central mountains between the hills on the flanks
of the Sumatra chain and the chain itself between the hills along
the coasts of the Malay Peninsula and the mountain groups of the
interior; and between the hill ranges and the mountains of Aus-
tralia. Some remarkable characteristics are common to all these
hill ranges and groups, and every addition to our knowledge serves
* Ante, p. 42. f Darwin "On Volcanic Islands," p. 72.
+ Lrcwsicr's Edinbiirgh Journal of Science, vol. x. p. 375.
THE ROCKS OF PULO UBJN. 57
to confirm my impression that they must be referred to one
geological era and one peculiar plutonic or volcanic action
operating over a region of great extent, in which Southern Africa,
India, the Malay Peninsula, a large portion of the Eastern Archi-
pelago and Australia, are included. It would require a separate
paper to bring together the facts that have induced and confirmed
this impression. I will here only notice some circumstances
mentioned by Dr. Buchanan corroborative of Dr. Voysey's view,
and bearing on the structure of the Pulo Ubin rocks. The
minerals of what Dr. Buchanan terms the southern central division
of Bhagalpore consist, in general, of aggregate rocks composed
of felspar or schorl intermixed with quartz and sometimes with
mica, and disposed in vertical strata running easterly and westerly.
The quartz is not only found as a portion of the aggregate, but in
parallel layers alternating with it, and even in whole strata. " In
some of the strata the component parts were pretty uniformly
scattered, thus forming granites, according as they contained three
or only two ingredients ; but in by far the greater number certain
plates or flakes, as it were, contained a greater proportion of one
ingredient, and certain portions a greater share of the other, form-
ing thus what by some is called gneiss. The length of these
plates is always disposed parallel to the general direction of the
stratum, and the edges are vertical, or nearly so. There were also
other stones, in which the component matters were disposed in
what may be called striae that is, a great proportion of one of its
component parts run horizontally through the others in lines
parallel to each other, and to the direction of the stratum. Such
stones have also been included under the name of gneiss.
" In many of these stones may be occasionally found vertical
layers of white fat quartz, running parallel to the stratum, arid
entirely separating one part of the aggregated matter from the
other, without producing the smallest interruption of substance ;
nor is the stone more easily broken there than anywhere else. In
these stones, when entire, there is nothing like a schistose,or striated
fracture ; but in a state of decay, if exposed to the weather in
certain situations, especially so that the rain may lodge on the
surface, the stone gradually splits into thin plates like slate, and
this seems to happen as readily to pure quartz, or to perfect
granites and granitels, as to the gneiss. In other cases, again,
especially where blocks have been detached, the stone decays
concentrically, and, of course, losing its angles first, becomes a
rounded mass." * The rocks of what Dr. Hamilton terms the
northern intermediate division consist also of granites and
gneiss.
The recent publication in the " Journal of the Asiatic Society of
* Martin's " Eastern India," vol. ii. p. 187.
58 THE ROCKS OF PULO UB1N.
Bengal," of Captain Herbert's Report on his mineralogical survey
of a portion of the Himalayas,* has shown that gneiss is the grand
constituent of these stupendous mountains, but the gneiss fre-
quently loses its laminar character and approaches or passes into
granite ; a species of granitic gneiss is common, which appears
very often to form the transition between granite and gneiss.
The observations of Captain Herbert appear to me to tend very
strongly to the conclusion that the gneiss and granite of the
Himalayas were of contemporaneous plutonic origin. The
gneissose structure may be simply the consequence of an excess of
mica, for in most instances where Captain Herbert notices the
occurrence of granite, he adverts to the diminution of the mica.
Again, as mica diminishes the laminar structure disappears. Thus,
at one place the gneiss gradually loses its mica and becomes an
unlaminated mixture of quartz and felspar, having the aspect of
quartz rock. A rock occurs, composed of felspar and hornblende
in different proportions, apparently very similar to some of the
Pulo Ubin varieties ; and at one place Captain Herbert observed
it passing into gneiss, although in general the transition is abrupt.
It occasionally contains mica and even quartz. Greenslate pass-
ing into greenstone occurs frequently. The direction of the
principal beds into which the gneiss is separated (true strata
according to the Wernerians and Metamorphists), coincides with
that of the mountain zone of greatest elevation, the dip being
to the N.E. These strata-like divisions are frequently crossed
by fissures at right angles to them, and sometimes by another
system in a different direction. In some places, particularly in
the higher regions, the gneiss, though perfectly laminar, is not
divided into regular beds by parallel seams, but is crossed by
fissures in all directions. In a lower zone of the Himalaya a
range of granite tracts of considerable extent occurs. This zone
is parallel to the direction of the axis of the mountains and the
strike of the gneiss. The most eastern tract, at Chumpawat, is
soft like the growan of Cornwall, and contains much felspar and
little mica. Hard blocks are strewed over it. A portion of the
next mass is exclusively felspar " which, it would seem, is strati-
fied." Near Dhee, Captain Herbert describes some spheroidal
blocks of great size, which are exfoliating in the same manner as
those of Pulo Ubin. One of these was sixty feet in diameter.
Numerous veins, consisting almost wholly of quartz and felspar,
traverse the granite. Schorl abounds. The next mass, proceeding
westward, is at Almorah, where granite and granite gneiss occur. A
fourth mass is found at Palee, which precisely resembles those to
the eastward. It appears to pass into gneiss on its borders. On
* The date of the survey is not given, but Captain Herbert was at Almorah
engaged in it when Bishop Ilebcr visited the mountains in 1842. (See
Hcbcr's "Journal.")
THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN. 59
a line to the westward " a rock oscillating between granite and
gneiss " is found. Near Dhooeet the rock development is so in-
teresting in itself and bears so much on the subjects discussed in
this paper that I shall cite Captain Herbert's description. " In a
geological sense the rock may be called a gneiss, but it exhibits
small patches (forming regular transitions amongst themselves) of
the most regular micaceous schist (earthy type), and, again, of the
most legitimate granite (growan). These three rocks, so different
in composition, in mineralogical character, and in supposed geo-
logical origin, may be here observed in the compass of a few
yards all naturally (mutually?) interchangeable, while nothing like
a veinous appearance can be attributed to any of them." On the
same zone with the proceeding masses, but at a great distance to
the westward, the Choor Peak, which rises to the height of
12,000 feet, is composed of granite.
The zone of gneiss is twenty-four miles in breadth, and includes
all the higher summits of the Himalayas. The gneiss was seen at
altitudes of from 2800 to 25,709 feet. To the southward succeeds
a zone of about the same breadth formed principally of micaceous,
chloritic, talcose and hornblendic schists, but including limestone
and the granitic tracts formerly mentioned. These types vary
exceedingly in themselves, and in their transitions into each
other. This schistose tract is succeeded by a band of sandstone
which is referred to the New Red. The general dip of all the
rocks from the sandstone to the gneiss is from 20 to 30 to the
N.E., or towards the great central plateau of Asia. The lowest
system is therefore the new red sandstone, and the highest the
gneiss. Captain Herbert seems to consider that this fact nega-
tives the idea that the planes of apparent stratification are really
what they seem, and he is obviously rather disposed to refer them
to a similar action to that which produced the fissures transverse
to them. It is scarcely possible to conceive that a continuous
mass of strata, about sixty miles in horizontal breadth at their
present inclination, which would give an original vertical depth of
about sixteen miles, should have been raised on its edge and made
to move through an arc of 150 to 160 until it rested in its
present position, with the gneiss, originally sixteen miles below the
sandstone, now as many miles above it. Such displacement does
no doubt sometimes occur on a great scale. Thus, in the Alps,
and, as we learn from the great work of Sir R. Murchison and M.
de Verneuil, in the Ural mountains, thick masses of strata are in
some places overturned, and, on the flanks of the latter mountains,
the order of superposition is thus sometimes inverted. But such
cases cannot justify us in supposing that in a similar convulsion on
a transcendent scale the Himalayas originated. The metamor-
phic theory might get rid of the difficulty if it could be shown
that the gneiss and other rocks resting on the new red sandstone
Co THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN.
were really more modern sedimentary rocks ! * Until we possess
further light we seem justified in considering that the researches
and conclusions of Captain Herbert tend to prove that the
passage of gneiss into granite or the reverse may be determined
simply by the variable proportions of mica and the conditions of
crystallization from a common state of fluidity or viscidity. A
portion of the Himalayas has more recently been examined by
Dr. MacClelland, and he declares positively that the granite is
stratified, the strata being nearly vertical and appearing to be
composed of nodules around which concentric layers are wrapped.
He states also that tJie gneiss rests on tJie gj'anite in conformable
strata, and that the two rocks pass insensibly into each other. t
The metamorphic theory starts on a basis of fact and is demon-
strably true up to a certain limit. But when applied to mountain
masses of enormous thickness we leave that limit far behind.
The conversion of the Himalayas from soft sedimentary into
crystalline matter cannot be explained by the plutonic action of
granite on known aqueous rocks, even where it has pervaded them
to the thickness of a few hundred yards. If the Himalayas were
metamorphosed, the process must have been different, or plutonic
influences must have been in operation of far greater potency,
and having in some respects a different mode of action. There
is an unsatisfactory want of definiteness about the metamorphic
theory even when expounded by its great advocate M. Lyell. If
the ingredients of gneiss were originally arranged as we find them
at present, then it only differs from the Wernerian theory in sub-
stituting a posterior for an aboriginal consolidation, and places
gneiss on the same footing with any of the secondary or tertiary
sandstones that have assumed a stony texture since they w r ere
deposited from water. On the other hand, if it takes a bolder
grasp of the difficulty and asserts that the whole structure of the
rock, the regular form of its crystals, and the separation of those
of different species into alternate lamince, are due to the mass
having been melted into a viscid state and subjected to crystalliza-
tion de novo^ it appears to come so close to direct plutonic forma-
tion that it is not easy to see where room is to be found for a vast
metamorphic laboratory on the confines of the latter. Its
* Dr. Euckland estimates the thickness of all the European stratified rocks,
including the primary, at ten miles. Brid^ti^alcr 7 /v^/V.v, vol. ii. p. 39.
t M. ('alder describes tin,- granite in the district of Tincvclly in Southern
India as '' rising above the surface in remarkably globular concretions and in
perfectly stratified masses," forming low dctacheJ hills near Palamcotta, the
strata of which dip at an angle of about 45 to the S.\V. (Brcwster's ]<".ilin-
/'itr^/i Journal of Science, vol. x. p. 138.) Other writers on the geol
India mention the occurrence of granite in many places with a similar .
ance. Ilumboklt, in his work on Central Asia, describes the remarkable
structure of the granite surrounding the mass of the Altai. At Kolyvan a
large grained granite is "regularly Stratified.''
THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN. 61
advocates have probably seen and shrunk from the difficulty
of denning the conditions necessary for the existence of a meta-
morphic region subsidiary to the plutonic, and so wonderfully
related to it that while in all unequivocal instances of change in
sedimentary rocks from the neighbourhood of a plutonic fluid,
the power of the latter has been confined to the narrow limit
which we now see* to be altered, or, beneath the present base of
the rock, has entirely reduced and transmuted it in the region
in question the power of the plutonic fluid was so much weaker
that the original strata of the sedimentary rocks subjected to its
influence were left unobliterated even up to the plane of contact,
and yet so much greater that the substance of the entire mass,
throughout thousands of yards in thickness, was melted, re-
crystallized and arranged in laminse.f Until these conditions
have been denned and illustrated by facts, it is not unreasonable
to suspend our judgment, and to believe that the tendency of
plutonic rocks having the same ingredients as gneiss to a stratified
or zoned structure, and even, where mica is abundant, as in the
latter rock, to a laminar arrangement, may hereafter be found to
explain the origin of such enormous bedded and laminated
crystalline masses, as the Himalayas exhibit, more simply than the
theory of metamorphism as at present developed.
The beds of gneiss are no doubt devoid of that regularity which
divisional planes possess, and in this respect resemble strata of
* Mr. Lyell is not able to adduce an. instance of alteration beyond 400
yards from the point of contact, and this he admits to be an extreme case.
" Elements," vol. ii. pp. 403 and 411.
"t It is well ascertained that stratified rocks of a limited thickness may be
metamorphosed by granitic influence without losing their division into strata ;
but the difficulty is in conceiving a plutonic action so powerful as to extend to
the upper part of a mass of some miles in thickness and reduce it to "a state
of semi-fusion" (Lyell's " Elements," vol. ii. p. 411), without destroying all
vestiges of the original strata in the lower part. The plutonic influence may
have been conducted through fissures, but in that case it would be necessary
to show that a system of veins ramifies throughout the Himalayan mass, for
instance, almost as complete as those which distribute the blood throughout
the body of an animal. If, as seems probable, there are, between the great
plutonic tracts of elevation, extensive tracts suffering depression (such as those
covered by the Bay of Bengal or the Indian Ocean, generally), their rocks
must be exposed to plutonic influence laterally as well as from below, and this
would reduce the difficulty. Mr. Lyell says, that "granite may have been
another result of the same action (i.e., that which produced gneiss by semi-
fusing sedimentary strata) in a higher state of intensity, by which a thorough
fusion has been produced ; and in this manner the passage from granite into
gneiss may be explained." Now, when in the Himalayas we find miles, and
in Scotland great depths, of gneiss and its associated rocks, containing frequent
beds of granite, it is not easy to conceive how the metamorphic influence in
ascending through masses of such thickness, should be so unequal as to melt
down some portions, while only half melting the bulk of the strata. In the
lower regions this is quite conceivable, but when we find the same inequality
in sections of the mass near the summit that is. many miles in some cases
above the level whence the action emanates the theory seems to halt.
62 THE ROCKS OF PULO UB1X.
deposition,* but it appears to me they are not analogous to the
divisional planes which alike penetrate plutonic rocks and the
strata above them usually in directions approaching to vertical,
and which also exist in gneiss ; but to those beds in granite which
von Bugh considers as always conforming to the external surface
of the granitic bubble, of whatever form that may be, and which
Sir H. de la Beche describes as being in Devonshire and Corn-
wall actually parallel to the strata of superjacent sedimentary
rocks where the plane of contact can be seen.f
* Lyell's " Elements," vol. ii. p. 390. The strongest argument in favour of
the sedimentary origin of gneiss is that insisted on by Professor Phillips. He
says that " in gneiss and mica schist, the felspar, quartz and mica are rolled or
fragmented masses, showing clearly that the crystals had been exposed to
attrition previous to their deposit" (article "Geology" in Penny Cyclo-
padia, vol. xi. p. 139, and "Treatise on Geology," vol. i. p. 112). It is
clear that such must be the condition of the ingredients of sedimentary rocks
derived from the wasting of granite, and subsequently consolidated so as to
resemble gneiss, as in those ascertained instances where injected granite has
been the agent of solidification. But if the fact be universally true with
respect to gneiss, it is fatal to the hypothesis of the plutonic origin of that rock
in any case. It is a two-edged weapon, however, for it would destroy the
metamorphic theory also. The "Treatise on Geology" was published in
1837, and the second edition of Mr. Lyell's "Elements" in 1841, but in
noticing some objections to the metamorphic theory Mr. Lyell does not allude
to Professor Phillips' argument. It is to be presumed, therefore, that he dis
credits the fact on which it rests, and as I do not find it mentioned by Pro-
fessor Jameson, who has studied gneiss carefully, nor by other writers, we
must wait for further investigation. Professor Jameson, on the contrary,
in Murray's " Encyclopaedia of Geography,'' published in 1834 (p. 219),
positively states that the concretions of limestone, gneiss, mica-slate and other
rocks of the primitive class have the same characters as those of granite
i.e., " they are joined together without any basis or ground, and at their
line of juncture are either closely attached together or are intermixed," and
frequently branches of the one concretion shoot into the other or the concretions
mutually impress each other.
t The study of plutonic rocks and of mineralogy appears to have been
somewhat neglected by geologists of the English school, and, making due
allowance for the influence of Werner's theories, I should be disposed to give
much weight to the inferences of the Scottish geologists who, animated by the
ardour first kindled at Freyberg, during many years laboriously and minutely
explored the mountains, coasts and islands of their native country. Gneiss is
largely developed in the north of Scotland, and frequently associated with
granite, and the analogy between them mu>t lie very strong to admit of Pro-
fessor Jameson declaring that " granite occurs in masses, often many miles in
extent, surrounded by gneiss, mica-slate, and clay-slate, and so connected with
these rocks, that the whole may be considered as the result of one grand pro-
cess of crystallization that is, the granite is of contemporaneous formation
with the gneiss as the gneiss is with the superimposed mica-slate, and the
mica-slate again with the clay-slate which rests upon it. In other instances
the granite alternates in beds, often of enormous magnitude, with gneiss,
mica-slate, clay-slate, and other primitive rocks, or it traverses these in the
form of veins." Again, "granite is sometimes disposed in great beds in gneiss
and other rocks, and occasionally these beds appear divided into strata. In
other instances, in granite mountains we observe, besides the tabular, globular
and other structures, also the stratified ; but this latter is, in general, less per-
THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN. 63
We have seen that Von Buch refers these beds to contraction
of the substance of the granite at a time when it had a degree of
consistence " which in most cases was far removed from the con-
dition of fluidity." But may not the internal structure of granite
and other hypogene rocks be primarily due, not to the merely
mechanical effect of contraction on cooling, but to the original
-conditions of crystallization ? Reversing the Neptunian theory of
the -deposition of the primary rocks from a state of chemical solu-
tion in a hot fluid upon the upper surface of the earth's crust,
may or rather must we not conceive them to have been gradually
deposited on the under surface of the crust? We must suppose
that crystallization did not at once extend throughout the whole
of any mass of plutonic fluid, but commenced in a layer nearest
the refrigerating surface of the superincumbent rocks, and thence
slowly extended by accretions from below. Dr. Lardner says that
feet than what is observed in gneiss and other rocks." It is true Professor
Jameson then believed in the Wernerian theory (which he has since largely
abandoned, for in his latest classification he distributes the hypogene rocks into
Plutonian and Neptunian), but he would not misrepresent facts, and the facts
which he observed in Scotland, seemed to him to demonstrate the derivation
of granite and gneiss from a common origin. Now this conclusion is quite
separable from the ulterior speculation as to the nature of the origin ; and in
the present advanced state of our knowledge it seems to require us to substi-
tute a plutonic for an aqueous, without the intervention of the metamorphic,
theory. Let me not be understood, however, as desirous of embracing a
<lirect plutonic theory in the place of the metamorphic. All I maintain is that
there is a limit where it ceases to be a theory and becomes an hypothesis,
and this limit is narrow compared with the vast province over which its lead-
ing exponents extend it. As an hypothesis it is highly valuable, having already
guided investigations which have been rich in results. Its legitimate domain,
of which the boundaries are defined by geological demonstration, is constantly
enlarging ; and, in the present palmy condition of the science, we may hope
that geologists, in a few years, will be able to determine whether the bulk of
what are termed the primary or hypogene stratified rocks be semi-plutonic
(i.e., metamorphic) or entirely plutonic, in the same sense in which granite is.
At the present day it is not so much dogmatism, prejudice, or a reckless
spirit of speculation in men that maintains rival theories in geology, as that
higher metamorphic power of Nature which is ever reproducing the elements of
matter in different shapes, and which so often assimilates her most diverse pro-
cesses in the phenomena which result from them. We may seek to isolate
particular processes, set the stamp of a name and a theory upon them and
extend their exclusive dominion, but still the ministers of Nature work together
and in harmony, or rather in them the unity of the Absolute Will still mani-
fests itself. We term some rocks plutonic and some volcanic, and presently
we are forced to say that they pass by insensible gradations into each other.
As our knowledge extends, all this will probably appear but a play of words.
Restraining speculation, we may consider it as established that the plutonic
and volcanic rocks are the produce of the same process ; that congelation and
deposition may alike cause the stratified structure ; and that by a chemical
action, often slight, igneous rocks may, in situ, become assimilated to sedi-
mentary, and sedimentary rocks may, in situ, become assimilated to igneous.
Observation alone can reconstruct the history of any given rock, and determine
the limits within which transmutations are effected in Nature.
64 THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN.
" sudden expansion in freezing is particularly conspicuous in the
crystallization of solids which shoot into prismatic forms. The
process of crystallization in laboratories is for this reason frequently
attended with the fracture of the vessels in which it is conducted.
It may be taken as the general truth, to which however there
may probably be some exceptions, that bodies which crystallize in
freezing undergo the sudden expansion here mentioned, and that
bodies which do not crystallize in freezing for the most part suffer
a sudden contraction." * A priori, therefore, it might be pre-
dicated as probable that the granitic fluid, like water, expands on
congelation. This predication seems to be verified by observed
phenomena. If the granite contracted on crystallization, the
crystals formed at and near the surface of refrigeration would sink,
the hot fluid from below would constantly ascend to the surface,
and when the central heat of the earth Avas so much lowered as to
allow the crystals to reach the centre of gravity in a solid state, a
nucleus would there be formed which would gradually increase
until the globe was solidified from the centre to the circum-
ference ; or, at all events, no permanent solidification would take
place until the temperature of the whole fluid was reduced to the
point of congelation.! Under such conditions, if the globe were
originally a homogeneous fluid, and granite be the constant result
of the internal congelation of that fluid, no solid crust could ever
have been formed. But assuming the existence of the crust apart
from all theories of its origin, and limiting our view to the great
lakes or oceans of effused rock beneath particular portions of the
crust or occupying great cavities in a solid globe, which are all
that Mr. Lyell will recognize as necessary to explain plutonic and
volcanic phenomena, it is obvious that, until the temperature of
the whole lake or ocean were reduced to that of incipient congela-
tion, the upper layer would retain its heated fluid condition. If
so, the igneous fluid would have time to penetrate fissures to
great distances in the same way as that of trap. But granite veins
are generally found to be short and sinuous, a circumstance which
contradistinguishes them from dykes of trap, and which seems only
explicable on the assumption that the injective tendency of the
fluid was counteracted by its tendency to congeal at the surface
from contact with the rocks above, and to remain there in that
state in consequence of its expanding or becoming less dense
* "Treatise on Heat," p. 131.
t This appears in granite to be about the same as that of iron (de la Beche's
"Report," p. 191), which is stated in the table appended to L)r. Lardner's
"Treatise on Heat" (p. 415) to be 21637 F., but which appears by the
improved pyrometer of Professor Daniel to be only 2786 F. (Penny Cycio-
ptcdia article, " Freezing and Melting Points.") It should be observed, how-
ever, that granites vary very greatly in fusibility. Trappean rocks were
found by Sir H. de la Beche to fuse at the same temperature with copper, or
1996 F.
THE ROCKS OF PULO VEIN. 65
when it assumes the solid form.* The phenomena which have
been discussed in this paper disclose two structures in hypogene
rocks, the laminar, and the globular passing into the cuboidal.
Now the first may be due, in the case of gneiss, simply to excess
of mica or to this in combination with other causes which have
been adverted to. The second is clearly the original mode of
crystallization, if the above views are correct, or if it be granted,
without reference to them, that granite solidifies from the surface
downwards. In the upper layer of the granite fluid, nuclei are
formed, which gradually enlarge till their mutual expansion pre-
vents further increase, and the layer, bearing the form of its
mould, f is complete. This layer is the upper bed or stratum of
the granite, and others are successively formed beneath, each, of
course, conforming to that above it. The spheres, not only when
first formed, but during the long period in which their ingredients
retain a viscid consistency, will, from the expansion consequent
on crystallization, be exposed not only to mutual lateral pressure
but to pressure from beneath, and this will tend, according to the
rate of refrigeration and other circumstances, more or less to
obscure or even obliterate the spherical form. Where there is a
considerable proportion of mica the concentric laminar arrange-
ment will still be preserved. I cannot follow out this view here ;
but the experiment on the gradual cooling of molten rock first
made by Mr. Gregory Watt, and frequently repeated since, would
seem to explain all the gradations of igneous rocks. With refe-
* The granite veins of Cornwall and Devon seem to demonstrate that a crust
must have been formed while the granite beneath retained its fluidity, for it
not only sends veins into the slates, but is itself traversed by veins of the same
kind of granite. These are also sometimes continued in the slate above.
DE LA BECHE'S Report, pp. 171, 2.
From the point of fusion of granite being very high compared with volcanic
rocks, and, I presume, as high as that of any sedimentary rock?, it follows that
so long as the temperature of granite is above that point, it will continue
reducing the incumbent rocks at the plane of contact into its own substance,
and will only cease to do so when it is on the point of ceasing to be a fluid.
Hence, probably, the shape of the veins. They were filled with granite when
its temperature was reduced to tliat of incipient congelation, and when the
fluid had, consequently, become thick. They show, as it were, its last efforts
in its fluid state to melt into the rock above it. Even where the granite fluid
at a temperature above 2786 entered a straight mechanical fissure or crack in
any rock, it would immediately begin to melt the sides. The veins are therefore
more pyrogenous than mechanical. Trappean fluid, on the other hand, might
remain in a fluid state long after its heat was inadequate to melt the adjacent
rocks. It might therefore be forced into fissures without altering their previous
form. Trappean veins might thus be considered as generally mechanical
granite, as generally pyrochemical, for the irregular distribution of chemical
ingredients in a rock would affect the course of granitic veins in it. From the
great difference in the fusing point of granite and trap, it probably also results
that the former is never found as an overlying rock, whereas the latter,
from its retention of fluidity 790 lower in the thermometric scale, admits of
being impelled through fissures and spread over the surface.
t See note in Appendix i. p. 69.
SECOND SERIES VOL. I. F
66 THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN.
rence to the hypogene rocks, in order to conceive how the different
species may be produced from igneous fluid beneath the earth's
crust, we need only consider under what different conditions the
fluid must have existed as to tranquillity, agitation, or motion
the extent and form of refrigerating surfaces the nature, thick-
ness, and pressure of the refrigerating masses themselves, whether
rock, or sea, or both the rate of diminution of temperature and
the proportions of chemical ingredients. Many of these conditions
may have varied in different portions of the same great fluid mass,
and at different stages in the process of its crystallization and
solidification. The phenomena attending Mr. Watt's experi-
ment even seem to show that the globular, cuboidal, or prismatic
concretionary structure of micaceous granite might pass into the
laminar gneissose structure merely through oscillations in tem-
perature during solidification. An analogous passage from nodules
into layers, and, in the latter, the arrangement of the crystals
of one of two or more different minerals in continuous parallel
laminae, characterizes some volcanic rocks.
If expansion on crystallization be attributable to the nether
hypogene fluid masses, and they are gradually solidified from
above downwards, a slow upheaval of the superincumbent crust
must attend their solidification when they are of sufficiently great
extent. This may be the cause of the elevation of Scandinavia
and other countries, at present in progress.
Whatever may be the origin of the bedded structure of the
hypogene rocks, it is to a similar stratification, combined with the
vertical joints, that the forms assumed by the exposed masses on
Pulo Ubin must probably be referred, and to these I now finally
return.
The blocks protruding from the hills or ranged along the shores
of Pulo Ubin are more solid and less decomposable masses and
nuclei, of which the forms, and the directions of the sides and
axes, have, in almost every instance, been determined by struc-
tural planes, and which remain after the surrounding rocks have
disintegrated and been washed away. With respect to the latter,
it is obvious that while the island has been extending by the
growth of alluvium in its bays, its more open coast has been
slowly retreating, so that what was once a part of the solid land is
now a band on its border washed by the sea, but still exhibiting
numerous rocky remnants. The larger masses still evidently
occupy their original positions. Frequently their seaward face is
curved. Sometimes another mass stands behind merely separated
from that in front by a chasm whose sides are parallel. With
respect to the decomposition of the rocks on the hills, the soil is
entirely derived from this source with the exception of a very
slight superficial mixture of vegetable matter, which in many
places is absent. In general, however, the blocks that remain are
THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN. 67
decomposing with exceeding slowness. One exception I noticed
in the N.W. S.E. side of the rock described at page 33. The
lamince being inclined inwards, in disrupting by their own weight,
fall some feet in front of the base, where a long mound of earth
has consequently accumulated.
I have now only to revert to the grooves. The circumstances
attending them which any hypothesis of their origin must explain
are these : their general prevalence ; the existence, however, of
exposed rocks devoid of them ; their being commonly confined to
the sides facing the exterior of the island, although sometimes
found on other and even on all sides of a rock ; their great depth
and regularity ; their general coincidence with divisional lines ;
their conformity to the course of rain ; and their antiquity. It is
this last circumstance which, presenting at the outset a great
difficulty, leads, on further consideration, to what I consider the
true explanation. That meteoric influences have been the great
agents of erosion I have already suggested. But the antique,
permanent character which is impressed on the great majority of
the rocks, their vegetable coatings, the hardness and sharpness of
the external edges of the grooves, and the absence of all indica-
tions of the process of excavation being at present in progress,
prove that the rocks must have existed under very different
conditions from the present, to enable atmospheric forces to pro-
duce results of such magnitude. The considerations which have
hitherto occupied us in the concluding portion of this paper
appear to me to indicate what those conditions were. The
composition and structure of the external rocks, unveiled by the
action of the sea on the beach, show zones of soft rock,* rows of
globular decomposing masses, and of harder ferruginous sphe-
roids, &c., susceptible of being detached, and a general tendency
to perpendicular division. If, therefore, we conceive the external
layer of the island, when it first became exposed to decomposition,
to have resembled in character the zone that has been laid open
for our inspection along the beach, it is easy to comprehend how the
wasting away of the more decomposable parts might at last leave
exposed masses, including bands of the less stubborn material
already partially softened or disintegrated underground, and that
the action of the atmosphere and rain torrents would gradually
excavate the more yielding portion until the solid remnants
exhibited their present shapes.
The grooved and striated rocks of Europe are by some geologists
supposed to have been caused by the action of the great and
rapid waves, called waves of translation, induced by the sudden
* Some rocks may be seen along the beach with chasms two or three feet
wide, the sides being quite hard, and the bottom a soft decomposed substance.
In such cases a zone of rock, differing in composition from that adjoining, has
evidently been gradually decomposed and washed out.
F 2
68 THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN.
elevation of the sea-bed and loaded with detritus. Now although
in Singapore there is ample evidence of violent movements in
the position in which we now find the stratified rocks,* we can
hardly conceive the Pulo Ubin rocks to have been subjected to
these movements since their consolidation. The first hurried view
of a portion of the masses at the quarries left the impression that
rocks had been shattered and separated by such forces. But I am
now satisfied that, with some slight exceptions due to decomposi-
tion and consequent alteration in the balance of the different
parts of some of the larger rocks, they all occupy their original
relative positions, and even their original absolute positions with
reference to the horizon, although the level of the whole island
and adjacent tract has probably shifted. At all events no
violent vibratory movement has affected the island since the
joints were formed and the mass stood above the surrounding
tract. I cannot think that a wave of power adequate for the
excavation of the channels could have been generated by a move-
ment which would have left the projecting rocks undisturbed, or
even that the force of the wave itself could have met with such
resistance from the smaller rocks as to enable it to grave the
channels instead of displacing the rocks. No doubt a large
proportion of these rocks were formerly firmly wedged into the
mass of the island, but many must have been more or less isolated,
as the channels embrace more than one side. The undulations,
if any, attending the elevation of the island and inducing waves
of translation (if they were sufficiently violent, and the upheavals
sufficiently great) would probably be in the direction of the
peninsula ; and, after the island and the adjacent hills of Singapore
and the mainland rose above the sea, waves might act on both
sides of the island transversely to the line of undulation. But as
the principal fissures and soft bands are in the same direction, the
circumstance of the grooves mostly coinciding with it does not
peculiarly favour the application of the wave theory. But in
rejecting its applicability, we may, at the same time, allow that the
action of the waves, whether ordinary or extraordinary, as the
island gradually, or by abrupt steps, rose above the sea, may
have assisted to a considerable degree, both chemically and
* The nearest point at which this displacement can be observed is in the.
vicinity of Singapore Town, about eleven miles to the south-west of Pulo Ubin.
But the whole intermediate country is broken up in the same manner, so as to
present the appearance, in many places, of a tempestuous sea, and the billowy
hills are throughout so connected and similar, that there can be no doubt that
the forces which elevated them operated during the same period over a wide
area, including the southern portion of the peninsula and its outlying archi-
pelagoes. This tract, I have already said, is probably but a small section of
a vast region, embracing India on the one side and Australia on the other, in
which similar forces were in activity during the same period, and produced
similar effects.
THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN. 69
mechanically, in wearing the channels. On the coast of Singapore
opposite the eastern extremity of Pulo Ubin, and only a mile
distant, there is a layer of pebbles evidently marking the last step
in the elevation of the land. Such pebbles driven to and fro by
the waves against the rocky beach of Pulo Ubin would be
instrumental in deepening hollows.
Since a portion of this paper was written I have seen, in the
number of the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of
London for May last, in the President's Annual Address to the
Society, a notice of the observations made on the coasts of Sweden
and Norway, last year, by M. Durocher. M. Durocher found along
a portion of the coast, and particularly in the islands off it, deep
channels and furrows in directions fromN.W. to S.E., some ten to
twenty inches wide, and five to ten feet deep, " effects of erosion,"
says the President, " on a much greater scale than I remember to
have read of before." The resemblance of these channels to those
of Pulo Ubin is not confined to their unusual size, but is carried out
in the circumstance of the sides of the interior of many of the
channels being grooved in the directions of their longer axes, of
their sometimes dividing into two or more branches which after- '
wards re-unite into one, of many being rectilinear, but many being
undulating and bent in short waves, and lastly of the axes of the
channels and the striae in their interior having the same general
direction as the depressions of the neighbouring country. Mr.
H orner refers to the Bulletin of the Geological Society of France
(tome iii. p. 65) for some important views as to the causes of these
phenomena. I have not access to the Bulletin, and cannot
venture, in my ignorance of the rocks and all other details, to make
any further remarks on the analogy between the channels described
by M. Durocher and those of Pulo Ubin ; but it is probable
that the structure of the rocks will be found, in the one case as in
the other, to have facilitated the erosion of the channels, and
partly given them their directions.
SINGAPORE, Oct. i, 1846.
APPENDIX.
Note to p. 65.
With reference to the views in the text, it may be said that no
congelation could take place till the temperature of the whole
mass was at that of fusion, because until then there would be a
constant interchange of level between the successive upper or
denser layers and the lower. Without resorting to the supposition
that gradual expansion, as in water, may begin prior to congelation,
it seems clear that in such a dense fluid as molten granite under
great pressure, the passage of one portion through another must
be effected with difficulty and very slowly. Between the level at
70 THE RCCKS OF PULO UBIN.
which the maximum temperature ceases, and the refrigerating
surface, there must, in such a iluid, be an insensible and very
gradual diminution of heat, and deep masses may be viewed as
consisting of layers of considerable thickness in any one of which
the temperature is almost uniform, and between which and the
adjacent layers the transfer of heat is exceedingly slow. It may
be proper to examine this further, because when the text was
written I overlooked the chapter in Mr. Lyell's "Principles" (chap,
xix. book ii.) in which he controverts the doctrine of the
internal fluidity of the globe by an argument which is partially
opposed to some of the above views, although it does not interfere
with my general inferences. Its object is to prove that no con-
solidation at the surface of a fluid mass like the globe could take
place, till the whole had been reduced to a uniform heat or about
that of incipient fusion. It appears (note, page 440) that M.
Poisson had, independently, adopted the same argument, and
that he imagined that if the globe ever passed from a liquid to a
solid state by radiation of heat, the central nucleus must have
begun to cool and consolidate first. The principal facts on which
Mr. Lyell relies are, that so long as a fragment of ice remains in
water, the temperature of the water cannot be raised above 32,
and that Professor Daniell found that while a solid piece of iron,
c., remained immersed in a molten mass of the same substance,
its temperature could not be raised above the melting point. The
remarks in the text relating to the origin of granitic structure do
not require me to assume that the temperature of a granitic mass
was ever much above that of its melting point, a temperature, it
should be recollected, higher by 790 than that at which basalt
can exist in the fluid state; and as Mr. Lyell does not seem to
deny, with M. Poisson, the possibility of a crust being formed
when the general temperature is near that of fusion, his remarks
are not inconsistent with the hypothesis that granite has crystal-
lized in successive layers. Even if the granite fluid approached
to the condition of water, instead of being comparatively very
dense, the congelation of the first layer would tend to maintain
the fluidity of the next for some time, not merely by arresting the
interchange of particles by which its heat had hitherto been
transferred to the surface, and substituting for it the process of
conduction, but by adding to it the large quantity of latent caloric
expelled in the act of congelation. With reference, however, to
Mr. Lyell's argument, it may be remarked that the conditions to
which a fragment of ice or iron are exposed when immersed in a
fluid mass of the same substance, and heat constantly added from
a source close to it, are very different from those of a crust resting
on the same fluid, in contact on one side with a refrigerating
surface, and on the other with one to which caloric slowly ascends
from a source far below. The immersed fragment is enveloped
THE ROCKS OF PULO UBIN. 71
in a rapidly heating medium. The floating crust is between two
media, one slowly giving heat, the other abstracting it. The
period, therefore, at which a crust can be formed is not determined
simply by the fusing point (that is, necessarily postponed until the
whole mass has reached its lowest fluid temperature), but is deter-
mined by the relative rates at which heat ascends through the
substance in its fluid state, and is conducted from it when in its
solid state. The latter is an indeterminate quantity, depending,
as it in some measure does, upon the nature of the refrigerating
body. But, laying that out of view, it is evident that as the heat
diminishes, the rate of its passage from one level to another will
also decrease, because the motion of the particles of the fluid
amongst themselves will be impeded as the density increases.
Now, long before the mass generally is reduced to the temperature
of fusion, the density of its higher portion may reach the point at
which the rate of motion has subsided to that at which heat is
given off by a solid crust. Refrigeration may come to a stage at
which, while the upper layers are at and near the point of fusion,
the lower may be far removed from it in proportion to the depth
of the mass. Because in a receptacle of water exposed to a cold
atmosphere we see a rapid interchange of particles, and the for-
mation of ice postponed till all the lower layers have reached the
temperature of about 40, we are not entitled to conclude that in
the successive layers of a deep abyss of dense molten granite
there will be a similar rapidity and extent of mutual motion of
particles. Even in the case supposed by Mr. Lyell, of the globe
consisting of water having at the centre a temperature of 6400
which gradually decreased towards the circumference, where a
crust of ice fifty miles in thickness existed, is it necessary that
we should admit with Mr. Lyell that the ice would soon melt
into an atmosphere of steam ? In a layer a mile in thickness
the temperature would not increase i. At eight miles beneath
the ice the temperature would be only 40. Below that the
counter currents would first be encountered, but the rate of their
motion in a layer a mile in thickness, in which the summit only
differed from the base by i, would be so extremely slow as to be
insensible. But, to render the cases of a globe of water and a
globe of granite more analogous, the globe of water should be
supplied with a refrigerating atmosphere at a temperature more
than 2600 below zero, for such is the difference of temperature
between that of the atmosphere (even taking that of the equator)
and the fusing point of granite. With such a medium, or even
one of which the temperature was calculated according to the
fusing point of trappean rocks, the heat given off on the upper
side of the icy crust might exceed that received from below even
with a central temperature of 6400.
72 NOTES ON THE
III.
NOTES ON SOME SPECIES OF MALAYAN
AMPHIBIA AND REPTILIA.
By DR. F. STOLICZKA.
["Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal," vol. xlii. (1873), ll - P- 1 11-26].
With Plate.
IT is nearly three years ago that I had the pleasure of submitting
to the Society a few notes on Indo-Malayan Reptiles and
Amphibians, chiefly collected by myself along the Burmese and
Tenasserim coasts, about Penang and on the Nicobar and
Andaman islands. When visiting Penang in 1869, I received
information of a tolerably extensive* collection of reptiles,
brought together by a zealous Jesuit during a residence of about
twenty years on the island. The specimens were collected either
on Penang itself or on the opposite coast of the Wellesley
Province. A very large number had been captured alive, and
coloured drawings, taken from most of the live specimens, had
been prepared. The colouring appeared to me to have been
faithfully copied, and this it was which particularly excited my
interest in the collection, because in many cases the colours of
reptiles fade most rapidly, as soon as the specimens are placed
in spirit, in others the colouring changes immediately after death,
and again some alter even during life their colour, as soon as they
become conscious of their captivity. In any case the coloured
sketches from life seemed to me valuable, and I, therefore, resolved
to buy the collection.
As soon as the formal matters were arranged, the collection of
the specimens was transmitted to me, the drawings, however, were
afterwards not considered to form an essential part of it, and were
handed over to some one else, according to a wish of the deceased
gentleman under whose supervision they were executed. After a
brief correspondence it did not appear to me much use treating
further about the subject. My interest in the collection has, on
that account naturally enough, partly diminished, and having had
other more pressing work to attend to, the specimens were for
more than two years left unnoticed. More recently my friend,
Mr. Stahlknecht, of Singapore, visited Sumatra, and made for me
a very nice little collection of reptiles, most of which were in a
beautiful state of preservation. This circumstance induced me to
* This refers to the number of specimens, but not to that of species, as I
subsequently discovered.
MALA VAN AMPHIBIA AND REPTILIA. 73
look over my old acquaintances, and to prepare a critical list of
all of them. In the old collection I only found two new species,
n Kami and a Simotes ; a specimen of the latter had very recently
been also obtained by Mr. J. Wood-Mason's collector at Jahore,
situated at the extreme south end of the Malayan Peninsula, north
of Singapore Island. Mr. Stahlknecht's collection yielded a new
Calainaria.
Thus, although I cannot say that I came into possession of a
great number of new forms, there are among those which I shall
place on record, a few rare and very interesting species, some of
which were previously known only from single specimens, and
these often were not very perfect. I may mention, for instance,
Draco quinquefasciatus, Podophis chalcides, Ophites subcinctus and
albofuscus t Ablabes flaviceps, Oxy calamus longiceps, &c.
I shall first enumerate all the species, and attach an (*) asterisk
to those about which I shall have to say a few words.
The collection was made, as I said, to a large extent in Penang
itself or in the Wellesley Province, and, judging from the examina-
tion of it, I have found no reason to doubt in any way this
statement. A great many of the same species had been collected
by myself in that part of the country on a former occasion ; others
were known to occur there from the very elaborate and extensive
researches of Dr. Cantor ; others again had been recorded from
Malacca, Singapore, Sumatra or Java, all countries which belong
to the same zoological province, and which have a large number
of species common. I have not met with a single instance which
would lead me to suspect that any mixture of other distant locali-
ties had taken place. Thus the present list, in connection with
that of Drs. Cantor, Gray and Giinther, and my own published in
1870, may be considered as fairly completing the number of
reptiles and amphibians inhabiting Penang and the neighbouring
Wellesley Province. Mr. Stahlknecht's specimens are from the
neighbourhood of Dilli in Sumatra. In the general list I shall
briefly note the localities as Penang and Sumatra.
BATRACHIA.*
i. Rana tigrina, var. pantherina, Fitz. apud Steindachner.
(Novara Amphibiens). Penang.
2.* fusca, Blyth. Penang.
3. lymnocharis, Boie ( gracilis, Wiegm.); typical.
Penang.
4.* ,, lymnocharis, var. pulla, Stol. Penang.
5.* plicatella, n. sp. Penang.
* If no special reference to literature is given, it is understood that the
species is described in Dr. Cumber's " Reptiles of Brit. India," or in my former
paper on Malayan Reptiles in "Journal A. S. B.," vol. xxxix. pt. ii.
74 NOTES ON THE
6. Polypedates maculatus. Penang.
7. quadrilineatus. Penang and Sumatra.
8. Hylarana erythsea. Penang and Sumatra.
Comp. " Proceed. A. S. B.," June, 1872, p. 104. The largest
specimen measures/ body 3 inch, hind-limb 5 inch.
9. Bufo melanostictus. Penang.
10. Bufo asper. Penang.
Largest specimen, body 5-5 inch long.
1 1 . Epicrium glutinosum. Penang.
SAURIA.
12. Euprepes carinatus, Schneid. = rufescens. Penang and
Sumatra.
All have a rufescent bronzy tinge and dorso-lateral pale bands.
13.* E. olivaceus. Penang and Sumatra.
14. Riopa albopunctata. Penang.
Exactly the same as in Bengal.
15. Podophis chalcides. Sumatra.
16.* Gymnodactylus (? Cyrtodactylus) pulchellus. Penang.
17. Cyrtodactylus affinis. Penang.
Comp. " J. A. S. E.," vol. xxxix. pt. ii. 1870, p. 167.
1 8. Peripia mutilata, VViegm. = Peronii, D. and B., teste
Peters et Gtinther. Penang and Sumatra.
19. Hemidactylus frenatus. Sumatra.
20. Nycteridium platyurus, Schneid. = Schneider!. Penang
and Sumatra, very common.
All have less dark coloration than Himalayan or Khasi hill speci-
mens, but are in other respects not distinguishable. Comp.
" J. A. S. B.,'' xl. pt. ii. p. 103.
21. Gecko guttatus. Penang.
22. stentor. Penang.
23. Ptychozoon homalocephalum. Penang and Sumatra.
24. Bronchocela cristatella, Kuril. Sumatra, very common.
All have 36 to 42 small equal scales in a lateral row.
25. Draco volans, Linn. Penang and Sumatra, very com-
mon.
26.* quinquefasciatus. Penang.
27.* fimbriatus. Penang.
28. Hydrosaurus salvator. Penang and Sumatra.
The light spots and bands are, in young and in old males at
least, bright yellow, not white. The species is also very
common on all the Nicobar and Andaman islands.
29. Crocodilus porosus.f Penang.
t The similarity of form and colour of the young of this species with
equally large specimens of C. Pondichcriamis, Giinther, is very striking. My
collector recently brought several young .specimens (12-14 inches) of the latter
species from Arrakan, and when compared with equally large specimens of
porosus, the former all have the snout, and also the tail, conspicuously shorter ;
all have only six rows of shields on the back, but there is an additional one on
MALAYAN AMPHIBIA AND REPTILIA. 75
OPHIDIA.
30. Typhlops nigroalbus. Penang.
31. braminus. Penang.
32. Cylindrophis rufus. Penang.
33.* Calamaria Staklknechti, n. sp. Sumatra.
34.* Oxycalamus longiceps. Penang.
35.* Simotes bicatenatus. Sumatra and Penang.
36.* cruentatus, Theob. Penang.
37.* catenifer, n. sp. Penang and Jahore.
38.* Cyclophis tricolor. Sumatra.
39.* Ablabes flaviceps, Giinth. Sumatra.
40. Compsosoma (Elaphis) melanurum. Penang.
41. ,, radiatum. Penang.
42. Ptyas korros. Penang.
43. hexagonotus (Cant.). Penang.
44. Tropidonotus quincunctiatus. Penang.
45. ' trianguligerus, Schleg. Penang.
46. vittatus. Penang. (Giinther's Colub.
Snakes.)
47.* Gonyosoma oxycephalum. Penang.
48.* Dendrophis caudolineatus, Gray. Penang and Sumatra.
49. ,, pictus. Penang and Sumatra.
50. Tragops prasinus. Penang and Sumatra.
51. Dipsas cynodon. Penang.
52. Drapiezii. Sumatra. (Comp. Schlegel's Abbil-
dungen.)
53. dendrophila. Penang.
54. Chrysopelea ornata. Penang and Sumatra.
55. rubescens. Penang and Sumatra.
either external edge broken up into single shields. Inporostis the outer row of
shields on either side is complete, or continuous, and, on the whole, the dorsal
shields appear to be smaller. In every other respect the young of both species
are identical. I have not seen an adult of Pondicherianus, but it ought to be
looked for in Arrakan. Both have a small shield on either anterior side of the
neck, it being a rudiment, or rather probably the beginning, of the anterior
nuchal plates.
Besides C. Fondicheriamis, my collector brought, among others, the following
species, which I do not think had been previously recorded, from Arrakan :
Callula pulchra.
Diplopelma carnaticum and D. Berdmorei.
Polypedates maculatus and P. quadrilineatus.
Hylarana erythraea and H. Tytleri. Both quite distinct species.
Riopa lineolata.
Tachydromus sexlineatus.
Hemidactylus (Doryura) Berdmorei.
Hiuulia maculata. Also common on all the Andaman and Nicobar
islands.
Lycodon aulicus (black variety).
76 NOTES ON THE
56. Psammodynastes pulverulentus. Penang.
57. pictus.- Sumatra.
" Colub. Snakes," p. 251. Exactly agreeing with Giinther's
description.
58. Lycodon aulicus. Penang.
59.* Ophites subcinctus. Sumatra.
60.* albofuscus. Sumatra.
6 1. Bungarus fasciatus. Penang.
62. Adeniophisf (Callophis) intestinalis. Penang.
,, ,, bivirgatus. Penang and Sumatra.
63. Xenopeltis unicolor. Sumatra.
64. Python reticulatus. Penang.
65. Hypsirhina enhydris. Penang.
All specimens have an almost continuous dark line along the
middle of the lower side.
66. Hypsirhina plumbea. (Very variable.) Penang.
67.* ,, [Ferania] alternans. Sumatra.
68. Fordonia unicolor. Sumatra.
The young are brownish with numerous dark dots.
69. Cerberus rhynchops. Penang.
70. Homalopsis bucata. Penang.
71. Hipistes hydrinus. Penang.
72. Hydrophis robustus. Sumatra.
73.* Trimeresurus Wagleri. Penang and Sumatra.
74. erythrurus.- Penang.
RANA FUSCA.
Comp. Anderson in " P. Z. S. for 1871," p. 197.
Rufous brown above, with a pale longitudinal dorsal streak,
broad in front, narrow towards the posterior end ; limbs above
somewhat indistinctly variegated and banded with darker brown,
posterior side of femora with closer and darker variegations.
Lower side uniform whitish, except a few dark spots on the lower
lip, but the front-end of the lower lip has a conspicuous white
spot, as stated by Blyth.
The nostrils are much nearer the snout than the eye ; the tym-
panum is smaller than the eye, but quite distinct in a nearly full
grown specimen ; skin above and at the sides of the belly with few
scattered slightly enlarged tubercles ; lower side perfectly smooth.
The first and second fingers are slightly shorter than the third and
fourth respectively ; the second is shortest. The metatarsus has a
single, inner, marginal, elongated tubercle. The first and fifth
toes are fringed externally, but the tarsus has no fold. The toes
are entirely webbed and their tips very distinctly swollen.
The length of the body equals the distance from the vent to
half the length of the tarsus.
t See Teters, in " Monatsb. Berlin Akad.," 1871, p. 579.
STOLICZKA Journ: A. S. B VolrXLII.Pt H. 1S73.
FIJI.
3.i
flieattlla., n. jji, Ptwy, /> ~ ^
am^rio. SuMkn*cM>, . *p, Sitx^tn., p 8
*n*. p&Z
MALAYAN AMPHIBIA AND REPTILIA. 77
RANA LYMNOCHARIS, var. PUI.I.A.
Comp. Stoliczka, "Journ. A. S. B.," vol. xxxix. pt. ii. 1870, p. 144.
Since the publication of my notes on this variety I have received
two other specimens from Penang. The form of the body, the
teeth, the structure and general coloration exactly agree with
typical lymnocharis, except that in one of the specimens the four
dark bands on the upper side of the femora are well marked and
somewhat narrower than in the other, in which the coloration is
typical. In both, the lower lip is spotted and the chin variegated
with dusky. Neither of the specimens has a dorsal pale streak.
One of them measures, body 1*35 inch, which is only one-
tenth less than the distance between the vent and the metatarsal
tubercle, the total of the hind-limb being two inches, while in a
specimen of typical (half-webbed) lymnocharis, of which the body
is also only 1*35 inch, the distance between vent and metatarsal
tubercle is 1-15 inch, but the total hind-limb is 2*2 inch. Thus
in lymnocharis var. pulla the metatarsal bones are longer and the
fourth toe, on the contrary, much shorter, than in typical lymnoch-
aris. In the former also, as previously noticed, the toes are nearly
fully webbed, the web reaching to very near the tip of the third
and fifth toes, but only to the base of the penultimate joint of the
fourth toe.
The other specimen has the length of the body 1*3 inches,
which is equal to the distance between the vent and the heel, and
the total hind-limb is 2-17; thus very nearly equal to that of
lymnocharis, only differing from it by the fuller webbing, the web
reaching fully to the middle of the penultimate joint of the fourth
toe. In this specimen also the tips of the toes are all remarkably
swollen. All other characters are exactly as in typical lymnocharis.
These variations appear to me to indicate that they are pro-
gressive or undergoing certain changes according to the require-
ments of the animal, and that we are, therefore, not entitled to
give them a specific value, unless they become permanent. I
look upon this longer-limbed, shorter-toed and fuller-webbed hill
form of lymnocharis as a small (pulla) local variety, possessing
certain peculiarities, in exactly the same manner as the Andaman
and Nicobar variety of the same species. (Comp. i. c. p. 142 et
seq., and "Proc. A. S. B.," June, 1872, p. 102.)
RANA PLICATELLA, n. sp. PI. xi. Fig. i.
Body moderately stout with longish hind-limbs and swollen tips
to the toes.
Head large, snout obtuse, with the canthi rostales rounded ;
nostrils lateral, oval, somewhat directed upwards, nearer to the
tip of the snout than to the eye ; eye large, prominent, its longer
diameter is slightly more than the distance between it and the
78 .VOTES ON THE
nostril, but it is equal to the width of the upper side between the
eyes. Tympanum naked, as large as the eye.
Head smooth above, hinder half of the eyelids tuberculated ;
body above with about eight longitudinal somewhat interrupted
folds, with numerous small tubercles between them; limbs also
smooth above, with the exception of the posterior halves of the
tibire, which are tubercular ; chin in front, with a few scattered,
minute tubercles, a few others exist on the side of the belly, and
the hinder part of the sacral region is densely studded with small
plicated tubercles ; the remainder of the under side is smooth.
The length of the body is very nearly equal to the distance
between the vent and the middle of the tarsus ; the fore-limb is
equal to the distance from the tympanum to the groin. The first
finger is scarcely shorter than the third, the second and fourth are
subequal. There is a slight fold on the inner lower edge of the
tarsus, and one along the outer edge of the fifth toe, The tarsus
has a single, inner, elongated, marginal tubercle. The toes are
about three-quarter webbed, the web reaching on the fourth toe
to scarcely beyond the base of the third ultimate joint; on all the
other toes it extends to the last joint, but it is deeply emarginate
between all of them. The tips of all the toes are much swollen ; the
length of the fourth, measured from the base of the tarsus, is slightly
less than half the length of the body.
Lower jaw with two fang-like projections directed inward.
Tongue elongate, much broader towards the tip than at the base,
terminating with two moderately-sized projections. Vomerine teeth
in two short oblique converging series. Sacral diapophyses not
dilated.
Above, greenish brown, with a dark band from the nostril
through the eye, continuing behind it ; limbs with numerous
transverse dark bands ; they are somewhat ill-defined on the upper
arm ; on the lower arm there are three or four very short ones, six
on the femur, five somewhat more distant ones on each tibia, three
on the tarsus, one on metatarsus and a few more on the outer side
of the toes. The hinder sides of the femora are densely and
rather minutely variegated with dark brown ; a horseshoe-shaped
yellow mark, open below, round the anus ; folds on the tarsus
and outer toe also yellowish ; lips indistinctly variegated with pale
and dusky ; lower side uniform white, except on the tibia3, and on
the feet, which are speckled with dark.
The only species which in some respects resembles the present
form is Rana porosissima Steindachner, from Angola ("Novara
Amphibiens," p. 18, PI. I. figs. 9-13), but it differs in the coloration
of the limbs, in the smaller size of the tympanum, smaller
vomerine ridges of teeth, in having the apophyses on the lower jaw
scarcely enlarged, the tips of the toes not swollen, &c.
I LA VAN AMPHIBIA AND REPTILIA. 79
EUPREPES OLIVACEUS.
The young (body i to 1*5 and tail 1-5 to 2 inches) are very
differently coloured from the old. The snout and head-shields are
olivaceous, the posterior edges of all the shields being blackish ; the
whole body and limbs are blackish brown, with numerous, rather
close, transverse, greenish white or yellow stripes ; tail and the entire
lower side yellowish white, or quite yellow. In the adolescent and
some old ones the pale transverse bands exist as remnants in
the shape of transverse series of spots, but most adults become
entirely olivaceous, with only the edges of the eyelids bright yellow.
GYMNODACTYLUS PULCHELLUS.
In the descriptions of this species it is usually stated that there
are six dark, white-edged bands across the body, but properly
speaking the sixth band is situated on the base of the tail.
Further, it is stated that a fold of skin exists along the side of the
body. This is in reality not the case, at least not in live speci-
mens, but the shield-like scales of the lower side are separated
from the granular upper surface by a row of conspicuously enlarged
granular scales ; this row becomes strongly prominent in spirit
specimens, and gives the appearance of a fold.
As regards the position of the femoral pores the species is
intermediate between Cyrtodactylus and Gymnodaclylus, the pores
lying first in a longitudinal fold and then extending flatly on the
femora. This instance shows that Cyrtodactylus (as likewise the
present species) should be looked upon merely as a section of
Gymnodactylus,
DRACO QUINQUEFASCIATUS.
A single male specimen measures : head and body 3-5 inch, tail
imperfect, apparently about 5 inches. The hind-limb is contained
i '33 times in the distance between it and the fore-limb, the latter
being somewhat shorter than the former. There are no enlarged
tubercles on the head, but only a number of interspersed, slightly
larger white scales at the sides of the neck, and a broad band of
closer set ones across the occiput. The scales on the anterior
part of the back are obsoletely keeled ; on the posterior part they
are perfectly smooth. On the wings scales are present along all
the ribs, and in numerous longitudinal series on the basal half of
the alar skin, while further on their number greatly diminishes,
except again at the outer margin.
The specimen has only a very slight indication of a crest on the
neck ; the gular sack is very long and lanceolate, a dark band
running at its posterior base across the lower neck. Chin dark
spotted, like the body; tail also spotted at its base, but further on
with brown bands. In all other respects the specimen agrees with
Gray's characteristic description.
8o NOTES ON THE
DRACO FIMBRIATUS.
Dumeril and Bibron, vol. iv. p. 448. Gray, " Lizards," p. 234.
A specimen from Penang exactly agrees with the one figured
by Gray and Hardwicke in " Illtist. of Indian Zoology " as D. abbre-
viatus from Singapore. The scales of the back are very small and
almost quite smooth, with a series of larger ones on either side at
the base of each wing. Giinther ("Rept. Brit. India," p. 123) says
that no orbital, or rather post-orbital, spine exists. This is a mis-
take, at least as far as male specimens are concerned. In these
there are two very distinct post-orbital spines ; they are well shown
in Gray and Hardvvicke's figure. Dumeril and Bibron's minute
description of the head-shields from Javanese specimens also appears
exactly to correspond with the structure of Singapore and Penang
specimens.
General colour bronze brown ; head, not including the nape, a
zigzag undulating slightly variegated band across the neck, another
across the shoulders, a third between the hind-limbs, and a fourth,
though less distinct one, across the middle of the body, pale bluish,
a bluish black spot between the eyes ; on the body are four
irregular marks, each composed of a few blackish lines, and each
enclosing along the middle of the back a somewhat elongated
diamond-shaped figure.
Limbs with cross dark stripes, and bluish edges to all the front
and hind sides. Wings above blackish with radiating bluish lines,
below pale with a few scattered black spots. Tail banded with
bronze and pale bluish. Chin variegated with dark ; gular pouch
tinged with blue and red, dusky at the base. Body below uniform
yellowish white, with scattered bluish dusky spots, mostly con-
spicuous along the sides.
CALAMARIA STAHLKNECHTI, n. sp. PI. xi. Fig. 2.
Body long, cylindrical, snout somewhat narrowly obtuse ; total
length 13-5 inches, of which the tail is 1-2 inch; rostral reaching
to the upper surface of the head ; frontals anteriorly narrower than
posteriorly, laterally bent down, and in contact with first and
second labials, the nasal being very small; occipital six-sided, with
the anterior angle shorter and more obtuse than the posterior one,
it is smaller than one occipital ; each of the latter has an obtuse
angle in front and behind, and both form an inwardly directed
angle along the suture on either end ; one prae- and one post-
ocular ; five upper labials, the third and fourth touch the orbit, the
fifth is largest, in contact with the post-ocular and occipital; it is
followed by a moderately sized shield, which has quite the appear-
ance of a sixth labial, and indeed the gape partially extends below
this qnasi-sixth labial ; above this last extends a long temporal.
Mental shield small ; five lower labials ; the first pair is the
MALAYAN AMPHIBIA AND REPTILIA. 81
smallest, separated from each other, the fifth the largest. The first
pair of chin-shields is largest, each being in contact with three
labials, and having a very obtuse angle behind ; the shields of the
second pair are only about half the size of the first, entirely
separated from each other by two scale-like shields following each
other, and by two other somewhat larger shields from the first very
large ventral. Scales smooth, in thirteen rows; ventrals 163, anal
entire, subcaudals twenty-two, the last single occupying the shortly
pointed end of the tail.
Uniform iridescent brownish black above, the two outer series
of scales on either side mostly white ; upper labials spotted with
yellow, the fifth labial being almost entirely yellow. Lower side,
beginning a short distance from the throat, with two or sometimes
three ventral shields alternately yellowish white and black, the
black colour encroaching laterally upwards upon the yellowish
white lateral bands, and being longitudinally connected along the
edges of the ventrals and subcaudals ; the latter have besides an
interrupted blackish line along the middle, and the pale colour is
tinged with vermilion. Possibly the red colour extended over the
whole of the light coloration during the life of the snake.
The only specimen examined was sent to me with several other
species by my friend Mr. Stahlknecht, of Singapore ; he collected
the same near Dilli in Sumatra.
In general aspect the species resembles C. Linnat, but differs
essentially in several points of its structure. It also does not agree
with any of the species more recently described by Bleeker and
Edeling, or figured by Jan.
OXYCALAMUS LONGICEPS.
A single specimen of this rare snake was in the Penang collec-
tion ; it measures seven inches of which the tail is one.
The following may be added to Cantor's and Giinther's descrip-
tions :
The rostral shield is of moderate size, reaching with its angle to
the upper surface of the head ; anterior frontals small, each about
one-third the size of a posterior ; the suture separating the two
anterior frontals is only two-fifths of the length of the suture
between the posterior frontals ; vertical six-sided, the sides touch-
ing the supraciliaries being parallel to each other ; one supraciliary
not quite as wide as half the width of the vertical; occipitals
nearly double the length of the vertical, reaching down on either
side to the postocular ; nasal in a single shield.
Vent. 137, anal entire, subcaudals 29.
Uniform iridescent black above and below, many of the ven-
trals and subcaudals with paler posterior edges ; a pale yellowish
spot on the fifth upper labial and a second one on each side of the
throat.
SECOND SERIES. VOL. I. G
82 NOTES ON THE
SlMOTES BICATENATUS.
In several specimens, the dark dorsal band is divided by a pale
reddish line. A young specimen has only one prseocular, and
only the upper smaller temporal is in contact with the postoculars.
SlMOTES CRUENTATUS.
Comp. " Proceed A. S. B." for August, 1872, p. 145.
This species agrees in general aspect and coloration with S.
bicatenatus, but it has only seventeen rows of scales. One
specimen in the collection has a small portion of a labial detached,
forming a second (lower) prseocular; it has very few dark blotches
on the anterior ventrals ; only two black spots on the tail, one at
the root, the other near the tip.
SlMOTES CATENIFER, 11. Sp. PL xi. Fig. 3.
The body is short, stout, moderately compressed, the head
large, conspicuously truncate in front.
Rostral shield well reaching to the upper surface of the head ;
anterior frontals considerably smaller than the posterior ones, both
bent down at the sides; superciliaries narrower anteriorly than
posteriorly ; vertical large, six-sided, with a very obtuse angle in
front, somewhat converging sides, and with nearly a right angle
behind ; one occipital is about the same size as the vertical, each
reaches down to the superior postocular and is rather broadly
truncate behind. Nostril between an anterior large and a post-
erior somewhat smaller shield ; loreal squarish ; two praeoculars ;
the upper is long, while the lower has the appearance of being
only a small detached portion of the fourth labial ; two post-
oculars ; temporals 1 + 2 + pi., the last is somewhat irregular
and scale-like, the first obliquely in contact with both postoculars.
Eight, rarely nine, upper labials, the fgurth and fifth under the
orbit, sometimes a small portion of the fourth is detached, touch-
ing the orbit as a separate shield. Mental shield small; nine
lower labials, those of the first pair form a suture ; anterior pair
of chin-shields largest, each in contact with four labials ; second
pair much smaller, and separated by other two somewhat smaller
pairs following each other from the first ventral. Scales smooth,
in nineteen rows; ventrals 178 to 205, distinctly angular at the
sides ; anal entire, moderately enlarged ; subcaudals bifid, in
57 P airs -
The general coloration of the upper side is sandy brownish ;
head with the usual dark brown markings ; the first band crosses
the eyes and reaches forward to the rostral ; the second ascends
across the angles of the mouth to the outer medium edge of the
occipitals ; the third is thick, arrow-shaped, anteriorly prolonged
to between the eyes. Body with twelve or thirteen dark cross
MALAYAN AMPHIBIA AND REPTILIA. 83
bands, each composed of four confluent spots, the two dorsal
ones being larger and darker ; tail with four or five cross bands.
Between each two of these bands the scales, following alternately
each other, are partially blackish, forming three undulating cross
lines in each interspace. The sides along the ventrals are check-
ered with blackish brown ; lower labials with their hinder edges
blackish. Lower side dusky yellowish, tinged with red, which
passes into vermilion on the posterior half; every second or third
ventral has a quadrangular black spot at each of the outer edges,
the interposed edges being white, and the spots are somewhat
more distant on the ventrals than on the caudals.
The total length (in two specimens) is 9-5 inch, the tail being
175. I have received one specimen from Penang, and Mr.
Wood-Mason lately obtained a second one from Jahore, north
of Singapore.
This is the fourth species of a small group of Simotes, all of
which are closely allied to each other, and all belong to the Malay,
or Chinese fauna ; they agree in their small size, short and stout
body, in the form of the head-shields, and in coloration. S. Co-
chinchinensis, Giinther, has twenty-one rows of scales round the
body. S. brevicauda, Steindachner (" Novara Kept.," p. 61, pi. iii.
figs. 13, 14) has, like catenifer, nineteen rows of scales, but the
occipitals and oculars are in the former somewhat differently
shaped, the markings on the head are also somewhat different,
and there are no lateral spots on the ventrals ; in every other
respect both species almost perfectly agree, as far as I can judge
from the figure and description, and if I had not obtained two
perfectly like specimens of catenifer from different localities, I
would have hardly ventured to separate them as distinct. The
fourth species is Jan's S. ancoralis, which has the black spots on
the edges of the ventrals, but only seventeen rows of scales round
the body and only one prseocular.
CYCLOPHIS TRICOLOR.
Schlegel, " Phys. Serp." ii. p. 187, pi. vii. figs. 16-18 ; Hem, Dum. and
Bibr. ; Giinther; Jan, " Oph.," Livr. 31, pi. vi. fig. 2.
One specimen measures 18-5 inches, of which the tail is 7 inch.
Scales smooth, in fifteen rows, vent. 144, anal bifid, subcaudals 129.
Greyish, or rather olivaceous, brown above, yellowish white below,
i black streak from the nasal through the eye to the side of the
neck, rapidly disappearing on the anterior part of the body. Each
six-sided scale, above, has the anterior lateral margins pale, pro-
ducing longitudinal zigzag pale lines ; upper labials yellow ; along
the edges of the ventrals and subcaudals runs an indistinct dusky
line, and another interrupted one along the middle of the ventrals,
these lines begin to appear a short distance from the neck, which
is below and at the sides uniform yellowish.
G 2
84 NOTES ON THE
The fine zigzag pale lines of the upper side are indicated in
Jan's figure. Both in structure and coloration the Sumatra
specimen agrees with Schlegel's figure and description, except
that the head is a little more slender. This specimen had a
large spider in the stomach. Schlegel's snake was from Java,
and the species has, I think, not yet been recorded from any-
where else.
ABLABES FLAVK i:i>s var., Giinther.
Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. xviii. 1866, p. 26, pi. vi. fig. B.
One specimen agrees well with Giinther's description and figure
of this snake, but it has nine upper labials, the second being
replaced by two, so that the fourth, fifth and sixth labials enter the
orbit. The hinder chin-shields are almost in immediate contact with
the first well-marked ventral. Total length 167 inch, of which
the tail is 5-5 inch, being somewhat obtuse at the end ; scales in
seventeen rows, one pne-, and one or two postoculars, 150 ventrals,
anal bifid, seventy subcaudals.
Head yellow, somewhat tinged with brown in front, a straight
black streak through the eye, and a white one along the upper
labials. The general colour of the upper side is brown, powdered
with grey; a light blue band begins on each side of the neck,
continuing on each side of the back, the colour gradually turning
to grey, but both bands remain tolerably distinct to the tip of the
tail. On the front part of the body each is marked with squarish
black spots along the inner edge, further on the spots become
smaller, alternate in position on the two sides, but are somewhat
removed from the internal margins towards the middle line.
Below, yellowish, all the ventrals (except those on the neck), with
narrow blackish hind edges about the middle of the body, almost
meeting in the centre, but further on the black becomes more
confined to the outer margins, and on the subcaudals it forms a
serrated black band on either side, as in Ablabes melanocephalus, to
which the present species bears a very strong resemblance. Dr.
Giinther mentions in his specimen only the presence of a black
spot on either side of the ventrals.
GONYOSOMA OXYCEPHALUM.
A very large specimen, measuring about five feet, has the scales
round the body in twenty-seven series ; it is sea-green, the tail
strongly tinged with rubescent brown, the sutmes of the scales
being blackish ; the dark streak on the side of the head is very
indistinct ; upper labials whitish green.
DENlJkoi'IIIS CAUDOLINEATUS.
Dr. Giinther when noticing my paper on Penang Reptiles in the
Zool. Recordist 1870, says that I described his D. caudolineolatus
MA I. A VAN AMPHIBIA AND REPTILIA. ' 85
(from Ceylon) as D. caitdolincatus of Gray. I should have hardly
expected such a brief dismissal of the consideration of all other
points connected with the identification of this species. Dr.
(liinther appears to have noticed merely my statement regarding
the thirteen rows of scales round the body, and to this one charac-
ter he seems to have sacrificed everything else. Now the Penang
species, of which I lately also received four beautifully preserved
specimens from Sumatra, has only thirteen r<nvs of scales. Cantor's
description of the snake is admirable, and he gives also thirteen
rows of scales. Dumeril and Bibron, when describing their
D. octolineatus, also speak of only thirteen rows, and Jan (" Ophid."
Livr. 31, pi. ii.), gives the same number of scales when figuring
the species under Dum. and Bibron's name.
Thus the question to be determined is, whether Gray's type has
thirteen or fifteen rows of scales round the body. If fifteen rows
are present, we have to see whether we are entitled to regard this
number as a normal or abnormal one in that particular specimen
that is, whether other specimens from the same locality have thirteen
or fifteen rows of scales ; for, as far as other points of structure and
coloration go, the Penang and Sumatra species are absolutely
identical with Gray's caudolineatus. I have no Bornean specimens
for comparison, so I can add nothing more towards the solution of
the question.
The Ceylonese D. caiidolineolatiis, as far as I can judge from
the description and figure of it, differs in the structure of the prae-
ocular in the upper labials, and so very essentially in coloration,
that I could not have thought of identifying the Penang caudo-
liiicatus with it.
OPHITES SUBCINCTUS.
One specimen measures eighteen inches, of which the tail is
3*25 inch. The general colour of the upper surface is black,
slightly duller at the sides, dull olivaceous blackish below ; front
head above blackish brown; seventeen broad white rings round
the body, the first on the neck, and four on the tail ; the
white of the rings is considerably more distinct on the anterior
than on the posterior part of the body. The eight median rows
of scales on the back are keeled ; eight upper labials ; regular on
both sides.
OPHITES ALBOFUSCUS.
A remarkably slender snake, measuring 1875 inches, of which
the tail is 5*75 inch. It has seventeen rows of scales, all strongly
keeled, the keels on the back being finely crenulated. The general
structure exactly agrees with Gunther's account of the species.
The specimen has 241 ventrals, anal bifid, and 178 subcaudals, the
last shield is single, very long and cylindrical.
The general colour is dark brown above, olivaceous white below ;
86 MALA VAN AMPHIBIA AND REPTILIA.
hind head and collar on neck very slightly olivaceous white tinged
with yellow ; body with twenty-six transverse white cross bands ;
some are imperfect, the intermediate brown bands of ground
colour being first thrice, afterwards only twice, as broad as the
white ones. Tail with about twenty-six transverse white bands,
several of them succeeding each other, being often confluent along
the middle line, and all are about equally broad as the brown bands
separating them ; towards the tip of the tail the light coloration
prevails, and almost entirely suppresses the dark one.
Mr. Stahlknecht obtained only a single specimen near Dilli in
Sumatra. Dumeril and Bibron also described a specimen from
Sumatra; another one is reported by Dr. Giinther as having been
brought from Malabar, but as it was bought from a dealer, the
locality is not considered reliable.
HIPSIRHINA [FERANIA] ALTERNANS, Reuss.
Eitiostits alternans, apud. Dum. and Bib., " Herp. Gen.," vii. p. 957.
lloinalopsis dectissata, Schlegel. HipsirJiina alternans apud Jan, "Ophid.,"
Livr. 30, pi. vi. figs. I and 2.
One specimen measures : total length 8-25 inches, the tail being
one inch. It has two anterior frontals, the first scarcely half as
large as the posterior, vertical six-sided, much smaller than one
occipital ; one loreal, one pneocular, two postoculars ; seven
upper labials, the fourth under the orbit ; the two first lower labials
are in contact ; two pairs of chin-shields, the first forms a suture ;
the shields of the second pair are much smaller, diverging, and
with their upper pointed ends lying between the first chin-shields
and the labials. There are twenty-six rows of scales immediately
behind the head, twenty-two round the neck, below interrupted by
the second ventral, and nineteen round the middle of the body,
ventrals 157, anal bifid, subcaudals thirty-four, the first five entire,
the last conical.
General colour brown ; head, above, anteriorly with a few pale
spots ; back with narrow pale (yellowish) cross bands ; the first
passes over the hind-edges of the occipitals and is literally bipartite,
the next four are simple and complete, the following after these
mostly interrupted along the centre, and after the middle of the
body the bands become reduced to indistinct lateral spots. The
sides of the body are marked with a series of pale yellow cross-bars,
more than one scale broad, and are separated by equally broad
bands of the general brown coloration ; the lateral pale bands more
or less encroach upon the ventrals, but the general colour of these
latter is pale brown. Chin and upper labials spotted with yellow.
This coloration slightly differs in minor details from that given
by Jan, but it agrees with it in all essential points.
The larger size of the occipitals as compared with the vertical,
the smaller number of upper labials, and of the scales round the
LAND-SHELLS, <5w., OF PENANG ISLAND. 87
middle of the body, and the coloration, readily distinguish the
present species from F. Sicboldi*
TRIMERESURUS WAGLERL
Fresh specimens are black above, with numerous spots on top of
head, the superciliary edges, both lips, numerous narrow cross
bands, and the whole of the lower side bright golden yellow with
a greenish reflection during life ; the stripe from the nostril to
below the eye, continuing above the angle of the mouth, one stripe
on each side along the margins of the labials, and all the other light
spots on the back, but particularly at the sides, are sea-green,
more or less tinged with yellow.
IV.
ON THE LAND-SHELLS OF PENANG ISLAND..
WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF THE ANIMALS
AND ANATOMICAL NOTES.
By DR. F. STOLICZKA.
(With Four Plates.)
[" Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal," vol. xli. pt. ii. pp. 261-271 ;
and vol. xlii. pt. ii. pp. 11-38.]
PART FIRST. CYCLOSTOMACEA.
PENANG, or Prince of Wales Island, although possessing a rich
vegetation, growing on old metamorphic soil, a moderately hilly
ground, and a moist warm climate all elements most favourable
to Molluscous life has, up the present time, yielded a compara-
tively very small number of land shells, and this in spite of the
repeated visits which it had received from numerous travellers to
the East. I can scarcely find record of more than ten species of
both CYCLOSTOMACEA and HELICACEA, which had been reported
* Giinther, in Ann. and Mag. N. //., 1866, xviii. p. 28 and in Zool. Rec. for
1868, says that Jan figured F. Sieboldi as Hypsirhina Bocourti (" Iconograph."
Livr. 28, pi. v. fig. 2). Jan's H. Bocoiirti has apparently only twenty-three or
twenty-live rows of scales round the body, the coloration is somewhat similar to
that of F. alternans, the occipitals are much longer than the vertical, and there
is only one anterior frontal ; this, however, is also said to exist in an old speci-
men of Sieboldi from Siam. Still I am not certain that G anther's suggested
identity of the two snakes will be confirmed.
Jan does not acknowledge the distinctness of Ferania from HipsirJiina, and
if F. Sieboldi has occasionally only one anterior frontal, the principal reason for
keeping the two genera as distinct no doubt loses its validity.
88 LAND-SHELLS AND ANIMALS
to occur on Penang. The paucity of shells seemed to me scarcely
credible; but, when visiting the island in 1869, I was not a little
astonished to meet for days with nothing else except Bulimus
atricallosus and citrinus, and Helix similaris in the low country,
cultivated with coco-palms and nutmegs, while in the hills the only
common species were a Rotula and Cycloph. Malayanus, Benson's
Helix Cyinatiuin, described from Lancavi, being much rarer. After
many days wanderings I noticed that all those portions of the
ground, which at any, even remote, time showed signs of having
been once under cultivation, were hopeless in a malacological
point of view, and I turned into the more wild and deep ravines
of the North Western part of the island. There, after some days
search, particularly in the extensive and very dense forests along
the edges of more open tracks, abounding with a rich under-vege-
tation, I was more successful by adding a good number of land
shells to the few already known. Many of these are new to
science, and as I had obtained all the species alive, and noted the
peculiarities of the structure of the animals, my observations, even
as regards the few formerly described species, may be useful in
supplementing the information which we already possess.
I shall begin in this first part of the paper with the CYCLOSTO-
MACEA, of which ten species will be reported. My remarks will
on this occasion not enter into anatomical details, because I wish
to reserve these for a comprehensive study on the anatomy of all
the Indian and Burmese species of this group, and the isolated
facts would not prove equally interesting as when related in con-
nection with others.
In the second part, which will treat of the HELICACEA, I will,
however, give all those anatomical details, which are in many
instances essential for the correct determination of the different
genera.
Group. CYCLOSTOMACEA.
Fain. CvcLOPHORiDyE. Genus, CYCLOPHORUS, Montf.
CYCLOPHORUS MALAYANUS. PI. A, figs. 1-5
Benson, " A. and M. N. JL," second sen, vol. x. p. 269. Pfeifier, Mono-
graph " Pneumonopomorum.'' Suppl. i. p. 42. Reeve, "Conch.," vol. xiii.,
Cyclophonis, pi. i. fig. 2.
This is a tolerably common species on Penang, being generally
distributed from near the seashore to the top of Penang hill, about
2500 feet.
I have given a whole series of illustrations in order to show the
different stages of growth, although Reeve's figure is a very good
representation of an adult specimen.
Ordinarily the shell is smooth, exhibiting only the usual finer
and stronger stria? of growth, but the pale brown and thin cuticle,
f STOUCZtfA Journ.Aat ; Soc:Bng-*J Vol. XL 1 Ft 11 1872
Cyvloplurrus Mcuiayauuu . p.60. II MegnJ<.n,(^tuma.iKUU,bi-u.nk.p.tt
6- a Scrrveenaif, p. &. J*. <t/yrjtu& yibhaxulus, p .
7. OpisthoporufPenanqemi*. p.aa to Logochnlus tro^itles . p .e.
&-10- . soiuitcs, p.3. M strieUiJiu',, p. S7,
ll-JZ fuftina aureola., p. 04.
OF PENANG ISLAND. 89
wlien well preserved, is spirally striated, the striation being more
conspicuous in younger shells than in more adult ones.
Young specimens of only two or three volutions have very con-
spicuous transversely oblique cuticular striae, and in this stage the
shell with its angular last whorl perfectly resembles Pfeiffer's
Cydostoma {Leptopoma) Binnanum* which is no doubt either a
young of the present species or of C. Siamtnsis. Nearly all
young Cydophori have these transverse filiform striae of the cuticle.
When larger the shell scarcely differs from that of C. Canton,
Benson, of which figures are given by Pfeiffer in Chemnitz'
" Conch.-kab.," and also by Reeve. I have not obtained in Penang
any such small specimens with fully developed lips as are repre-
sented in those figures, but I have observed that the usual differ-
ence of the male being often slightly smaller than the female also
exists in the present species ; and an illustration of a nearly full-
grown male, given in fig. 4, comes very close to that of Reeve.
Judging from the difference observed in the size of the sexes of
other species, as is, for instance, very often the case in C. Pearsoni,
I am inclined to the opinion that the specimens described as C,
Cantori are males of C. Malayanus, the latter being females. If
this were the case, the former name would have priority over the
latter ; but even if the explanation of sexes would not in this case
hold good, I believe that the form described as Cantori can
scarcely be looked upon as anything else than a smaller race of
Malayanus, and vice versa.
The animal is grey, darker on the head, brownish on the tenta-
cles, pale towards the tip of the rostrum, and at the basal edges of
the foot.
What Hanley figures in " Conch. Indica," pi. xlviii. fig. 4, as C.
Malayanus from the Shan States, has, I believe, nothing to do with
the Penang shell, though it may represent a variety of Siamensis,
or a peculiarly depressed one of flavilabris, but it is impossible to
form a good idea of the character of the species from the insuffi-
cient illustration given.
CYCLOPHORUS BORNEENSIS, var. PI. A, fig. 6.
Metcalfe, " Proc. Zool. Soc." 1851; Pfeiffer in " Chem. Conch." xiv.
p. 362,; Mon. " Pneumon.," p. 63; Martens, " Ost.-As. Exped.," p. 136;
Reeve, "Conch.," vol. xiii., Cydophorus, pi. xii. fig. 50.
The Penang variety of this species is flatter, somewhat sharper
keeled at the periphery, and with a slightly more expanded lip
than exists in any Bornean specimens I saw, but the general type
of the shell is unmistakable. It is a rare species on Penang hill.
I found during many days' search only two adults, f and one young.
* Chemnitz' " Conchylienkabinet," vol. ix. p. 363; and Mon. " Pneum.,"
Suppl. ii. p. 85.
T The figured specimen is the more depressed one.
90 LAND-SHELLS AND ANIMALS
The former are covered with a rather thick dark brown cuticle,
marked with very fine transversely oblique, and also with spiral
stride, by which a kind of very minute granulation is produced.
There is a row of larger brown spots along the suture, while the
rest of the whorls is densely variegated with reddish brown, most
conspicuous after a partial removal of the cuticle, and the keel is
slightly funiculate. This coloration is almost exactly like that of
C. porphyriticus, as figured by Pfeiffer in Chemnitz' " Conchylien-
kabinet."
One of the most important characters of Borneensis is the
straightness and slight concavity of the inner portion of the
peristome along the umbilical margin, followed by the basal por-
tion being somewhat produced. This character also occurs in C.
aquila w\& perdix, with the last of which Benson's C. porphyriticus
has been considered as identical. E. v. Martens already observes
(loc. tit. p. 135) that it is impossible to give a well-defined diagnosis
of C. aquila, as the species is very variable and readily passes into
Borneensis and perdix. I have not a sufficient series of authentic
specimens from different localities, but the few from Penang,
Singapore, and Borneo entirely support the view expressed by E.
von Martens, and make it most probable that the different names
noticed only refer to the principal varieties of one and the same
species. It is unquestionable that even in true Bornean specimens
the upper convexity of the whorls is sometimes greater, sometimes
less, the keel on the last whorl sharp, or obtuse, or again almost
obsolete, and in consequence of this the sharp-edged last whorl
passes into an obtusely angular, or even slightly rounded one, and
that with these variations the height of the entire shell must
naturally vary.
I possess Singapore specimens of Borneensis which exactly agree
with C. porphyriticus ) as figured by Pfeiffer in Chemnitz, and as
this figure is authentic, being taken from the type in Benson's
collection, I would not hesitate to add porphyriticus as a synonym
of Borneensis. Sowerby's original figures of perdix (at least fig.
127 in " Thes.," vol. i.), and of aquila scarcely differ, and both very
well agree with the form of Borneensis as usually obtained at
Singapore, having the whorls above rather inflated, and the peri-
phery very obtusely angular. The same applies to Chemnitz's
figure of aquila, while that of perdix, after Tenasserim specimens,
very closely corresponds with one of my Penang specimens of
Borneensis ^ except in having a greenish cuticle. Reeve's figure
of aquila is probably taken from a specimen obtained inland north
of Singapore ; those specimens are particularly fine and probably
most aberrant from the type shell, which Reeve figured as Bor-
nccusis, while his figure of perdix has the whorls as round as
Siamtnsts, and though it may belong to the same species as repre-
sented by Sowerby's figure 128 in "Thes.," vol. i., I do not think
OF PENANG ISLAND. 91
that it can at all be referred to the Borneensis group, because it
appears to want the peculiar straightness of the inner portion
of the peristome.
The solution of this question of identity depends now upon a
comparison of the type-specimens of Sowerby's C. perdix and
aquila with a good series of typical Borneensis, as represented in
Borneo, near Singapore, Malacca and Penang; for it will also
determine the nomenclature of the latter species.
The animal of the Penang variety of Borneensis is uniform pale
brown with a slight pinkish tinge, and covered with numerous flat
greyish warts ; the foot is rather narrow and very long posteriorly,
the lateral basal portion below the pedal row is warty, not sulcated ;
head slightly darker than the body, tentacles blackish near the
tip ; eyes on small bulgings, surrounded by a pale ring ; mantle
greyish, thick near the margin. There is scarcely a noticeable
difference in the size of the sexes.
The only other species of Cydophorus which I have to mention,
and which has been described from Penang, is C. Pfeifferi of
Reeve. It belongs to the section of C. tuba, with a very much
expanded peristome, without any markedly straight inner, or pro-
duced basal portion. E. v. Martens (loc. at. p. 134) states that it
is probably not constantly different from C. tuba, but, setting aside
the more inflated whorls of the latter species, I believe Pfeifferi
also differs from the last by a much more rapid increase of the
volutions. In this point, as well as in the flattened and angular
shape of the whorls, it, however, quite agrees with expansus, and a
large specimen of this last from Tenasserim scarcely at all differs
from Reeve's illustration ; I would, therefore, be inclined to regard
Pfeifferi as identical with expansus.
Genus, OPISTHOPORUS, Bens.
There is no apparent distinction between the shells of Opistho-
porus and those of Spiraculum. A cursory examination of the
animals of a few species also showed that no essential distinction
exists in the general anatomical structure, and but a very slight
one in the dentition.
The only difference, which, as far as known, is a constant one,
consists in the structure of the operculum. In the former genus
this is discoid, horny on the inner side, calcareous on the cuter,
and composed of spiral laminae entirely covering a tube. In
Spiraatlum the upper spiral layer is also generally calcareous, and
more or less elevated, but the spiral canal is always open, not
forming a closed tube. The former structure of the operculum is
peculiar to Cyclotus, the latter to Pterocyclus and some species of
Cydophorus.
92 LAND-SHELLS AND ANIMALS
OPISTHOPORUS PEXANGENSIS, n. sp. PL A, fig. 7.
O. testa sub-discoidea, apice paidum cxserta, latiusculc umbilicata,
corneo solidula ; anfractibus 4*5 ad 5, teretibus, sutura profunda
junctis, epidermide brunnea vel nigrescente, transversim coufertissimc
striata, in ultimo anfractu ad peripheriam superam et inferam
breviter dliata, indutis, sub epidermidem albescentibus atque strigis
transvcrsiSj brunnds vel fuscis, paulo undulatis, aut plus minusve
acute angulatis, notatis ; apice sub-niammillato, nigrescente vel pal-
lido ; umbilico modico,fere dimidium latitudinis anfractus penultimi
exponente ; ultimo anfractu ad apcrturam valde descendente, sed
haud dissoluto, ad suturam tubulo brevi tenuique, sccpissime retror-
sum curvato, rare fere verticali, rarissimeque ant ice versus directo, in
speciminibus adultis circa 1-5 ad 2 m.m. a margine aperturali dis-
tante, instructo ; apertura circulari, ampla, obliqua, peristomate in
junioribus simplici, in adultis breviter bilabiato, margine labii
interni paululum incrassato, sczpe rubescente tincio, haud distincter
discreto, exte? r no expansiusculo ; ambobus supra paulum productis
atque prope suturam modice insinuatis. Operculum discoideum,
interne vix, externe distincte, concavum et a/bin/i, multispiratum,
medio corneo- testaceum, laminis duabus separatis ad peripheriam
acutissimis. Diam. maj, ii'5/ diam. min. 9^5 / altit. testcc 6'6 ;
diam. apert. int. 4, externce. cu?n perist. 47 m.m.
This species is evidently closely allied to E. v. Martens' O. Su-
matranus* which is of nearly exactly the same size, but its whorls
are decidedly thinner, and on the upper side more flattened, the
upper apertural margins are considerably more produced, the
plain of the aperture being, therefore, more oblique to the axis,
while the sutural tube appears to be more distant from the margin.
The direction of the tube was observed in four specimens of
O. Sumatranus to be nearly vertical, while in about eighty speci-
mens of the Penang form it is directed backwards, being some-
times, when well preserved, perfectly parallel to the suture ; in a
few specimens, however, it is nearly vertical, and in two or three
even slightly directed forward. The character is, therefore, evi-
dently variable. Young shells, sometimes measuring up to 9 m.m.
in the longer diameter, still have no sutural tube developed, while
others (mostly males) reach the adult stage already at even a
somewhat smaller size.
Uab. I found the species common under dead leaves on
the ground along the base of the Penang hill, mostly in dense
jungle.
Animal stout, blackish, sometimes mottle with grey and tinged
with pink, nearly smooth, with few little warts, paler at the sides
and at the end of the foot, which is, when fully extended, about
t'.vice the longer diameter of the shell ; it is pointed at the end ;
* " 1'icuss. Exped. nach Ost-Asicn.," Zool. Theil, vol. ii. p. 112.
OF PENANG ISLAND. 93
operculigerous lobe slightly more thickened in front than behind ;
tentacles paler at base, blackish on terminal half, slightly thickened
towards the end, but pointed terminally ; eyes small, .on laterally
slightly prominent bulgings, united to the base of the tentacles ;
rostrum wrinkled, cleft in front, and with pale lips ; penis of male
long, thin and black, without any appendage.
OPISTHOPORUS SOLUTUS, n. sp. PI. A, figs. 8-10.
' O. testa planorbulari, apice paulo exserta, late umbilicata, corneo
solidiila : anfnictibits 4-5, fere teretibus, supra et infra paululum
depressiusculis, sutura profunda ac simplici junctis, in spec.junioribus
ad peripheriam sitb-an^itlatis ; ultimo ad terminationem dissoluto,
paulo expansiuscnlo modiceque deflexo, tubulo suturali antice directo,
circitcr 2 in. in. a margine aperturali distantc, instructo ; anfractibus
superioribns cpidcrmide fusco-olivacea^ transversim rugata, in ultimo
fere simpliciter confertimque striolata, indutis, omnibus sub epider-
midem albidis, sparse scrobiculatis, transverse minutissime striatis ;
apice albido; umbilico magno, anfractuum omnium maximam partem
exhibente; apertura lata, circular}, peristomate dupliri, inferno tcnui,
panliun projidente, externo undique modice dilatato, in facie antica
concaviusculo et co?icentrice striato, in regione supra- suturali sensim
producto ; ambobus ad suturam a?iguste emarginatis. Operculuw
normale^ in utroque latere vix concavum, mnltispiratum, medio corneo-
solidum. Diam. maj. i5'5/ diam. min. n*5/ alt. testcz 7*3; diam.
apert. int. 4-3, ext. cum perist. 5-5 m.m.
Young shells of this species (comp. fig. 8) are regularly planor-
bular, with a simple, continuous, thin lip of the aperture, and the
olivaceous epidermis is rather coarsely rugose, forming darker
transverse bands ; under the lens also a very fine spiral striation
is to be observed. In the middle stage (fig. 9), when the shells
possess 3*5 to 4 whorls, and a diameter of 10 to 13 m.m., the
margin of the aperture has a short, open, sutural canal, exactly as
in the South Indian Pteroc (Myxostoma) tristis, Blf., and which
canal is the origin of the sutural tube, becoming fully developed
in the more adult shell, as soon as the end of the last whorl begins
to detach itself from the previous one.
Hal). Penang. I have only obtained about fifteen specimens of
this species, also under dead leaves on the ground in dense jungle,
together with the last, which is, however, the more common one.
The animal is entirely of a rather pale grey colour, nearly
smooth, slightly mottled with darker; tentacles blackish, with
a few darker spots about and between their bases, entirely black at
tip ; rostrum cleft, wrinkled, with a pale lip ; lateral pedal row
rather indistinct, as also in the preceding species.
Fam. PUPIXIDJE.
Raphaulus Loraini, which was described by Pfeiffer from
Penang out of Cuming's collection, was not met with by me.
94 LAND-SHELLS AND ANIMALS
PUPINA AUREOLA, n. Sp. PI. A, figS. 11-12.
P. testa oblique orata, apice breviter sub-acuta, glabcrrima,
politissima, ' moderate solida, intense vel luteole succinca, prope
peristoma aurea ; anfractibus sex, convexiusculis, in adult is sutura
indistincta junctis, primis duobns sub-mammillatis, ultimo spira
brcviore, valde descendente ; apertura parva, circular i, labio incras-
sato, sulco satis profundo ab anf, pemdtimo separate ; indsionibus
angustis sed profundis ; labro antice sensim producto, extus pauhuii
incrassato, aureo tincto. Opcrculum orbiculare, altum, comeum,
ad ntrumque latus paulo concavum, ex lamella spiraliter torta
tenuissiwa composition, nucleo depresse circulari, paullulum incras-
sato instructum. Long, testa 8-8 lat. ad medium 5, diam. apert. ext.
2*3 m.m.
Hab. Penang ; baud frequens.
This species is closely allied to P. aurea, Hinds, differing from
it by a smaller aperture, a more laterally produced, shorter and
slightly contracted last whorl. The solidity of the shell, and the
intensity of coloration naturally varies with age j young specimens
are thin, and nearly transparent, pale straw-coloured, the suture is
distinctly impressed, and the outer lip very slightly produced. In
adolescent specimens the upper labial rib is rather distant from
the posterior angle of the mouth (see fig. 1 1 ), as in the Tenasserim
P. arula, but the Penang shell is shorter and stouter. Old
specimens are entirely covered with a polished glaze, and are
intensely or yellowish rufous brown, with a yellow inner and outer
peristome.
The animal is of the usual Cyclophorid type, uniform, intense or
greyish black, paler along the sides of the foot, which is of about
the same length as that of the shell.
MEGALOMASTOMA SECTILABRUM, Gould. PI. A, fig. 13.
Penang specimens agree with those from Tavoy in having a
smaller aperture, and a slightly slenderer spire, with somewhat
convex sides, while in M. anostoma from Borneo, the spire is more
regularly conical, and the aperture larger.
Animal blackish grey with a slight reddish tinge ; the edges of
the foot, including the posterior end, and the tentacles are
vermilion, tips of rostrum pale grey. The length of the foot equals
about three-fourths of that of the shell when the animal moves
about ; the entire body is rather distinctly warty, but no well-
defined pedal row exist ; the rostrum is adpressed to the foot,
strongly wrinkled and cleft at the end ; posterior end of foot
obtusely pointed, eyes small, the bulgings united at their bases to
the tentacles. The mantle is pale, entire, closely attached to the
peristome of the shell, and not protruding beyond it.
Operculum horny, circular, composed of several spiral layers
OF PENANG ISLAND. 95
arranged round a slightly thickened or mammillated centre so that
the width of each lamina equals the radius of the whole operculum.
This structure is somewhat peculiar ; it agrees with that of the
South Indian Cataulus recurvatus, but not with that of the other
Catauli or Megalostomata examined ; in all these the operculum
is distinctly multispiral.
The species occurs at elevations from 400 to about 2400 feet on
the Penang hill, but it is evidently a very scarce shell ; I found
only one live specimen at the top of the hill.
Fam. DIPLOMMATINID/E. Sub-fam. ALYC/EINVE.
ALYC^US GIBBOSULUS, n. sp. PL A, fig. 14.
A testa gibboso turrita, anguste umbilicata, violaceo rubente, ultimo
anf radii pallidiore, lutescente, apice albescente ; anfractibus quinque,
valde convexis, sutura profunda et simplici junctis ; primo lavigato,
tribus sequcntibus transversim densissime striato-costellatis atque
spiraliter striatis, ultimo gibbose inflato, paulo distinctins costellato,
prope aperturam breviter sed valde constricto, sub-lavigato, vix
deflexo, post constrictionem tubulo tenui, circiter duo ad trcs mjn.
longo, nonnunquam fere immerse, instructo ; apertura circulari,
modice lata, in adolescentibus margine simplici undique expansiusculo
rircumdata, in adnltis bilabiata, labio interno extus tubuliforme
producto, crasstusculo, externo dilatato atque tenui. Operculum
solidum, latere interno corneo, convexiusculo, media submammillato,
multispirato, impressione musculari transverse ovata atque excentrica
instructo, externo calcareo, concaviusculo, in superficie irregular 'iter
rugoso. Diam. maj. 9^2 diam. min. 7, alt, testtz <)'6 ; diam. apert.
int. 3 '8, externa 4-8 ;//.;;/.
In general character this interesting new species closely resembles
the type of the genus, AL gibbus, Fer., but the latter conspicuously
differs by having the constricted portion of the last whorl much
more produced and very much deflected, the height of the shell
being also considerably less than the larger diameter of the shell.
Eydoux, who collected the species at Touranne in Cochin-China,
says in his original description* that the operculum is membrana-
ceous and not multispiral.
The species is not uncommon along the base of the hills in
thick jungle, under and on large blocks of rocks, generally between
half-decomposed vegetable matter.
The animal is dusky grey, foot pale; tentacles long, pale at the
base, further on dark, especially at the tips, which are slightly
thickened ; eyes small, placed laterally at the bases of the ten-
tacles, but the bulgings are not distinct ; rostrum long, cleft at the
end, reddish at the base on account of the fleshy colour of the
manducatory apparatus.
* Guerin-Meneville's Magasin de ZoologleiQ? 1838.
96 LAND-SHELLS AND ANIMALS
Fain. LAGOCHEILID/E.
Genus, LAGOCHEILUS, Theobald.
Comp. Blanford in Ann. and Mag. N. H., third ser. 1864, vol. xiii. p. 452.
Shell conoid sub-turbinate and perforated, thin, covered with a
horny cuticle ; aperture round until a narrow incision in the upper
or posterior angle ; opercitlum thin, horny, mult {spiral. Animal of
the usual Cydophorid type, but with a glandular slit at the upper
posterior end of the foot.
The shell of Lagocheilus, when the cuticle is removed, merely
differs from Leptoponia by the slight incision in the posterior angle
of the aperture. When Mr. Theobald suggested the above name,
it could scarcely have been anticipated that such a comparatively
insignificant character would be accompanied by a most important
structural distinction in the anatomy of the animal. Mr. Blanford
already, many years past, noticed that the animal of the Barmese
Lagocheilus leporinus * has the peculiarity of possessing a groove
down the middle of the upper caudal portion of the foot Since
then I have observed the animals of L. tomotrema, of two new
species from Penang, and of two other species from the Nicobars,
and I find that all the animals possess a long glandular slit at the
upper end of the foot, and that the incision in the apertural
margin is the result of the presence of this pedal slit. This
instance is an excellent illustration of the occasional intimate
structure and the relation of the animal to its shell.
Lagocheilus, together with Dermatocera, has evidently among
the CYCLOSTOMACEA the same systematic position as the ZONITID^E
have among the HELICACEA. The external character of the animal
Q{ Lagocheilus is accompanied by some peculiarites in the dentition
and in the internal organs, with which I hope to deal at some
future occasion, in connection with a general account of the
anatomy of the Indian CYCLOSTOMACEA.
The species which are at present known to belong to the genus
are L. tomotrema, Bens. (Sikkim, Assam, and Cachar), leporinus,
Blf. (Barma), trochoides and striolatus from Penang, Wiillersdorfi,
Pfr. and Zel., and another as yet undescribed species also from
the Nicobars; scissimargo, Bens., from Tenasserim. These localities
indicate the geographical extent of the genus. Reeve, in his
Monograph of Cydophorus, when speaking of L. scissimargo, says
that there is more or less an indication of a notch in the aperture
of C. triliratus, Pfr. ( = quadrifilosus, Bens.), while Pfeiffer, in his
second Supplement to the u Pneumonopoma " (p. 29), refers the
latter species to Cyclotits.
LAGOCHEILUS TROCHOIDES, n. sp. PI. A, fig. 15.
L. testa turrito conica, sub-anguste umbilicata ; anfre.ctibus sex
* Journal A. S. />'." for 1865, pi. ii. p. 82.
OF PENANG ISLAND. 97
sutura prof undo, simplici junctis, primis duobus convexis, cderis
supra medium angulatis, ultimo bi-angulato ; omnibus cuticula
opaco-fusea indutis, transversim striolatis, spiraliter striatis, striis
filiformibus ; duabus in anfractu penultimo supra angulum subdis-
tantibus, infra angulum 4-5 approximates ; in anfractu ultimo
angiilis duobus ad intervalla breviter ciliatis ; basi in adultis prope
pcripheriam et ad umbilicum, injunioribus omnino, confertim striata;
testa sub cuticulam albida, adapicem rubescente ; apertura rotundata,
modice obliqua, in angulo superior e vel postico distincte indsa bila-
biata ; labio interno breviore, violaceo tincto, externo fere plane
expansiusculo, in facie concentrice striolato, ad marginem exteriorem
atrato. Operculum multispiratum, tenue, corneum. Diam. maj. 10,
diam. min. 8, alt. testa 9-6, diam. apert. int. 4*2, externa 5 m.m.
This is the largest species as yet known of the genus, the more
regularly conical form, angular whorls, numerous spiral striae,
absence of brown spots on the shell, &c., readily separate it from
L. scissimargo. The fine transverse striolation of the cuticle is
very easily worn off, but the spiral striation is always very distinct
and well marked even after the removal of the cuticle. Young
shells have a striking resemblance to those of Cremnoconchus
Syhadrensis; they are comparatively more largely umbilicated than
adult ones, and their cuticle is more or less distinctly olive, while
in the latter it is dark brown in fresh specimens, often becoming
reddish brown in dried ones.
Hab. Penang. I found the species on large stones between
decaying vegetable matter at an elevation of from 200 to about
1000 feet ; it is scarce.
The animal is pale grey, the body itself being slightly darker
than the foot ; the rostrum is long, deeply cleft in front, reddish
at the base ; tentacles long and thin, dark grey, blackish towards
the tips ; eyes on their outer base on indistinct bulgings ; a dark
pedal row, moderately swollen, extends from the lower base of the
rostrum to behind the operculum, from which a deep, narrow
glandular slit proceeds along the middle to the end of the foot.
LAGOCHEILUS STRIOLATUS, n. sp. PI. A, fig. 16.
L. testa turrito conoidea, anguste umbilicata; anfractibus 5*5 con-
vexis, sutura simplici junctis, ultimo ad peripheriam inferiorem
vixangulato ; apice lavigato, olivaceo ; anf. ceteris cuticula fusca
vel brunnea indutis, transversim oblique subdistanter, et spiraliter
densissime, striolatis ; basi sub-lcevigata vel sub-obsolete spiraliter
striatula ; apertura ampla, sub-circular i, peristomate postice ad
angulum profunde inciso, infra ad latus basale conspicuiter producto,
bilabiate, labio interno in junioribus violaceo, in adultis ad mar-
ginem albido, externo undique fere cequaliter planeque dilatato,
corneo. Operculum tenue, corneum, multispiratum. Diam. maj. 6,
diam. min. 5, alt. testce 6 '6 ; diam. apcrt. int. 2-6, ext. 3*2 m.m.
SECOND SERIES. VOL. I. H
98 LAND-SHELLS AND ANIMALS
This smaller form resembles Z. tomotrema and leforinus, but
it is distinguished from both by a slightly larger spiral angle,
rounded (not angulated) whorls, and by the very dense, filiform,
spiral striation.
Hab. Penang. Under dead leaves on the ground along the
base of the hills, together with the last species ; rare.
Animal leaden grey, with moderately elongated, darker, cylin-
drical tentacles ; eyes on minute bulgings, joined on the inner
side to the base of the tentacles ; upper posterior part of the foot
with a narrow glandular slit, extending from the operculigerous
lobe to the end; lateral pedal row very thin.
PART SECOND. HELICACEA.
In this group of pulmoniferous land-shells I shall notice twenty-
three species, belonging to the Zonitida, Helicidce, Bulimidce,
Clausiliidcc, Philomyridcc, Pupida, Streptaxida, Veronicellidce, and
Vaginulida. The majority of the species are new, except a few
previously described from the neighbouring country, and on one
or two of such commonly distributed species, as are Stenogyra
gracilis or Ennea bicolor.
Nearly all the species had been collected with the animals living,
and I have spared no pains in order to make the detailed ana-
tomical account as complete as it appears desirable for a correct
generic determination.
I scarcely need to mention that, on the whole, the fauna is
characteristically Malayan, the same fauna which extends from the
Philippine Islands through Burma and Arakan into the warm
valleys of Sikkim. In the plains of Bengal it mixes with the Indian
fauna proper.
I cannot help repeating the urgent request to my conchological
friends in India, that they may favour me with live specimens of
the species of shells occurring in their neighbourhood. In the
Helicacea especially, the anatomical characters are indispensable
for a correct generic determination, and without this it will not
be possible to obtain a natural arrangement of our terrestrial
Mollusca.
FAM. ZONITID^;.
RHYSOTA* CYMATIUM (Benson}. PI. i. figs. 1-3, and pi. ii.
figs. 13-15.
Helix Cymatium, Benson, apud Pfeiffer, " Novit. Conch." i. p. 58,
pi. xvii. figs. 1-2.
Penang specimens, which slightly differ in the height of the
spire (see figs. 1-3, pi. i.), agree in almost every point of structure
with the type shell, described by Pfeiffer, from Lancavi, a small
* Albers, " Heliceen," edit. E. v. Martens, p. 54.
OF PENANG ISLAND. 99
island situated a few miles north of Penang. The increase of the
volutions is in both exactly the same, the upper side of the whorls
is marked with fine oblique rugosities, the lower is spirally striated;
in fresh specimens the former is silky brown, the lower olivaceous
brown, the inside of the aperture is, in full grown specimens, covered
with a kind of a nacreous callose layer. The only noticeable
difference consists in the narrowness of the umbilicus, its width
being, in all the Penang specimens which I obtained, about one-
twelfth of the diameter of the shell, while in Benson's type it is
only one-seventh of the same diameter.
The species is found all over Penang hill, from elevations of
about 300 to 2500 feet, and both on the ground as well as on trees,
but chiefly on the latter ; it is, however, not common, and adult
shells are indeed extreme rarities.
The closely allied Rh. densa (Adams),* only differs by a slightly
smaller number of whorls, the last being much wider. Rh. Chevalieri
(Souleyet), differs in the same character, though it has the um-
bilicus of exactly the same size as the Penang variety of cymatium.
The animal is stout and rather short, its total length being less
than twice the diameter of the shell ; the posterior part of the
body is the shorter one, and above rather sharply ridged ; it ends
with a large gland and a projecting horn above it. The whole
body is uniform more or less dark brown, laterally strongly warty
and obliquely grooved ; the pedal row is very distinctly margined
on both sides with an impressed line, and the margin of the foot
below it is broad, smooth, marked with alternately brown and pale
oblique stripes, so as to give the appearance of a variegated fringe.
The eye peduncles and tentacles are of usual proportionate length,
dark brown or even blackish, the latter with pale tips. On the
whole, the general colour of the specimens varies a great deal ;
the young are mostly pale brown with an olivaceous tinge, while
in old ones the neck, including the head and pedicles, become
almost black.
The mantle is somewhat paler than the body, its edge moder-
ately thickened. There are two small linguiform shell-lobes pre-
sent, a right one, just below the inner or posterior angle of the
aperture of the shell, thus playing on the inner lip, and producing
its moderately distinct nacreous and callose structure. The other
lobe lies below the outer periphery of the shell on the basal side ;
it projects from the outer end of a rather elongated very narrow
fringe, which is separated from the edge of the mantle itself. The
right neck-lobe is entire, thick, rounded, somewhat freely project-
ing at the lower or umbilical end. The left neck lobe is divided
into two portions, the upper elongately rounded, the lower much
narrower, with the upper end somewhat pointedly extended. The
edge of the mantle which secretes the umbilical margin of the
* E. A. Martens, "Ost-Asiat. Expedit," p. 230, pi. x. fig. i.
H 2
ioo LAND-SHELLS AND ANIMALS
peristome is internally considerably thickened (comp. pi. ii.
% 13)-
I have not been able to see satisfactorily the exact structure of
the genital system, but, as far as it could be examined, it appears
almost entirely to agree with that of Rhysota semiglobosa, figured by
Semper. There certainly are no appendages present neither on
the penis, nor on the seminal duct or uterus.
The jaw is smooth, semilunar, with a round projection in the
middle of the concave edge ; it is about 2-5 m.m. broad.
The radula is comparatively of very great length. In a middle-
sized specimen it measured seven m.m. in length and three m.m. in
breadth, although one of the ends was not quite perfect. I counted
1 06 transverse rows and about 141 teeth in each row. The centre
tooth has a comparatively short point without any lateral denti-
cles, and is somewhat smaller than the adjoining laterals. The
first of these has a long, laterally bent, rather blunt projection ;
the following very gradually decrease in size, and the middle cusp
becomes gradually more pointed and curved, while the basal plate
decreases. With about the fiftieth tooth the end begins to become
bicuspid, and on about the hundreth tooth on either side, the two
cusps are sharpest and best developed.
Semper (" Reisen im Archipel, der Philipp.," vol. iii. p. 68), says
that Rhysota does not possess any developed shell-lobes of the
mantle. In the present species their existence is undeniable, and
still all the other characters of the animal and shell point towards
the greatest relation of R. cymatium to other typical species of
the genus, which scarcely would have any meaning, if it were
restricted in the sense given to it by Semper. I very much doubt
that all the species with polished lower surface of the shell,
referred by Semper to Rhysota, have no shell-lobes. How then
do they produce the smoothness of the shell ? I generally found
shell-lobes essential for that purpose. But supposing some of the
species really had no shell-lobes, this would be no sufficient reason
for excluding any other species which possess them from Rhysota;
for in Xesta we have a similar mixture of forms with and without
shell-lobes.
Thus the only anatomical difference, which remains to be con-
sidered as distinguishing Rhysota from Xesta, is the simple form of
the genital organs in the former. How far this character is really
reliable for generic distinctions, is a point by no means easily
settled, as I had already occasion to notice when speaking of the
anatomy of the two species of Sitala (Comdema, olim) (" Journ.
A. S. B.," vol. xl. pt. ii., 1871, p. 236, &c.), S. attegia and S. infula.
When we compare the characters relating to the presence or
absence, or form of the mantle lobes, we meet with a perfect
similarity between Rhysota and Rottda. The distinction between
the two merely rests in the presence of an amatorial gland in the
OF PENANG ISLAND. i o i
latter genus, while the shells only differ in the upper side of Rhysota
being irregularly corrugated, and in Rotula reticulately striated,
or transversely costulated.
In speaking of the shell of Rhysota, Albers gives the peculiarly
rugose upper surface as one of the most important characters of
the genus.
.ROTULA* BIJUGA, n. sp. P1..1. figs. 4-7 and pi. ii. figs. 16-18.
R. depresse conoidea et suborbiculata, vel late conica, angus-
tissime umbilicata, tenui, cornea, pallide succinea ; anfractibus
5 '5 ad 6'5, sutura simplici, supra rare filiforme marginata, junctis,
lente accrescentibus, in superficie superiore convexiusculis, costulis,
transversis obliquis, confertis, striis spiralibus confertissimis ac plus
minusve distinctis intersectis, crispatulis seu subgranulosis, ornatis ;
ultimo ad peripheriam acute carinato, ad basin modice inflate,
nitido, sublsevigato, striis increment! radiantibus atque alteris
spiralibus sub-obsoletis notato, medio concaviusculo ; apertura
angulatim semilunari, paulum obliqua, labio tenuissimo vix dis-
tinguendo, labro ad marginem tenui, neque expanse, neque
incrassa'to, ad insertionem umbilicalem brevissime reflexo in-
structa.
Dimensiones varietatum frequentium :
Diam. major. D. minor. Alt. testae. Alt. aperturoe. Lat. aperturae.
a. 14-5 ... 13-5 ... ii'O ... 6-0 ... 7'6 m.m.
b. 16-2 ... 15-0 ... 10*9 ... 6'6 ... 8'2 ,,
c. 17-4 ... 15-6 ... 12-0 ... 7-2 ... 9-2
d. 17-4 ... 16-0 ... 10-9 ... 7-0 ... 9-0 ,,
Diam. maj. speciminis maximi i8'8 m.m.
It will be seen from the above measurements, which are taken
from the four figured specimens, that the height of the shell is
very variable, but the increase of the whorls is very nearly quite
constant. The upper convexity of the whorls also slightly varies ;
the sides of the spire are generally nearly straight, more rarely
conspicuously convex ; occasionally the peripherical keel is some-
what projecting above the suture. The ornamentation is charac-
teristically that of Rotula, reticulately sculptured above, nearly
smooth below. The transverse ribs on the upper surface are
traversed by fine spiral lines, which generally only produce a
slight undulation in the direction of the ribs, sometimes, however,
a fine granulation is formed. As regards form, the present species
* Comp. " Journ. A. S. B.," 1871, vol. xl. pt. ii. p. 231. The name Rotula
has also been applied in the ACTINOZOA ; but if our zoological classification
should make such rapid progress as it has done lately, it will, I think, in no
long time be almo-t impossible to find new names for the generic groups, and
we shall be forced to modify the existing rules, at least so far that the same
name may become reapplicable in at least the five or six principal divisions of
the animal kingdom. A further relaxation of the rule would scarcely prove
beneficial, and would hardly be necessary.
102 LAND-SHELLS AND ANIMALS
very closely resembles the Burmese R. anceps (Gould), and also
the South Indian R, Shiplayi : the first has, however, the upper
costulation very fine and no spiral striae, while the latter has both
much stronger developed, producing a granular surface, and the
shell is also more solid. The third very closely allied species is
R. iiidica, differing principally by a greater width of the last whorl,
and also by a stronger sculpture.
The animal of the Penang species, when fully extended, equals in
length about twice the longer diameter of the shell ; back roundly
flattened above, foot posteriorly obtusely ridged, terminating with
a large gland which is superseded by a small horn ; pedal row very
distinct, and the edge of foot below obliquely striated. The
general colour of the body is pale or livid grey, with a general
reddish tinge when full grown. A pale yellow (in young) or more
or less distinctly cinnabar red (in adults) stripe extends along the
centre of the back and the superior ridge of the foot ; the former is
bounded on each side by a broad black stripe, originating at the
base of each peduncle and continuing to the mantle, and below
this stripe there is again a yellowish or red line. The posterior
red band is only edged with black. The sides of the foot, both
anteriorly and posteriorly, are more or less distinctly variegated
with impure black and tinged with red ; front of head between the
two pedicles and tentacles with a black spot ; pedicles and tentacles
generally greyish, the latter with a a reddish tinge, and with pale,
rather large, globular tips, the former with a black ring at the base
where the longitudinal black bands begin.
The mantle is moderately thickened. The right shell lobe is
entirely obsolete, or only indicated by a very slight extension of
the edge a short distance below the upper angle of the aperture
of the shell. Sole of foot divided by a longitudinal groove. The
right neck lobe is large, and extends as a moderately broad fringe
to near the retractor muscle, where it terminates with a free end.
The left neck lobe is smaller, with a linguiform free outer end.
The left outer edge of the mantle is externally also entire, like the
right one, but about the middle of the basal portion it has inter-
nally a distinct lobe, about two m.m. in length, which, in its situation
strictly speaking, lies between the shell and the neck lobe ; but as it
becomes reflected with its edge over the shell, it has to be regarded
as the representant of the left shell lobe. The lower portion of
the left neck lobe is only a thickened swelling, extending, as a
narrow inner rim of the edge of the mantle, to near the umbilicus.
Both the right and left neck lobe have a large black spot, in
continuation of the latter black bands of the back.
The general anatomy does not differ in any essential point from
that of jR. anceps, as briefly noticed by me in " Journ. A. S. B.," vol.
xl. pt. ii., 1871, p. 233, pi. xvii. fig. i.
The jaw is semilunar, perfectly smooth, with obtusely rounded
OF PENANG ISLAND. 103
corners, and a slight rounded projection in the centre of the
concave edge ; it is about 1-5 m.m. broad.
The length of the radula is about 4-5, and its breadth above 1*5
m.m. ; it is composed of about 105 transverse, nearly straight, rows of
teeth, there being about 121 teeth in each row. The form of the
teeth again very closely resembles that of Rot. anceps (loc. at,).
All the points extend beyond the upper edge of the basal plate ;
the central is somewhat widened below the terminal point, con-
tracted in the middle, but it has no distinct denticles at the sides.
The laterals gradually become more and more turned and curved
with a small inner and scarcely a trace of an outer denticle ; up to
the twentieth they very gradually diminish in size, then a very
slight break follows, the twenty-first being somewhat sensibly
smaller, and first distinctly bicuspid at the tip, while at the same
time the size of the basal plate has much diminished, until in the
last teeth it almost entirely becomes obsolete ; the two terminal
cusps on the other hand become gradually more and more equal.
The genital organs have a distinct amatorial gland, possessing,
near its origin, a large globose appendage, internally composed of
an elliptical largely cellular mass, in which the cells are concentric-
ally arranged with their longer diameter perpendicular to the walls
of the ellipse. The posterior part of the gland is filled with a
finely granular substance, probably calcareous particles. The
vas deferens has only one slight enlargement about the middle of
its length ; it consisted in a simple thickening of the walls, but I
could not trace any calcareous particles in it Towards the end,
where the penis is lodged, the tube is widest and somewhat curved,
but there are no other appendages or calcareous sacs, accompanied
with a flagellum, present, such as have been observed in many
other species of Rotula.
SlTALA* CARINIFERA, n. Sp. PI. 1. fig. 8.
Testa globose conoidea, cornea, apice obtusula, angustissime
perforata, anfractibus quinque, gradatim accrescentibus, convexe
angulatis, sutura simplici junctis, transversim minutissime striolatis,
superis infra medium carinis filiformibus duobus ornatis, ultimo ad
peripheriam tricarinato, basi planate convexiusculo, Isevigato ;
apertura semilunari, verticali, non descendente, labro extus tenuis-
simo, in regione columellari paululum reflexiusculo.
Diam. maj. 2 '2, minor 2', alt. testae 2- m.m.
Hab. Penang hill, in foliis Coffece arabicce, specimen unicum.
The animal of this species is exactly like that of ,S. infula t
figured in pi. xviii. in " J. A. S. B.," vol. xl. pi. ii., for 1871 ; it has a
* H. Adams proposed this name for Helix infula, Bens., as type ("P. Z. S."
for 1865, p. 408). I had unfortunately overlooked this reference when I
proposed for Benson's attegia (and infula and a few others) the name ConitUwa,
which must now be regarded as identical with sitala ("J. A. S. B.," xl. pt. ii.
p. 236).
io 4 LAND-SHELLS AND ANIMALS
generally pale brownish grey colour ; but having obtained a single
specimen, I did not like to sacrifice the shell in order to notice the
internal structure ; for, when examining these little species, one is
by no means sure that he will obtain from a single specimen an
insight into the whole anatomy.
The present species is closely allied to the Nilgheri Helix
tricarinata, Blf., which is also a Sitala, and differs by a more
depressed and broadly conical shape, and by having a much wider
umbilicus.
MACROCHLAMYS * STEPHOIDES, n. sp. PI. i. fig. 9, and pi. ii.
figs. 19-20.
M. orbiculata, spira depresse convexiuscula, basi medio con-
caviuscula, angustissime perforata, tenui, succineo cornea, uni-
colore, circa umbilicum albescente ; anfractibus sex, lentissime
accrescentibus, sutura lineari junctis, infra sutur^m angustissime
adpressis, nitidis, fere politis, striis increment! transversis minu-
tissimis, nonnunquam fere omnino obsoletis, notatis, supra con-
vexiusculis ; ultimo ad peripheriam fere uniforme convexo ;
apertura subsemilunari, vix obliqua, labio per-tenui, labro simplici,
ad basin paulum sinuose producto, ad insertionem umbilicalem
anguste atque breviter reflexo. Diam. maj. 11*6, d. min. 107,
alt. 7 ; alt. apert. cum perist. 4' 8, ejusdem lat. 5*6 m.m.
Tne nearest ally of this species, as regards general character
and size, is the Andamanese Jfera:^. stephusft Benson, differing
from the present species by a somewhat more depressed form and
by having the sides of the spire nearly straight or slightly concave,
but not convex. Macroch. hyalina^ Martens, is also very closely
allied, it is a larger shell, and with a more rapid increase of the
volutions, the difference between the smaller and larger diameters
being 2-5 m.m. In Burma and Sikkim several other allied forms
occur, such as M. hypoleuca, patane, petasus, &c., but they are all
smaller and more depressed shells.
The species is rare. I found a single live specimen and half a
dozen of old shells at the base of Penang hill, about 300 feet.
The animal is long and very slender, blackish grey above and
on the pedicles, paler at the sides of the foot, which has a long
and thin horn above the tail gland. Both shell and neck lobes
are well developed, the right ones larger than the respective left
ones. The two shell lobes are linguiform, and the right one,
when fully expanded, covers almost half of the upper surface of
* Comp. " Journ. A. S. ?.," vol. xl. pt. ii. 1871, p. 246.
t The figure of this species in " Conch. Incl.," pi. Lxii., is taken from a young
or imperfect specimen, in which the peculiarly depressed form is not so
well discernible as in an adult shell. Fig. 6 on the same plate is incorrect,
because it does not t-how the sinuosely produced median basal portion of the
peristome.
" Preuss. Exped. nach Ost-Asicn,'' ii., p. 241, pi. xii. fig. 5.
OF PENANG ISLAND. 105
the shell. The lower portion of the left neck lobe is merely
represented by a slightly thickened rim, extending from the
place of insertion of the left shell lobe to near the umbilicus.
The jaw is one mill, broad, with a central rounded tooth in
the concave edge, and with the corners somewhat bent out-
wardly ; a form which is also met with in several other species of
Macrochlamys.
The radula has not been seen perfect, but it does not appear
to have been more than four mill, long, and there appear to have
been at least 101 teeth in each transverse row, all with very sharp
points ; the central with a distinct denticle on either side, and the
last laterals with two small unequal cusps ; all have the basal plate
obtusely narrowed outwardly.
The genital organs are very similar to those of M. indicus,
Benson, but much more slender ; the amatorial gland is very thin
(in a young specimen); there is a small caecal appendage on the
vas deferens, and a flagellum at the base of the penis, just before
a swelling filled with calcareous particles.
MlCROCYSTIS* PALMICOLA, n. sp. PI. i. fig. IO.
M. testa late conica, tenui, cornea, angustissime umbilicata;
anfractibus quinque, gradatim accrescentibus, convexiusculis,
sutura simplici junctis, supra splendore albide sericino, transversim
oblique, minutissime atque confertissime, striolatis, ultimo ad
peripheriam acute angulato ; basi convexiuscula, olivaceo nitita ;
apertura subsemilunari, extus angulata, obliqua; labro tenui,
simplici, ad basin recedente, ad umbilicum reflexo ; labio tenuis-
simo, vix distinguendo. Speciminis maximi diam. maj. 2-8,
d. minor 2-6, alt. 2 '2, diam. apert. 17, ejusd. alt 0-95 m.m.
Hab. Penang, sub corticem Coccos nuciferce, baud frequens.
The shell is distinguished from allied species by its compara-
tively sharply angular last whorl, slightly inflated base, and by the
peculiar silky and very finely striated upper surface.
The animal when fully extended equals in length about four
diameters of the shell ; it is rather dark brownish grey, darkest
on the tentacles and on the rostrum ; posterior gland superseded
by a small horn.
HELicARiONt PERMOLLE, n. sp. PI. i. fig. ii, and pi. ii.
figs. 21-23.
H. testa depresse inflateque conoidea, tenuissima, fere mem-
branacea, translucente, pallide lutescente, vix perforata, spira
ultimo anfractu multo breviore ; anfractibus 4-5, rapide accrescen-
tibus, ad suturam simpliceni adpressis, nitidis, convexiusculis,
* Microcystis, Beck. Comp. Semper in " Reis. Arch. Philipp.," pt. ii
1870, p. 43 ; and Stoliczka in " J. A. S. B.," vol. xl. pt. ii. p. 251.
"f Semper, " Reisen Archip. der Philippinen," vol. iii. p. 20.
ii. vol. iii.
io6 LAND-SHELLS AND ANIMALS
ultimo inflate, ad peripheriam rottmdato, transversim lente arcu-
ateque striatulo, ad basin striis spiralibus sub-obsoletis notato ;
apertura lunari, valde obliqua, labio albescente, minutissime
puncticulato, labro tenuissimo, simplici, ad basin valde recedente,
ad marginem interiorem umbilici breviter reflexiusculo. Diam.
maj. 8-4, d. min. 7-4, alt. 6-3; alt. apert. cum perist. 4, ejusd. lat.
4-3 m.m.
The rather strongly elevated spire, and the membranaceous
and transparent structure of the shell, separate this species from
the numerous allied forms of the Philippines. The species is
rare ; I only obtained about half a dozen specimens on low bushes
or between old vegetable matter on the ground, about 500 feet
above the sea, on Penang hill.
The animal is slender and very long ; when fresh the extended
foot is three times the longer diameter of the shell, which is then
entirely covered by the mantle ; but in captivity the shell lobes
shrink very rapidly, being reduced to narrow linguiform appendages.
Middle of back and of the hind-foot whitish or very pale brownish,
with a slight pinkish tinge ; a broad blackish band runs from each
pedicle along the sides of the whole back, and also on the sides of
the posterior part of the foot, as far as the terminal gland, which is
superseded by a very distinct pointed horn ; the dark colour
extends down to the pedal row, while a large black spot about the
middle of the foot on each side reaches down to the sole ; pedicles
long, grey ; tentacles short and almost white ; mantle blackish with
small whitish dots. All the four mantle lobes are well developed,
the left shell and neck lobes are proportionately somewhat larger
than the corresponding right ones, and each of the former has
a deep but narrow incision in its lower portion.
The jaw is about one mill, broad, quadrant- shaped, smooth,
without any projection in the centre of the concave edge, like in
most other species of the genus.
The radula is moderately broad and nearly 2-5 m.m. long; there
are 95 transverse rows, and about 121 teeth in each row, all
remarkably small, and from the tenth tooth they somewhat rapidly
decrease in size towards the edges. The centre tooth has two
distinct denticles on either side, and a third much smaller one
nearer to the base ; the principal cusp is pointed. On the subsequent
teeth the inner denticles disappear first, and gradually altogether,
then the lower outer, while the upper outer remains, until at last it
equals the principal cusp, so that the outermost teeth become
almost regularly, though shortly, bicuspid.
The general anatomy does not offer any peculiarity requiring
special notice. The nervous and digestive apparatus agrees with
that of other ZONITID^E, except perhaps that the liver is enormously
largely developed. The female portion of the genital system has
a long sub-pedunculate receptaculum seir.inis, branching off at its
OF PENANG ISLAND. 107
origin. The vas deferens is very short, passing into a rather
widened tube, again somewhat contracted near the base of the
penis, which is attached by a special strong muscle. The end of
the penis widens very rapidly for a short distance before it joins
the hermaphrodite opening. I have not observed, in two speci-
mens examined, any caecal or calciferous appendages.
Genus, TROCHOMORPHA, Albers.
" Heliceen," Edit. E. v. Martens, p. 60 ; and " Preussische Exped. nach Ost.
Asien," vol. ii. Landschnecken, 1875, p. 245 ; Nigritella and Videna, ibidem ;
Sivella, Blanf.
The type of this genus is Helix trochiformis, Fer., which is
characterized by a moderately solid sub-discoid or depressedly
conical shell, the whorls being flattened above, the last carinate at
the periphery, the aperture rhombiform or narrowly semilunar with
simple sharp edges, but the columellar lips occasionally internally
somewhat thickened and slightly reflexed.
I do not know whether the animal of this typical species had
been examined, but I have observed those of about a dozen
different species, which evidently belong to the same type, and I
find that all of them possess a very fine glandular slit at the upper
end of the foot, the pedal row being in all also distinct ; they
have, therefore, to be referred to the ZONITID/E, as already noticed
in my paper on the Moulmain shells in " Jour. A. S. B.," vol. xl. pt.
ii. 1871, p. 225.
Judging from a somewhat more intimate examination of the
animals of a few species, the following characters have to be added
to those derived from the peculiar shape of the shell :
Animal moderately slender, with the posterior part of the foot
shorter than the anterior, the former terminating above with a
small glandular slit ; pedal row distinct ; mantle "with elongated
narrow neck lobes, but with the shell lobes entirely wanting, left
neck lobe sometimes divided or insinuated in the middle ; jaw
smooth ; genital organs without amatorial gland, or any other
appendages ; seminal receptacle and seminal duct very long.
The Trochomorphce live on the ground generally in decaying
vegetable matter, under or on old wood. Three species have
been found in Penang.
Albers, while noticing several typical species, such as T.planorbis,
Less., under his genus Discus, referred to Trochomorpha, a most
varied mixture of shells ; for instance, anceps, Gould, scrrula,
Bens., c., which belong to Rotula ; Parrackpoorensis, Pfr., is a
Kaliella ; cacuminifera and infula, Bens., are Sitalcz (= Conulema,
olim) ; H. capitium, Bens., does not belong to the present family,
but to the next, the true Heliddce, &c.
E. v. Martens (loc. tit. pp. 246 and 247) adopted two groups in
the genus Trochomorpha; the one, for which he proposes the name
loS LAND-SHELLS AND ANIMALS
Nigritella, includes the obtusely conoid and more solid shells, some-
times with a somewhat obtuse periphery ; these are true Trocho-
uwrphce, of the type of H. trochiformis, or of Troch. Ternatana,
Guillou ; the name Nigritella is, therefore, entirely superfluous.
The second group is classed by Martens as Videna, Adams ; it
includes the more planorboid and sharply keeled species of the
type of H. planorbis, Less. For this same group (type H. castra,
Benson), W. T. Blanford proposed the subgeneric name Sivella.
Judging from the similarity of the shells of these two groups, and
from what we know of the animal of T. Ternatana, observed by
Martens, I very much doubt that any necessity exists for sub-
dividing the genus Trochomorpha.
TROCOMORPHA CASTRA (Benson}. Pt. i. figs. 14-6, and
pi. ii. figs. 7-9.
Helix castra, Benson, "Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist.," 1852, vol. x. p. 349. ;
Reeve, "Conch. Icon.," helix, No. 1160.
The shell is subject to a very considerable amount of variation
as regards the elevation of the spire. Young specimens are
sometimes almost planorbular, and in some adults the total height,
of the shell is scarcely more than one-third of the larger diameter,
while in others it somewhat exceeds one-half of the same dimen-
sion. The width of the umbilicus varies from 0*2 to 0-3 of the
diameter of the shell. The base is always distinctly spirally
striated, but on the upper side the oblique transverse stride of
growth prevail. The usual colour is pale horny, sometimes brown
with a pale band below the suture.
The species is very rare on Penang hill, but it is common in
Pegu, Arakan, Assam, Sikkim, and within the last few years it
became abundant in the botanic garden near Calcutta, having
been most likely introduced from Darjeeling. One of the largest
Sikkim specimens in my collection measures: larger diam. 13,
smaller diam. 12, height of shell 7, same of apert. 3, width of same
5'4 m.m.
The animal changes from dark leaden to blackish grey, being
always paler at the sides of the foot, generally tinged with brownish
below the pedal row; tentacles and pedicles mostly somewhat
darker than the body ; neck distinctly warty ; sole dark grey,
entire, without any distinct furrows ; tail gland represented by a
fine slit about one mill. long. The total length of the foot
generally equals one and a half diameters of the shell, the
caudal portion being always shorter than the anterior one. The
mantle is blackish and in its extent above the large pulmonary
cavity variegated with pale spots.
The jaw is smooth, very thin, almost semicircular, with broad
oblique ends and a small, in younger specimens sometimes almost
OF PENANG ISLAND. 109
obsolete, projection in the centre of the concave edge; its width
is about half a mill.
The radula is narrow, about two mill, long, or slightly longer,
composed of about eighty-five transverse straight rows, there being
about 101 teeth in each of them. All have very sharp, long and
pointed cusps, the central with a small denticle on either side near
the tip ; on the outer ones, as they turn laterally and gradually
decrease in size, the inner denticle disappears, while the outer
increases, until on the last fifteen or twenty teeth, preceding the
three or four terminal ones, it equals the principal cusp. The last
few teeth are short, broad, and their outer cusp becomes almost
entirely obsolete, the teeth presenting merely an oblique sharp
edge.
The female portion of the genital organs has a globular swelling
near its origin at the hermaphrodite opening, and the receptaculum
seminis branches off above this gland, it is fully one inch long,
somewhat thickened in the middle. The penis is attached by a
short muscle, about 4 m.m. long and moderately thickened.
TROCHOMORPHA CANTORIANA (Benson). PL i., fig. 13.
Helix Cantoriana, Benson, "Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist.," 1861, vii. p. 85.
Five specimens which I found on Penang hill (at about 2,000
feet elevation) exactly correspond with Benson's description, which
was taken from a solitary specimen obtained by Dr. Cantor on the
small island of Sung-Sung near Penang. The illustration given on
plate i. will dispense with a repetition of the description quoted
above. The apex is smooth, slightly swollen, and there are scarcely
more than five whorls in specimens of 10 m.m.
The animal is blackish grey, with a very narrow, pale dorsal
stripe, quite similar to that of T. castra, but by some accident no
specimen was preserved in spirit, so I cannot give any further
details of its structure ; it is, however, certainly a Trochomorpha.
The specimens were found under a log of old wood.
TROCHOMORPHA TIMORENSIS (Martens], PL i. fig. 17,
and pi ii. figs. 10-12.
E. v. Martens, in " Preuss. Ost-Asiat. Exped.," 1867, ii., p. 248.
Penang specimens, of which I obtained sixteen, entirely agree
in form and structure with the shell described by E. von Martens,
with the single exception that the last whorl is not descending
near the aperture, but there is an inclination to it, as its terminal
portion in adult specimens is slightly more bent downwards than
the preceding part (comp. figs. 1 70 and i ?d). This character is,
however, certainly a variable one ; it does also occasionally occur
in adult specimens of T. castra and T. planorbis. The differences
noticed by E. v. Martens regarding the greater number of whorls,
and the larger umbilicus, with less rapidly descending sides, in
no LAND-SHELLS AND ANIMALS
Timorcnsis, when compared with planorbis, are well marked in
Penang examples.
The species is found sparingly on or under old wood all over
Penang hill ; T. planorbis was not met with there, but it is a very
abundant shell at the Nicobars.
The animal is uniform blackish, mantle more intense black ;
pedal row distinct, and the edge of the foot below it nearly quite
smooth ; neck and sides covered with small warts ; tail gland
represented by a very fine slit, scarcely more than half a mill,
long.
The jaw and radula are quite similar to those of T. castra.
The former is about three-quarters of a mill, broad, with somewhat
curved out ends and a broadly rounded central projection in the
concave edge. The teeth are very slender, and the lateral den-
ticles are very close to the tip on the centre tooth. The outer
denticle descends a little lower down on the laterals, but it
always appears to remain smaller than on the corresponding teeth
of T. castra ; the outermost laterals were not observed, they must
be very thin.
The genital organs are distinguished by a very great length of
the seminal receptacle and of the seminal duct ; the former is one
and a half to nearly two inches long ; it is somewhat widened
near its origin, but further on almost throughout equally thin.
FAM. VITRINID^E.
VITRINA NUCLEATA, n. sp. PI. i. fig. 12, and pi. ii. figs. 4-6.
Vit. testa depresse ovata, tumidula, tenui, pallide cornea, trans-
lucente; anfractibus 375, nucleo 1-5 anf. composite, late conico,
inflate, laevigato, duobus anf. sequentibus ad suturam adpressis,
subcanaliculatis, rapide accrescentibus, nitidis, transversim striis
increment! minutissimis notatis ; apertura ampla, per-obliqua, labio
undique tenuissimo, ad basin valde recedente, margine supero
convexiusculo. Diam. maj. 9, diam. minor 7, alt. test. 5-3, alt.
aperturse 4'8, ejusdem latitude 6-1 m.m.
A characteristically distinct species, by having the nucleus com-
posed of one and a half whorls, conically tumid, while the next
whorl is at its beginning only very narrowly exposed, or almost
entirely covered. The outer lip is very thin, almost membrana-
ceous, and simple throughout.
V. nudeata is one of the rarest Penang shells. I found three
live specimens on the Penang hill in dense forest on old wood,
about 1000 feet above the sea, and two more old shells at the
base of the hill.
The animal is entirely black, only slightly paler at the front
sides of the foot ; it is very long and slender, its total length being
about four times that of the longer diameter of the shell ; the
OF PENANG ISLAND. 1 1 1
anterior part is the much shorter one, the posterior tapers into a
point, and the whole is warty and grooved. The mantle, however,
is nearly smooth. In quite fresh specimens the two shell-lobes
entirely cover the shell, but generally the left lobe covers a little
more than one-fourth of the last whorl extending from the margin
of the mouth, while the right lobe also covers one-fourth of it,
beginning at the angle of the mouth, but at the same time also
envelopes the whole spire. The neck lobes are also well developed,
rounded, with simple edges, the left is much larger and longer
than the right one. The sole of foot is pale brown, divided by
two grooves in nearly three equal parts, of which the median is
smooth, and the lateral transversely sulcated. Pedal row well
marked by a thin groove above and along the entire base of foot.
The jaw is semilunar, radiately finely striated, with a blunt pro-
jection in the centre of the concave edge ; the outer or convex
portion is smooth; it measures about 075 m.m. in breadth.
The radula is about two mill, long and half a mill, broad ; there
are no transverse, almost quite straight rows, but only sixty-one
teeth in each of them. All have very sharply pointed cusps, the
central has two small lateral denticles on either side ; on the outer
ones these denticles almost entirely disappear.
The genital organs are distinguished by a great length of the
uterus, at the end of which lies a large albuminous (ag.) and
hermaphrodite gland (hg). The seminal receptacle (rs.) is a
long, pedunculated, spacious bag, which includes a peculiarly
twisted, horny organ, provided on the concave side with short
crispate appendage. It is the same problematic organ which I
described in Sesara infrendens, Gld., and Macrochlamys [Dur-
gella] honesta, Gld. (Comp. "J. A. S. B.," xl. pt. ii. p. 242 and
250, pi. xvi. figs. 5 and 6, and pi. xvii. fig. 13). Whether this
structure represents the amatorial organ, and whether that which
we call a seminal receptacle really possesses the function which
we attribute to it, appears to be as yet an open question. In
the present species I found the terminal end of the so-called
seminal receptacle filled with a milky substance, which under a
high power exhibited a quite irregular flaky appearance.
In other respects the present species does not offer any anatomi-
cal peculiarities. The oesophagus is comparatively thin, long,
cylindrical. The kidney, situated near the end of the rectum, is
very large, of a broadly triangular shape ; the liver enormously
developed.
Some years ago, the Vitrince were classed as a sub-family of
the Heliddce. ; more recently they have been treated by various
authors with the Zonitida, in the Oxygnathe group of HELICACEA.
I think the older classification is preferable, as entered by Binney
and Bland in their " Land and Fresh-water Shells of N. America."
But I would prefer to give them, together with Helicolimax,
ii2 LAND-SHELLS AND ANIMALS
Hyalina and their allies, a position intermediate between the two
families. They combine, indeed, several of the characters of both.
Although they do not possess a terminal mucous gland on the end
of the foot (as all Zonitidce do), they have a more or less distinct
pedal row, and the sole appears to be often divided by longitudinal
grooves. The jaw is entirely or partially finely transversely striated,
not quite smooth, as usually in Zonitidce, and not ribbed, as in true
HeliddcR. However, the teeth, particularly the outermost laterals,
have more the pointed character of the former than of the next
family.
FAM. HELICID^.
TRACHIA* PENANGENSIS, n. sp. PI. iii. figs, i and 18-20.
T. suborbiculata, alta, spira breviter elevata, obtusa, modice sed
profunde umbilicata, tenui, fere cornea, cuticula luteo-fusca dense
et breviter pilosa induta, unicolore ; anfractibus 4*5, convexis,
sutura profunde subcanaliculata junctis, ultimo ad peripheriam
uniforme convexo, ad aperturam paulo descendente, ad marginem
umbilici obtuse angulato ; apertura semilunari, labio tenui, labro
expanse atque reflexo, ad insertionem umbilicalem paululum
dilatato, ad basin indistincte subangulato, pallide violaceo tincto.
Diam. maj. 16, diam. min. 14*5, lat. aperturse cum perist. 8'8,
ejusd. alt. 8-2 m.m.
As regards the thin, almost horny, fulvous, thickly and finely
setose structure of the shell, this species is probably most closely
allied to T. erinacea, Pfr., but it differs from it, as well as from two
other very similar forms, T. quieta. Reeve, and T. eiistoma, Pfr., by
its conspicuously more elevated spire. Other species of similar
type, like T. brcviseta, Pfr., from Siam, T. Helfcri, Bens., from
the Andamans, and four or five others described by Pfeiffer and
E. v. Martens, have nearly all a more depressed form and mostly
sub-angular last whorl, although their spire is somewhat elevated.
The animal is dark chocolate brown, with a very narrow pale
dorsal and caudal stripe, the body is laterally somewhat more
blackish in front, and tinged brownish behind; the posterior end
of the foot is the shorter one, as in Trochomorpha, although not to
the same extent.
The jaw is qiiadrant-shaped, with about six strong ribs,f and one
or two less distinct ones on either side ; it is 1-3 m.m. broad.
The radula is about 2-5 m.m. long., and i m.m. broad; there
are ninety-five transverse rows, and ninety-one teeth in each of them,
decreasing in size the more they approach the edges. The centre
tooth is slightly smaller than the first laterals. All have a large
basal plate, which is on the centre tooth slightly emarginate in the
middle of the upper edge ; this emargination increases in depth on
* Compare, Stoiiczka in " Journ. A. S. B.," vol. xl. pt. ii. 1871, p. 223.
f Evidently very much like that of CampyLca.
OF PENANG ISLAND. 1 13
the laterals, the inner branch remaining smaller, until on the last
ones the upper edge becomes represented by two obtuse branches.
The hook is on all teeth comparatively small, broad, with a moder-
ately sharp point. On about the tenth tooth a small denticle
appears to show on the outer edge near the tip, becoming more
distinct on the following teeth. After the eighteenth lateral, the
teeth become somewhat more rapidly shorter, but increase in
width until the last are wider than long, or high, and on these the
basal plate has almost entirely become obsolete.
The genital organs are more than an inch long. The female
porion has a long seminal receptacle, strongly thickened and
muscular for some distance from its origin, then passing into
a long thin tube, and terminating with a moderately enlarged
bubble, attached by very thin muscular fibres to the albuminous
gland, which is situated at the end of the uterus. The vas deferens
takes its origin near the upper end of the uterus ; it is attached by
numerous thin threads at the hermaphrodite opening, and after a
short distance enlarges into a muscular tube. At the beginning of
this enlargement is a short pointed flagellum (/), and at the other
end, where the penis begins, is a retractor muscle. The penis
itself has near its base a coecal appendage ; its terminal portion,
before it joins the hermaphrodite opening, is very thin.
A comparison of the genital organs with those of Trachia
dclibrata, represented in "J. A. S. B.," vol. xl. pt. ii. 1871,
]>]. xvi. fig. i, will show that the only essential difference con-
sists in the presence of the small oecal appendage on the penis
in T. Penangcnsis. The jaw has fewer and less strong ribs than
that of the former species, but the teeth themselves are extremely
similar.
Taking all these anatomical characters, together with those
of the shell, as noticed in my paper cited as above, I think
can consider Trachia as a fairly established genus of the
HELIX [FRUTICICOLA] SIMILARIS, Fer. PI. ii. figs. 1-3.
Comp E. v. Martens in " Preuss. Expecl. nach O>t-Asien.," vol. ii. pp. 43
and 270, Ac.; Stoliczka in " J. A. S. 13.," vol. xl. pt. ii. 1871, p. 224.
On Penang this species is mostly found in the coco-pnlm
plantations up to a height of about .^oo feet, never in the
interior of large forests, and at great elevation. The shells
are of the usual small size (larger diam. between 12 and 13
m.m.), with or without a brown peripherical band. The stride
of growth are generally fine, but in some specimens thev
accumulate to strong ribs, which give the shell a very peculiar
costate appearance.
I also obtained the species from Malacca, near Singapore,
SECOND SERIES. VOL. I. I
ii4 LAND-SHELLS AND ANIMALS
Hongkong, Chusan, Macao, Canton, &c., northwards it extends
through Tenasserim into Burma, where it is associated with a great
number of dosely allied species, some of which may prove to be
mere varieties of it. I may mention H. bolus, H. scalpturrita,
H. Zoroaster, &c.
In Bengal itself the species is not known, but in Central India
it is represented by H. propinqua, and on the Andaman s by
II. hetniopta. Judging from the great number of closely allied
species in the Indo-Malayan region, there is certainly the greatest
probability that the original habitat of H. similaris falls within the
Indo-Malayan Archipelago, and that it has been introduced into-
Mauritius, China and South America.
The animal is rather slender, all over strongly warty, brownish
fleshy white, or pale brown, the pedal row is very slightly indicated
by a fine groove; the pedicles and tentacles are greyish white,
mantle dull milky white, with a slight vermilion tinge. When the
animal is quite fresh the total length of the foot is equal to from
two and a half to three longer diameters of the shell
The jaw is semilunar, about i m.m. broad, with three strong
central ribs, followed by a somewhat broader one on either side,,
while the next is only indicated by a faint dark line.
The radula is, when compared with the size of the animal, large,,
about 2*3 m.m. long, and somewhat more than one m.m. broad;
it is composed of about ninety transverse rows, with sixty-seven
teeth in each of them. The central is much smaller than the ad-
joining laterals, with a long arched cusp. The laterals somewhat
rapidly decrease in size after the fourteenth ; on the outermost the
basal plate gradually disappears, while the breadth of the teeth
exceeds their length.
The genital organs are more complicated than in Trachia.
The female portion has at its origin a rather short, thick muscular
caecal appendage, which most probably represents the amatorial
gland ; it is widened near its origin and at its rounded end. The
seminal receptacle is a round bag, attached to a long thin peduncle
of about the same length as the uterus. The seminal duct is
moderately long, but the penis comparatively thick and attached
by a strong muscle.
FAM. BULIMID^E.
Bu mi us. Sub.-gen. Amphidromus.
The only two species which I found among the coco-palms
were Bulimus atricallosus (Gould), and />. interruphts, var. citri-
nus ; the uniform coloured greenish-yellow variety. The former
is the more common species.
Besides these two, the ubiquitous Stenogyra grarilis is by no
means rare at the roots of palm trees.
OF PENANG ISLAND. 1 1 5
I-'AM. CLAUSILIID^:.
CLAUSILIA (PH^DUSA) PENANGENSIS, n. sp. PI. iii.
figs. 4-6 and 15-17.
C. testa fusiformi, plus minusve atenuata, medio ad anfractum
penultimum latissima, non rimata, solidula, castanea, apice sub-
mammillata, albescente, anfractibus 9-5 ad 10-5, convexis, sutura
simplici junctis, transversim confertissime striolatis, penultimo
sensim attenuate ; apertura ovata, intus castanea, peristomate
modice expanse, undique libero, albescente, plica supera crassa,
ad marginem aperturoe continua, columellari immersa, tenui,
valde oblique intrante ; plicis palatalibus six, prima longissimima,
unam mill, a margine suturali distante, ceteris multo brevioribus,
subaequalibus, modice curvatis atque fere sequidistantibus.
Var. brevis, exquisite fusiformis, vide fig. 6 et 6a ; long. 24,
lat. 6-2, apert. cum perist 6 longa, 4-5 m.m. lata.
Var. elongate fusiformis, vide fig. 5 ; long. 26-3, lat. 6'2, apert. 6-9
longa, 47 m.m. lata ; in hoc specimine apertura exceptionaliter
longa est, in speciminibus alteris, forma similibus, longitude aper-
turae 6-2 ad 6-4 observanda.
Var. exilis, attenuate fusiformis, vide fig. 4 et 4^ ; long. 27,
lat. 6, long, apert. 6'3, iat. 4'6 m.m.
Hub. Penang hill, frequens.
This is an extremely variable species as regards the shorter or
longer fusiform shape of the shell, and also as regards the size of
the aperture, but both these variations are very commonly observed
in other species of the genus, and particularly in the allied Malayan
species CL Gouldiana, Pfr., insignis (Gould),* and Sumatrana
(Martens).t All three have a similarly variable shape, and finely
striated, moderately convex, whorls, but in the two former the
aperture is much shorter, of a squarish shape, and in the last it is
conspicuously longer; E. v. Martens gives its length at 8 m.m. in
a specimen, the total length of which is from 23-5 to 31-5 m.m.
In this last species, which also comes nearest to the Penang shell,
the whorls appear to be slightly less convex, and there are only
five palatal plates present.
The animal is uniform grey, covered with small pale brown
warts, darker on the back, paler on the pedicles, which have very
small, black eyes ; tentacles very short.
The general anatomical structure agrees with that which I pub-
lished of Cl. Philippiana (comp. " J. A. S. B.," vol. xl. pt. ii. 1871,
p. 174, pi. yi. fig. 8).
The genital organs are distinguished by a very great length of
both the uterus and the penis, both of which are much twisted.
The only appendage is that of the seminal receptacle, which is
'' J. A. S. B.," xli. pt. ii. pp. 203, 204, 208, pi. ix.
t " Ost-Asiat. Exped.," 1867, p. 379, pi. xxii. fig. 17.
I 2
1 1 6 LAND-SHELLS AND ANIMALS
comparatively small and narrow, situated at the end of a long
peduncle.
The jaw is very short, about 0-5 m.m. broad, apparently smooth;
only very faint radiating and concentric lines are to be observed
in certain lights.
The radula is about 2 m.m. long and 0-5 m.m. broad; it con-
sists of about 125 rows, with sixty-one teeth in each row. All are
provided with a strongly curved cusp ; after about the fifteenth
tooth, they rather rapidly decrease in length. Towards the end
of each row they become multi-serrated, while the basal plate
almost entirely disappears. The last teeth are very short, but
broad, almost linear, and entire.
CLAUSILIA [PH^EDUSA] FIIJCOSTATA, n. sp. PL iii. figs. 7-8.
Cl. testa fusiforme turrita, apice sensim attenuata, subrimata,
tenui, pallide cornea ; anfractibus 10 ad n, lente convexiusculis,
sutura simplici junctis, ad suturam filiforme marginatis atque infra
marginem paulum contractis, transversim oblique dense costellatis,
antepenultimo vix latiore quam penultimo, ultimo versus aperturam
patilulum contracto ; apertura ovate subtrigona, postice (aut supra),
subangulata, peristomate expanso, undique libero, plica supera
tenui, hand usque ad marginem peristomatis interni extensa, intus
in fauce rapide evanescente, columellari approximata, fortiori,
valde obliqua ; plicis palatalibus circiter decem, supera longissima,
a margine distante, duabus vel tribus sequentibus multo breviori-
bus, cseteris brevissimis, omnibus inter se irregulariter dispositis.
Long, si'.?, lat. 4-4 ; long, apert. cum perist. paulo imperfecto 4-8,
lat. 3-6 m.m.; specim. secundi apert. cum perist. perfecto 5'3
longa et 4 m.m. lata.
Hob. Penang hill, cum precedente, sed rarissima.
This species is very closely allied to CL Javana, Pfr., but
the latter has the whorls, particularly the middle ones, somewhat
higher, the transverse costulation is a little finer, and more crowded,
the palatal plaits are fewer, two according to Kiister, three to four
according to E. v. Martens ; it also appears to have the two labial
plaits stronger. I do not know any other species with which the
Penang shell can be compared. It appears to be extremely rare ;
out of three specimens found only one has the aperture with the
margins perfectly well developed.
FAM. PHILOMYCID^E.
]>enney and Bland, " Land and Fresh-water Shells N. America," pt. i. 1869,
p. 294.
Genus, PIIII.OMVCUS.
1820. Rafincsque. Comp. "Complete Writings," by B'mney and Tyron,
1864, p. 64.
1821. Ferussac, " Tabl. Syst. dcs Limaces," p. 14.
OF PENANG ISLAND. 1 1 7
1823. Mfghimation, Hassclt, " Al-em. Konst.,"&c., p. 232; idem., F.'r., 1824.
1842 (August). lncilliiii<.i t l.cnsun, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Ihst. vol. ix.
p. 486.
1842 (Sept.). Tebenophorns, Binney, Boston Journal, iv. p. 171, and 1844;
\Vyman, ibidem, p. 410.
i860. Fhilomyiiti (anatomy of), Keferstein, Zcitsch. IVissensch. Zool., vol.
xvi. p. 183.
1866. Incillaria and MtghinicAwm (anatomy of) Kefcrstein, "Malaooz.
Blotter," vol. xiii. p. 64.
1869. Tebt;: ::::mey and Bland, "Land and Fresh-Water Shells N.
Am.," pt. i. "Pulm. Geonh.," p. 295.
Fhilomyins apud II. and A. Adams, Chenu, E. v. Martens, c.
It must be admitted that the original characteristic of the genus
by Rafmesque is a very unsatisfactory one, but that is the case with
many other old definitions. When Rafinesque wrote that Philo-
mycus has no visible mantle, everybody* could, I think, fancy
that the mantle must extend over the whole body, if the animal
can at all be closely compared with Limax, or else it could not be
a mollusc at all. This was indeed well understood by Ferussac,
who in the next year referred to Philomycus, besides the four
insufficiently described species of Rafinesque, Limax carolinensis
of Bosc., well known from description and figure (copied in " Hist.
Nat. des. Moll.," pi. vi. fig. 3). And as Rafinesque's species had
not been rediscovered, and his descriptions not made more com-
plete, Ph. carolinensis remained to be considered as the type of
the genus, though I do not think that there can be much doubt on
the point that Ferussac had correctly interpreted Rafinesque's
meaning. In any case there was no sufficient ground for intro-
ducing the name Tebenophorus for the same species.
Keferstein (loc. tit.) has shown by the anatomical examination
of the three typical species, Philomycus carolinensis (seu Tebeno-
phorus), Mcghimatium stria turn and Incillaria bilineata, that all
three genera have to be united into one. The general anatomy
and dentition, &c., agree in all, the only traceable distinction of
Phil, carolinensis consists in the presence of a small amatorial organ,
situated at the entrance of the seminal receptacle. The presence
or absence of this organ, or even of that of a special amatorial
gland (see ante, p. 100), is rightly considered by Keferstein as
insufficient for a generic separation of the American from the
Indian species. I had frequent opportunities of satisfying myself
of this by the observation that the development of that organ does
not only appear to depend upon the age of the animal, but often
even upon the season or peculiarities of the conditions under
which the animal lives. As far as our materials enable us to
judge, we can, I think, look upon Philomycus as a well established
* Binney writes in 1841 {Boston Jottrn. iv. p. 174) of his Fhilomycus dsrsalis
" corpore clypeo iiullo," and ou p. 171 of Tcbcnophorns carolinensis
"clypeo lato et elongate, dorsum integrum vestiente ;" and still both species
have the mantle covering the entire upper surface of the body, and both are
Philomycus (or Fallifcra of Morse).
u8 LAND-SHELLS AND ANIMALS
genus. For the present it has to be regarded as the sole repre-
sentative of the family. The finely radiately striated (in Ph. dorsalis
coarsely ribbed) jaw in part resembles that of the VITRINID/E, but
the dentition has decidedly more the character of true HELICID^E.
I have to notice one new species found in Penang.
PHILOMYCUS PICTUS, n. sp. PL iii. figs. 9-14.
Ph. corpore tenuiter cylindraceo, plus minusve (35 ad 46 m.m.)
extenso, antice rotundate subtruncato, postice acuminate, livido
copiose mucoso, supra pallio Icevigato, lateraliter atque in parte
postica nonnunquam subgranuloso tecto, fasciis tribus longitudin-
alibus atratis, reticulationibus ejusdem coloris junctis, picto, facia
centrali latissima, duabus alteris tenuioribus ad latus dorsi sitis et
a margine inferiore distantibus ; orificio pulrnonari antice ad latus
dextrum in incisione pallii sito, circiter 5 ad 7 m.m. a terminatione
antica distante ; pedunculis oculiferis circ. 5 m.m. longis, tenta-
culis brevissimis, ambobus pallidissimis ; pede infra transversim
plicatello, livido.
During life the length and comparative thickness of the animal
changes very rapidly, as may be noticed from a comparison of the
two sketches taken from life and one from a specimen preserved
in spirit. The animal is covered by a thick layer of mucous secre-
tion, it is very active, and readily burrows in light decomposing
vegetable substance. The three black longitudinal bands are
connected by a similarly coloured network which continues, inter-
spersed with, or dissolved into, little clots, to the lower edge of the
mantle. The three distinctly marked bands distinguish the present
species from the Javaen Ph. reticutatiis, according to Ferussac's
figures 2* and 3 on pi. viii. E., p. 96*, " Moll. Terr, et Fluv.," vol. ii.
The peduncles are about 5 m.m. long, provided with distinctly
developed globules on which the small black eyes are situated ;
the tentacles are very short, and when the animal moves about
scarcely noticeable ; both are very pale coloured.
The anatomy of the species almost perfectly agrees with that
given by Kefcrstein of Ph. strialus and bilincatus. The internal
pulmonary cavity extends to about one anterior fourth of the
length of the body, and in the fresh animal is always well marked
by the mantle above it being somewhat inflated. On this inflated
portion the mantle is smooth, on the other parts generally slightly
rugose.
The genital organs (comp. fig. 13) have no special amatorial
gland. The seminal receptacle is a globular pedunculated bag,
situated a short distance from the hermaphrodite opening. In
* K. v. Martens ("Preuss. Kxp.nach Ost-Asicn.," Landschnecken, p. 182)
refers to this figure as a synonym of Ilassch's l\innacclLi n'ticin'ata, which he
quotes as Parmarion rcticnlatus. I do not know Ilasseh's original figure, but
surely the one given by Ferussac does not represent a Parmacdla or a l\ir-
marion.
OF PENANG ISLAND. 1 1 9
two specimens which I examined, I noticed the development of a
strongly fibrous bundle of muscles at the entrance of the receptacle,
where it branches off from the oviduct, but there was no special
amatorial organ present.
The jaw is semilunar, strongly curved, thin, radiately striated ;
when laid flat about one mill, broad.
The radula is 2*8 m.m. long, only about 0-5 broad; there are
about 170 rows, and eighty-seven teeth in each row: the central
tooth with a symmetrical simple curved cusp, the laterals with a
more oblique but simple cusp, both it and the basal plate gradually
decrease in height until the last teeth become almost linear, and
form a confluent row.
None of the other organs require any special notice.
I found three specimens of this species among old decaying
vegetable matter on the ground at the northern base of Penang
hill, about 100 feet above the sea.
FAM. PUPID^E.
This family is represented in India and Burma by Hypselostoma,
Boysia, and various sub-genera of Pupa, all of small size. Among
the Pupcc found in Burma and the adjacent countries, inhabited
by a large number of Malayan forms, the majority are referable to
Albers' sub-genus Scopelophila, the type of which is Pupa Kokeilii,
Rossm. The shells are small, sub-conic or sub-cylindrical, com-
posed of four to eight whorls, with a moderately thin, semi-corneous
or corneous texture, covered by a brown cuticle ; the last whorl
is rimate at the base, always somewhat rapidly turned to the front,
generally slightly ascending at the aperture, which is internally
furnished with teeth on the whole peristome ; commonly there is
a bifid tooth on the inner lip, it is larger than any of the others.
Some of the species appear to differ from Pupilla merely by the
peculiar turn of the last whorl towards the front, thus showing a
strong affinity to Hypselostoma. The Indian species of Scopelophila,
as far as I observed them, have the pedicles well developed and
the tentacles short.
A second small group of Pupa^ which is found in India, Burma,
and the country southward, is characterized by a sub-conic or ovate
shape, composed of three to five whorls, of a thin corneous texture,
covered with a transversely striated cuticle ; the last whorl is not
ascending, the aperture generally edentulous ; the columellar lip is
externally near its attachment somewhat expanded, mostly cover-
ing the umbilical region, while internally at the base it is twisted
and occasionally provided with a small tooth. I propose for this
sub-generic group the name
Pupisoma,
and regard as the type of it the Moulmein P. lignicola, described
in "J. A. S. B.," vol. xl.pt. ii. p. 171, pi. vii. fig. 3. The animals
120 LAND-SHELLS AND ANIMALS
have very short pedicles and barely a trace of tentacles. They
generally live on wood.
PUPA [ScOPKLOrHILA] PALMIRA, 11. sp. PI. ill. fig. 3.
P. testa ovate cylindracea, rimata, sordide albida, cornea, apice
obtusiuscula ; anfractibus quinque, convexis, gradatim accre-
scentibtis, sutuia simplici junctis, sublsevigatis, fere politis, lineis,
r.onnullis incrementi transversis obliquis, exilissimis notata; aper-
tura fere verticali, subquadrangulari, intus quinque-dentata albida ;
labro undique expansiusculo atque paulum incrassato, extus infra
suturam sinuoso, intus profunde bidentato (dente supero minori),
ad basin dente imico minuto et ad medium collumellse altero
fortiori instructo ; labio tenui, adnato, extra medium prope angulum
posteriorem aperturce dente lamelliforme bipartite munito.
Long, testce 2-15, latit. i% long, apert. 0-8, lat. o'6 m.ni.
Hal. Penang et in Provincia Wellesley dicta, sub corticem
Cocos nudfenc ; testa rarissima.
This is of exactly the same type as the Arrakanese P. filosa,
described at p. 333 of the "Journal " for last year, but it is larger,
more cylindrical, and has one tooth more in the aperture. From,
P. Avanica it differs by less closely wound whorls and by the
inward dentition of the aperture.
It appears to be a very rare species. I found one specimen
under the bark of a cocoa-nut tree on Penang, and two others on
the opposite coast in the Wellesley Province.
PUPA [PUPISOMA] ORCELLA, n. sp. PI. iii. fig. 2.
P. testa subglobose conoidea, apice obtusa, angustissime per-
forata, tenui, cornea ; anfractibus 3-5, valde convexis, sutura
simplici junctis, transverse filose striolatis ; apertura subrotundata,
paululum obiiqua, edentula ; margine externo tenuissimo vix
repandiusculo, columellari albescente, vix torto, supra reflexo,.
umbilicum fere omnino obtegente.
Alt. testx 17, diam. i'25, alt. apertunc o - 6 m.m.
JJab. Penang, sub corticem Cocos nucifcra', baud fre(|uens.
The animal is grey with dusky pedicles, but no perceptible
trace of tentacles. The species differs from P. lignicola (loc. tit.}
by a shorter and broader form, more convex whorls, and by a
very slightly expanded and thin outer lip, In fresh specimens
some of the transverse striae of the cuticle are rather stronger than
others, but they very soon wear off.
FAM. STRKPTAXIDyE.
This family is represented by the single species Ennea bicolor,
occurring with Stenogyra gracilis, though not very commonly.
(Comp." 1 J. A. S. 13.," 1871, vol. xl. pt. ii. p. 169).
OF PEN AN G ISLAND. 121
FAM. VERONICELLID^ and VAGINULID^E.
I have collected two species, which are by authors usually re-
ferred to the Vaginulns, and with which Blainville's Veronicella is
considered as identical.
The one species is the same as Vaginulus Birmanicus, briefly
described by Theobald in " Journ. A. S. B.," vol. xxxiii. for 1864.
It is found about Calcutta, extending throughout Bengal up to the
base of the Sikkim hills, through Arrakan, Tenasserim, to Penang.
A specimen obtained at Singapore does not appear to differ ; E. v.
Marten's V. llasselti (" Preuss. Exp. Ost-Asien.," Landschnecken,
1867, p. 176, pi. v. figs. 2 and 4) from Sumatra, Borneo, &c., also
appears to be the same, and it seems to me very probable that it
is the true Onchidium molle of Hasselt.
A second species is very closely allied to Vaginulus Touran-
iicnsis, Eydoux and Souleyet ("Voyage de la Bonite," pi. xxviii.
figs. 4-7), found by M. Gaudichaud at Touranne in Cochin China.
A close examination of various Eastern species of what authors
usually call Vaginulus or Veronicella appears to me to indicate
that a great confusion has been brought about into the definition
of these terms. First of all, we have to return to the typical
species of those two generic terms, leaving all subsequent researches
regarding other species out of the question.
Blainville's description of his Veronicella hevis in 1817 was
incorrect as regards the existence of a rudiment of a shell. The
mistake was, at least partially, corrected by Blainville in " Diet. d.
Sc. Nat.," vol. Ivii. p. 348,* and Keferstein, after discussing the
opinions about this genus, in Zeitsch. Wiss. ZooL, xv. 1864,
defined f Veronicella as it ought, I think, to be accepted.
The animals have the sexes distinct in one individuum, the
male organ under the right peduncle, the female about the middle
of the lower right side of the mantle ; tentacles bilobed; the anal
and respiratory orifices are at the posterior end ; the jaw and
teeth of the radula resemble those of the HELICID.E. Thus the
general anatomical structure of Veronicella agrees in some respects
with Onchidium (Comp. Stoliczka in " J. A. S. B.," xxxviii. pt. ii.
1869, p. 88, pi. xiv.), but in this genus the female genital opening
lies with the two others at, or close to, the posterior end ; the
teeth are peculiarly hook-shaped, and there is no jaw present.
As one of the characteristic figures of a Verojiicclla I may mention
Vag. Solea, d'Orb. (" Voyage dans 1'Am. Mend., " Moll. pi. xxi.),
from Buenos Ayres, or Vag. Luzonicus, Eydoux and Souleyet, in
* In this article, Blainville strangely makes a great mistake in considering
Vaginulits, Veronicella, and Onchidium as identical.
t Comp. also Humbert in " Mem. Soc. Ph. & Sc. Nat. Geneve," vol. xvii.,
and E. v. Martens " Preuss. Exped.," p. 175, Vaginu.'ns.
122 LAND-SHELLS AND ANIMALS
''Voyage de la Bonite," Zoologie, vol. ii. p. 495, pi. xxviii. figs.
1-3. Thus our species will have provisionally to stand as
VERONICELLA BIRMANICA (Theob.).
It is found all over the island, up to the top of Penang hill, but
is not common, and the specimens are mostly small, about i or
1*5 inches. The median dorsal pale stripe generally becomes
distinct only in older specimens, and the lower side of the mantle
is uniform livid ; in very young specimens the pale stripe is absent,
and the mantle marked below with dark dots.
The name Vaginulus was introduced by Ferussac in 1821.
Judging from the description of the genus, in part at least, from
the arrangement of the species and from the anatomical account
given by Blainville, it is, I think, clear, that Ferussac considered
the first described species, V. Taunaysii, as the type of the genus
(Comp. " Moll. Terr, and Fluv.," ii. pp. 96^, 9657, and explic. des pi.
No. 13, pi. 8^.). Ferussac's characteristic of the genus places the
pulmonary opening at a distance of two-fifths of the length of the
body from the anterior end, and on the lower right side of the
mantle ; the female sexual opening is said to be on the same side,
about the middle ; the position of the anus is not mentioned.
Blainville's account of the anatomy is not clear, and partly con-
tradictory to Ferussac's statement. Some of the figures appear to
leave no doubt that the position of the female sexual organ is
the same as that indicated by Ferussac, in others (figs, i and 3)
its situation is too much backward. The anus appears to be
situated, according to fig. i, near the sexual opening, but again it
is said to terminate with the anus at the posterior upper end of
the foot. In the figures 2 and 3 (/<>c. c~//.), which give an insight
into the whole anatomy of the animal, the true termination of the
intestines is nowhere given, All this is very unsatisfactory.
Eydoux and Souleyet in their figure of Vaginulus Tonranncnsis
also record a small opening at the posterior lower right end ot the
mantle. I can scarcely believe that this is correct ; it is probably
only a fault of the artist, who thought that an opening must exist
there, because it is clearly seen in the other species on the same
plate Vag. Luzonicns. which is a Vcroniccllii.
My reason for doubting the correctness of Eydoux and Soule-
yet's figure is the very careful examination of the Penang species,
which, as already mentioned, is closely allied to V. Touraimcnsis t
if not really identical with it.
The Pcnang species lias the following generic characters, as
compared with those of Veronicella:
The sexes are distinct, the male opening is under the right
peduncle, the female sexual opening lies, together with the anus
and the pulmonary orifice, at the lower right side of the mantle,
about two-fifths of the length of the body distant from the front.
OF PENANG ISLAND. 123
The sexual opening is nearest to the edge of the foot, then comes
the anal, and then the respiratory one ; they are only separated by
thin laminae from each other. There is no jaw present, the
manducatory organ consisting of a simple muscular tube, much as
in Strcptaxis or Testacella; the radula is short, composed of
simple pointed teeth which are absolutely identical with those of
the two last mentioned genera. There is no opening whatsoever at
the posterior end of the foot or mantle ; the pointed end of the
intestinal organs is only attached by a bundle of muscles to the
terminal inner surface of the mantle.
On p. <)6r of Ferussac's " Moll. Ter. and Fluv.," Blainville says,
that the upper border of the mouth is provided with a dental
comb ("peigne dentaire"), and further on, that the buccal cavity
is supplied on its inner upper surface with very small sharp points
(" trcs petites pointes ace'rees "). The latter statement evidently
refers to sharp pointed teeth of the radula, but does the former
mean to indicate the presence of a jaw, such as exists in Veroni-
cclla ? This is a question of great importance ; for if the presence
of a jaw can be proved, it would certainly not support the generic
indentification of our Penang Vagimdus with Vag. Taunaysii.
There are also a few peculiarities in the other anatomical
structure, but on the whole this latter well agrees with that given
by Blainville of Vag. Taunaysii, with the exception of one or two
organs which he evidently misinterpreted.
My doubts against a generic identity of V. Taunaysii with
Vcronicclla, as formerly defined, appear to me to be supported
also by external differences in the shape of the body. In
V. Taunaysii, as well as in the Penang species, and in V. Touran-
ncnsis, the body is slender and high, so to say nearly cylindrical, the
globules on the tentacles are well developed, the appendages of
the latter large, the posterior end of the foot is pointed, and
somewhat projecting beyond the termination of the mantle. In
Vcronicella, on the contrary, the body is more depressed, and
of a generally more ovate shape, the lower appendage on the ten-
tacles is smaller than the tentacle itself, the end of the foot is
more rounded and not, as a rule at least, projecting beyond the
termination of the mantle.
E. v. Martens, when speaking of V. Taunaysii (" Preuss. Exp.
nach Ost-Asien," Landschnecken, p. 6), says that the slight lateral
expansion of the mantle and the higher body distinguish it from
all other species collected in India, and this opinion is, I think,
strongly in favour of my presumed distinction between Veronicella
and ^ Vagimdus ; for it also exactly applies to the Penang species.
Finally, I must draw the attention to the remarkable external
similarity in the form of the body of Vagimdus porulosus, Fer.
("Moll. Ter. et Fluv." ii. p. 96', pi. viii. E, fig. 5) with that of a
Testacella. The former species is recorded after a drawing com-
124 LAND-SHELLS AND ANIMALS
municated to Ferussac by van Hasselt, and is no doubt from
Java, or one of the adjoining islands. I think it represents a true
VaginulttSj and not a Veronicella.
I have placed the above discussion before my malacological
friends, because I consider a satisfactory solution of the points in
question of considerable importance. The information is not
easily obtainable, as the necessary materials are very much
scattered about. If my suppositions prove correct, the so-called
AGNATHA group, and especially the TESTACELLID^E or STREPTAX-
ID/E, will appear before us in a quite different light when com-
pared Avith the other groups. They will show that certain
characters remain constant under different physical conditions,
while others change, and that the change takes place according to
certain principles, affecting similar or the same organs. Extended
observations of this kind must give us the key to a correct
systematic arrangement.
Our special question cannot be solved, unless Blainville's and
Ferussac's somewhat contradictory accounts of the structure and
anatomy of Vagimihis Taunaysii had been satisfactorily settled.
I hope to have myself an early opportunity of examining one of
these animals, and until such a time I will postpone the detailed
description of the Penang species (and of another new one from
Sikkim), together with their anatomy, which requires a careful
comparison with that of Vagimihis and Onchidium^ of each of
which I will have to describe several interesting new forms.
Explanation of Plates.
Plate I.
Figs. I- 3. Rkysota Cymatiitin (Benson), p. 98 ; a young, an adolescent
and an adult, shell.
,, 4- 7. Rotnla bijiijja, n. sp., p. IOI ; four full-grown specimens, variable
in the height of the spir .
,, 8. Sitala carinifera, n. sp., p. 103; S, natural size; Sa.B^Bc,
enlarged views.
,, 9. Macrochlamys stephoides, n.sp., p. 104; three views in natural
size.
,, lo. Microi'ysth palniicola, n. sp., p. 105 ; 10, natural size; lOtf, IO/',
loc, three views enlarged.
,, II. Ildicarion pcrmclle, n. sp., p. 105 ; 11, twice the natural size ;
lla, lib, lie, lid, vit-ws in natural size.
,, 12. Vitrina nucleate, \\. sp., p. 1 10; 12, front view in twice the natural
size ; I2a, l2/>, I2f, three views iii natural size.
,, 13. Trochomorpha Cantoriana (Benson), p. 109; three views in
natural size.
,, 14-16. Trochomorpha castra (Benson), p. 108 ; 14, I4<7, l4/>, three
ws in natural size; 15, side view of a specimen from
Calcutta; 16 and l6a, top and lower views of a Darjiling
specimen.
,, 17- Tiworensis, Mart., p. 109 ; four views in natural size.
F. STOLICZKA.. Joum-Asiat: So^BengaLVd-.XLII.Pt.- 11,1873
I'll.
,0 Microcyrt
STOLIC ZKA.Penang shells. Journ : Asiat:Soc. Bengal Vol XLHPt.II.1873
Pl.ll.
J-3 rrutincola.ti.mijja.r-if, p. 120 XhysoUt, cymaLuun. -p
TrtchsmfpKo. eastra., flee ts-^o MatrfcKL tttftiaidtt,
v ,. Timrrtntie, p /.,y *I-M. J5Wic.rt>i/ permoU*. p
For furthtr explanation. Sec f, IS.'
STOLICZKA Penang shells .Jonrn-.Asiat.5oc. Bengal, Vol.XLlI.Pt 11.1873.
fl.UL
#'#&*
^ &"?*,
to
Fiy J 18.90 Trachia,P<cnangtneu, p 11
.' 2 Papa. orceUa,, p. ISO.
120
4-6, JS17 Cla*uilia.Pmangmni, p.
7-1 Clauiilia. fllicostxtt* , p. US
9 '+ Phtlfmycu* putu* pllS
OF PENANG ISLAND. 1 2 5
Plate II.
I- 3- Fnitidcola similarity For., p. 113.
4-6. Vitrina nucleata, Stol., p. 1 10 ; 40. represents the side view of
the problematic amatorial organ enclosed in the biirsa
seminalis.
7- 9. Trochomorpha casira (Benson), p. 108.
10-12. Timorensis, Mart., p. 109.
13-15. Rhysota symatinm (Bens.), p. 98.
16-18. Rotttla Irijuga, n. sp., p. 101.
19-20. Macrochlamys stephoides, n. sp. p. 104.
21-30. Helicarion permolle, n. sp., p. 105.
All the figures are enlarged ; the measurements in natural size are given in
the text referred to.
Plate III.
Figs. I. Trachia Penangensis, n. sp., p. 112; three views in natural size.
,, 2. Pupa \Pupisoma\ orcetla, n. sp., p. I2O; 2, natural size, 2a,2b,
enlarged.
,, 3. Pupa \Scopelophila~\palniira, n. sp., p. 120; 3, natural size, and
two views enlarged.
,, 4-6. Clausilia [Pha:di(sd\ Penangensis, n. sp., p. 115 ; 4, 4^7, attenu-
ated var. ; 5* elongately fusiform var. ; 6, 6a, fusiform
variety ; all figures in natural size.
,, 7-8. Clansilia [Pkeedusa] filicostata,^. sp., p. 116; views of two
different specimens in natural size.
9-14. Philo miens pictns, n. sp., p. 118; 9,9^,9^, three views taken
from a specimen in spirit ; 10 and 1 1, two views of the same
specimen in different states of expansion, taken from life ;
all these figures are in natural size, but the other figures,
representing the genital organs, the jaw and teeth, are
enlarged.
,, 15-17. Clansilia Peitangeiisis, vide p. 115.
,, 18-20. Trachia Penangensis, vide p. 112.
Explanation of the letters used on pi. ii. and iii. :
ho = hermaphrodite opening.
tit = uterus.
al -= albuminous gland.
vd = vas deferens.
ag = amatorial gland.
p = penis.
//; = retractile muscle.
rs = receptaculum seminis.
po = pulmonary opening.
mi = inner, or posterior, angle of mouth.
pn peripherical angle.
u = umbilicus.
rs = right shell lobe.
rn = ,, neck lobe.
Is = left shell lobe.
In = neck lobe.
The small letters below the teeth refer to the distance of each tooth from the
respective central tooth in each series.
126 NOTES OX THE
V.
NOTES ON THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO
AND MALACCA.
By W. P. GROENEVELDT, Esq.
[" Verhandelingen van het Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen,"
vol. xxxix., Batavia, 1879.]
A CAREFUL perusal of the geographical literature of the ancient
Chinese has shown that they have not gained their knowledge of
south-eastern Asia by bold voyages of discovery; slowly and
cautiously they have crept along its shores, probably not venturing
to a country before they had become acquainted with it by
others.
The proofs for this assertion lie partly beyond the scope of our
present task, but even in the following notes sufficient evidence
will be found of what we advanced just now.
When the Chinese turned themselves towards the south, the
first country they visited was, of course, the northern part of what
we call Annam now ; pushing on along its coast they arrived at
Cambodja, and next turned into the gulf of Siam. Here they
were detained a considerable time, for in Chinese history we find
abundant information about these countries, long before it knows
anything of those further south, and it would seem that they did
not go on in the original direction, before they had got to the
coast of the Malay peninsula, which gradually showed them their
way to Sumatra and Java.
This process must have taken many centuries, before it was
accomplished so far : a hundred years before Christ the Chinese
were in northern Annam, but during the first centuries of our era,
though Chinese history was then already thoroughly established
and written according to a reliable system, we find a complete
absence of information about the countries which form the object
of our present research. It would be difficult to explain this by
saying, that during these times China was often divided under
different rulers and generally more or less in a disturbed state, so
that the adventures of the merchants and mariners of the southern
provinces, Fukian and Kwangtung, who then, as now, had the
monopoly of foreign trade, might have remained unknown to
hose who collected materials for history in other parts of the
country; by this argument the loss of much information might be
accounted for, but it would remain improbable that everything had
MALA Y ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 127
disappeared, without leaving any trace. And though the following
extracts, extremely scanty and defective, especially in the begin-
ning, do not tell us directly at what time the Chinese began to
navigate and to establish themselves in these parts, we have a
valuable indication in the travels of the Buddhist pilgrim, Fahien,
who visited Java in 413. He had travelled overland to India and
arrived from Ceylon in an Indian vessel. He found no Chinese
in Java, and returned to China in an Indian ship again. We shall
revert more amply to this traveller when treating of Java, but here
already we may say that the Chinese, in his time at least, had not
yet penetrated to that country.
On the other hand, we have numerous reasons to believe that
the Indians and Persians went to China by sea at a very early
date ; we see it in the itinerary of Fahien, mentioned just now, we
see it on many other pages of the geographical literature of the
time, and, lastly, all this is fully confirmed by indications derived
from other sources. The knowledge of Rome and Roman products
were brought to China in this way, if not by Romans themselves,
at least by Roman subjects.
We may therefore feel sure not to be far from the truth, when
we say that the Indians and Persians reached China a little before
the commencement of our era, that the Chinese began to trade
towards the south about that time also, but that they arrived in
the Malay archipelago certainly not before the fifth century,
probably even later, for their first notices of these countries look
as if they had been obtained from hearsay, rather than from
personal knowledge.
There are still many subjects which might find a place amongst
these preliminary observations, but we prefer the plan of reserving
them until they naturally present themselves in the course of the
following pages, when they may be treated in explanatory notes as
the case requires. We only add two passages from the Chinese
Dynastic Histories, which, though not giving any details about
the parts we are considering, still are the first mentioning them at
all. They will also be found to tell something of that earliest
intercourse, about which we have ventured to express an opinion
just now.
HISTORY OF THE FIRST SUNG DYNASTY (420 478).
Book 91, p, i.
"The southern and south-western barbarians live, generally
speaking, to the south and south-west of the land of the Giau-chi,*
* The Giau-chi lived in northern Annam or Tungking ; the Chinese called
their country ^ jj!j , or by abbreviation, as here, ^ ^'|'[ .
128 NOTES ON THE
and also inhabit the islands in the great ocean : the distance is
about 3 to 5 thousand //* for those that are nearer, and 20 to 30
thousand // for those that are farther away. When sailing in a
vessel it is difficult to compute the length of the road, and therefore
we must recollect that the number of //, given with respect to the
barbarians of the outer countries, must not be taken as exact."
HISTORY OF THE LIANG DYNASTY (502 556). Book 54, p. i.
"The countries of the southern ocean are, generally speaking,
situated at the south-west of the land of the Giau-chi, and on the
islands of the ocean. The nearest are away from 3 to 5 thousand
//, and the most remote from 20 to 30 thousand /// their western
parts join the countries at the west of China.
"In the period Yuan-ting of the Han dynasty (116 no B.C.),
admiral Lu-po-tehf was sent to open the south ; he founded
the district Jih-nanJ and since that time the countries beyond its
borders have all come to court and presented tribute.
"Afterwards, during the reign of the emperor Hsiian of the Han
dynasty (73 49 B.C.), the Romans and Indians have sent envoys
and presented tribute through the same way.
"In the time of Sun-ch'iian, of the house ofWu (222 251), two
functionaries, called Chu-ying and K'ang-tai,|| were ordered to
go to the south ; they went to, or heard from, a hundred and more
countries, and made an account of them.
"During the Chin dynasty (265 419) those who came to China
were very few, and therefore they were not mentioned in the history
of that dynasty. In the Sung (420 477) and Ch'i (479 501)
dynasties, more than ten countries made their appearance, and for
the first time a notice of them is given. Since the accession of
the Liang dynasty (502 556), they have come over the sea every
year for getting an almanac and acquitting themselves of the duty
of tribute, in greater number than in any former time."
It will be observed that the second extract speaks of an embassy,
or expedition, sent to foreign countries between 222 and 251.
What countries these were is not stated, but we may believe that
* The Chinese // J has, in the course of time, considerably changed its
value ; at the time the above passage was written it may be taken at 340 in a
degree.
t ot * * SE K n a-
+ HI ff > Jih-nan, according to Chinese writers a kind of colony on the
spot, or in the neighbourhood, of Hue.
^C Ift Ta-tsin, and 5J ~[ T'ien-tak.
1! * B and J .
MALA Y ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 129
the Malay islands were not amongst them, otherwise their name
would have appeared at that time already in the annals of China.
With the exception of this single instance, the historian only
speaks of distant nations who came to China, not of Chinese
going to them.
This brings us also to the tribute, which is said to have been
presented by those foreign countries, a matter with which we shall
have much to do yet, and which may well be discussed at once.
From the beginning of Chinese history up to the present day,
their annals record numerous instances of foreign princes doing
homage to the emperor of China in this manner. Some people
have tried to dispose of this question with the assistance of the
well-known conceitedness of the Chinese, and charged them on
this score with boastful misrepresentation or even deliberate
falsehood, but such an explanation can only have its ground in
total ignorance of the facts, and surely the most sceptic reader will
not be satisfied with it after perusal of the following pages.
Fortunately it is possible to take a more natural view of the
case.
In the first place we know, by our own experience, that the
princes of the smaller states in Asia were often engaged in trade
on their own account, and when they extended their operations to
China, it was but natural that they sought to propitiate the ruler
of that country by a few presents, which they soon saw were so
acceptable there. This example was often followed by private
traders, who, in order to gain facilities for their commerce, or
perhaps to get access to the capital, a paying mart for their
merchandise, assumed the character of envoys from a distant
country, and set apart a few articles of their stock to be presented
as tribute, knowing at the same time that even these would not be
lost, but probably reciprocated above their value. And lastly, it
cannot be denied that China formerly occupied a very exalted
place in the estimation of the greater part of Asia ; its higher
civilisation, the splendour of its court, the richness and extent of its
territory, easily account for this feeling of veneration. Compared
with China all other countries were petty and insignificant, and it
would seem that the different princes thought it an honour to have
relations with it, just as once, on the other side of the old world,
it was a point of national pride to be an ally of Rome. On
different occasions, especially on their accession to the throne of
their country, these princes sent envoys with presents as a homage
to the emperor of China, and, besides costly gifts, they received in
return letters, seals, royal insignia or other tokens of investiture,
which seem generally to have been highly prized. At the same
lime this sending of envoys and presents could hardly be called a
burden : the presents were requited in the most liberal way, the
envoys lived at the expense of China^ and, above all, it offered an
SECOND SERIES. VOL. I. K
130 NOTES ON THE
occasion for trading in places which were not accessible otherwise.
The introduction of the Islam, and the arrival of Europeans, have
put an end to these relations for the greater part ; in Siam they
have been broken off under the latter influence not many years
ago, and they only continue to exist in Annam, Corea, Birma and
a few smaller countries of the interior, a last remnant of what was
general once.
On the other hand we need not wonder that the Chinese
attached so much importance to these embassies, and were pre-
pared to go to all the expenses which they necessarily entailed.
The supremacy of China over all other countries is, and has
always been, a national dogma, more deeply rooted in the Chinese
mind than any other conviction. Their emperor is appointed by
Heaven to be the ruler of the whole earth, but only Heaven's
chosen people, the Chinese, are directly governed by him, and he
controls the outside barbarians not more than is necessary for the
interests of this favoured nation, which must be the chief object
of his care. All however owe him allegiance, and if they come
forward showing their sense of this duty by presenting tribute, be
it ever so little, they must be graciously received and assisted
according to their wants. The civilized rule of China is not fit
for these benighted barbarians, therefore they are suffered to
arrange their government as they like best, and even if they fail
to recognize the superiority of China, and abstain from doing
homage to the emperor, it is not necessary to compel them :
China has nothing to gain from intercourse with them, whilst for
them it is an occasion, not only of profiting by the munificence of
the imperial presents, but also of coming within the enlightening
and renovating influence of Chinese civilization. Many Chinese
emperors however were not so wholly indifferent to these tokens
of respect from distant countries, which seem to have gratified
their pride ; they went to considerable expense in order to
encourage them, and gradually it became the custom, on the
accession of a new dynasty, to send envoys to the different
countries which were in the habit of presenting tribute, informing
them of the change that had taken place and inviting them to
continue their allegiance.
If we recollect that the Chinese mind has always been deeply
imbued with these ideas, it is not necessary to tax them with
wilful misrepresentation, even when they have construed the most
ordinary attempts at commercial intercourse into an acknowledg-
ment of their superiority ; at the same time the more enlightened
among their historians, though never doubting that it was the
duty of other countries to bring tribute to China, do not deny
that the sense of this obligation was often very little developed,
and that with many the motive was rather to gain the material
benefits attached to it.
M. I LA Y ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 131
We may now proceed to give the notices on the countries
mentioned in our title, which have been compiled from Chinese
sources, and will be arranged as follows :
JAVA,
SUMATRA,
BORNEO,
THE ISLANDS TO THE EAST OF THESE, and
THE MALAY PENINSULA,
whilst under each head of this division those smaller islands will
be dealt with, which may be looked upon as natural dependencies
of the others.
JAVA.
The first notice of this country is found in the itinerary of the
Buddhist priest Fahien, who, in the year 400 of our era, went
from China to India overland and returned by sea to his native
country, on which occasion he visited Java in 414 The book
containing his travels, called " An account of the Buddhist
Countries " * has been translated into French by Abel Rmusat,
whilst afterwards the Rev. S. Beal has given a much improved
English version of it. 1 Of Java the writer says not much, but the
account of his sea voyage is sufficiently interesting to be given in
his own words.
" Fahien left Ceylon on board a large merchant vessel which
carried about two hundred men. Astern of the great ship a
smaller one was fastened, as a provision in case of the large vessel
being injured or wrecked during the voyage. Having got a fair
wind they sailed eastward for two days, when they encountered a
storm and the ship sprang a leak. The merchants then wanted
to rush into the smaller vessel, but the crew of that ship, fearing
that it would become too crowded, cut the towing cable and fell
off. The merchants were very much afraid and their lives stood
in the greatest danger. Then dreading lest the leak should gain
upon them, they forthwith took their bulky goods and cast them
overboard. Fahien also flung overboard his water-pitcher and his
washing basin, as well as other portions of his property. He was
only afraid lest the merchants should throw into the sea his sacred
books and images. And so, intensely fixing his thoughts on
Avalokiteshwara, and invoking the Buddhist saints of China, he
said : ' I have wandered so far in search of the law ; may you by
your spiritual power drive back the water and cause us to reach
* <i IPi Iw Us & "Relation des royaumes bouddhiques " (Re'musat), or
" Records of Buddhist Countries" (Beal).
1 [Compare now also Professor Legge's translation (Oxford, 1886), pp.
1 1 1 ff.]
K 2
1 32 NOTES ON THE
some resting place.' The gale lasted thirteen days and nights,
when they arrived at the shore of an island, and, on the tide
going out, they found the place of the leak ; having forthwith
stopped it up, they again continued their voyage. In this sea
there are many pirates : when one falls in with them he is lost.
The sea is boundless in extent it is impossible to know east or
west, and one can only advance by observing the sun, moon, or
stars ; if it is dark rainy weather, one has to follow the wind in
perfect uncertainty. During the darkness of night one only sees
the great waves, striking each other and shining like fire, and sea-
monsters of various descriptions. The merchants were much
perplexed, not knowing what course to steer. The sea was so
deep that no sounding could be taken, and also there was no
place for anchorage. At length, the weather clearing up, they got
their right bearings and once more shaped a correct course and
proceeded onwards. But if (during the bad weather) they had
happened to strike a hidden rock, then there would have been no
way to escape alive. Thus they voyaged for about ninety days,
when they arrived at a country called Ya-va-di.* In this country
heretical Brahmans flourish, but Buddhism hardly deserves men-
tioning.! After having stopped here for five months, Fahien
again embarked on another merchant vessel, carrying also a crew
of two hundred men or so. They took with them fifty days'
provisions and set sail on the i6th day of the 4th month. Whilst
Fahien was on board of this ship they shaped a course N.E. for
the province of Canton, in China. After a month and some days,
in the second watch of the night, they met a violent gale, ac-
companied with pelting rain. The merchants and passengers
were all terrified. Fahien, at this time also, intensely fixed his
thoughts on Avalokiteshvara and all the priesthood of China, and
had the good fortune, by the assistance of their divine power, to
be carried through until daylight. When the day broke all the
Brahmans, consulting together, said : * It is because we have got
this Buddhist priest on board with us that we have no luck and
have incurred this great mischief we ought to land this monk on
* JiP IR iH This name, written J abaci iu by Ptolemaeus, may be an
abbreviation of Yava Dwipa, but then this abbreviation seems to have been
generally used at that time, for if the Hindus on Java had called it by its full
name, our author, who knew Sanscrit, would have transcribed it according to
that form. Yava Dwipa does not mean, as has been thoughtlessly said and
repeated, the country of the barley, for the simple reason that barley could not
grow there, but instead of barley we must read millet, of which there are
different varieties indigenous in the island, many of them called by the generic
name Java. It is not impossible that the first Hindus found this cereal used
instead of rice, and that the latter was introduced by them.
t The Chinese text has : $fr $ /ft J5L W lit. Buddha's law not suf-
ficient to speak of. This does not denote a total absence of Buddhism, but
seems to indicate that this religion was practised by very few only.
MALA Y ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 133
some island, for it is not proper that we should all run danger for
the sake of one man.' But a man who had taken Fahien under
his care (danapati) then said : ' If you land this monk, you shall
also land me with him ; and if not, you had better kill me : for if
you really put this priest on shore, then, when we arrive in China,
I will go straight to the king and tell him what you have done.
And the king of that country is a firm believer in the law of
Buddha, and greatly honours the monks and priests.' The
merchantmen on this hesitated, and did not dare to land him.
As the weather continued very dark, the pilots looked at each
other without knowing what to do. More than seventy days had
now elapsed, the food and water were nearly all gone ; they had
to use salt water for cooking, as they had only two pints of fresh
water per head left, so that all was nearly finished. The mer-
chants now deliberated and said : ' The ordinary time for the
voyage to Canton is about fifty days, but now we have exceeded
that time by many days already, surely we must have gone
wrong.' On this they put the ship on a N.W. course to look
for land, and after twelve days continuous sailing they arrived at
the southern coast of Lau Shan, in the prefecture of Chang-
kwang.* They here obtained fresh water and vegetables, and,
from seeing a certain kind of herb, they knew that they were in
China, but not seeing men or traces of them, they again scarcely
knew what to think. Some said that they had not yet arrived at
Canton, others maintained they had passed it. In this uncer-
tainty, therefore, they put off in a little boat and entered a creek,
looking for someone to ask what place it was they had arrived at.
Just at this moment two men who had been hunting were return-
ing home : on this the merchants requested Fahien to act as inter-
preter, and it was only then they knew what place they had come to."
From what follows in the original we know that they arrived on
the 1 4th of the yth month; they had been therefore just three
months on their voyage.
The above extract teaches us more than would appear at first
sight : we see under what difficult circumstances the Hindoo
colonists in Java kept up the intercourse with their mother
country and carried on trade even with China ; we learn that they
must have been in considerable numbers already, otherwise
Fahien would hardly have said that their religion was flourishing
there, and lastly, though the author, completely absorbed by his
religious zeal, did not think it worth while to describe the country
he visited, still we are able to construe from his narrative that no
Chinese lived or traded there.
* Chang-kwang $ Jjfc 4i|) was situated on the coast of the prc.mt
province of Shantung, some thirteen degrees to the north of Canton. The
following lines, being of less value for our purpose, have been considerably
shortened.
i 3 4 NOTES ON THE
In order to prove this assertion it will be necessary to gi\v
another passage from Fahien's book, containing an adventure
which happened to him whilst visiting a temple at Ceylon. It
runs as follows :
" Fahien had now been away from China many years ; the people
with whom he conversed were all men from foreign countries ;
even the mountains and valleys, the plants and trees which he
saw around him, were unlike those of old times. Moreover his
fellow travellers were separated from him some had remained
behind and some were dead he had only his own shadow' to
look at, and so his heart wa^ continually saddened, All at once,
as he was standing by the side of this jasper image, he beheld a
merchant present to it, as a religious offering, a white silk fan from
China. Unvoluntarily he gave way to his sorrowful feelings, and
tears filled his eyes."
If this man, who was moved to tears at seeing a Chinese fan,
had found or met countrymen of his in Java, or even had known
that they were in his neighbourhood, he would certainly have told
us ; and it cannot be by accident that he did not meet them, for
he stayed in Java more than five months, about from December
to May, the only time of the year that vessels from the north
could arrive there.
We have no data to ascertain on what point of Java's coast he
landed. The name of Java, in native as well as in Chinese
sources, is especially given to the central and eastern part of the
island, but it is used for the whole is'and too. As Fahien seems
to have stopped at the first place of Java he arrived at, this would
point to the western part of the island, which agrees with the
circumstance that the ship, in which he went to China, took a
north-eastern course on leaving, No other direct information is
available about the Hindoo settlements in Java at that time, and
it is quite probable that these extended then already to the
central part of the island, whtre they had arrived at their fullest
development a few centuries afterwards, as is attested by the
numerous and magnificent remains of temples, and other religious
structures, found in those parts. It is true that these ruins are
Buddhist for far the greater part, but the plateau of Dieng,
situated on the slope of the mountain Prahu, to the north of
Pecalongan, at an altitude of 6500 feet, shows an extensive group
of more or less ruined Saiva temples, without any trace of Bud-
dhism, which points to a settlement of Saivas on the northern coast
in that neighbourhood ; and though the building of these temples,
for which no precise data have been found yet, can hardly have
begun earlier than the seventh or eighth century of our era, yet we
may take for granted that the first Hindoo settlements in this
neighbourhood must be placed much farther back, as these
colonists cannot have built those numerous temples in a place so
MALA Y ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 135
distant and of such difficult access, before they were the undis-
puted masters of the country, and could compel the natives to
perform the unintelligent share of the task.
On the other hand, though the Hindoo settlements of western
Java have never arrived at the development of those in the central
and eastern parts of the islnnd, it is even in this western part that
their oldest inscriptions have been found, being Sanscrit inscrip-
tions on stone, which, judging by the form of the characters, seem
to date from the fifth century, and may even be somewhat older.
These inscriptions are Vaishnava (see Kern, Over den invloed
der Indische, Arabische en Europeesche beschaving op de volken
van den Indischen Archipel, pag. 7).
It seems therefore probable that the port, where Fahien landed at
Java, must be sought somewhere on the western coast in Bantam,
to the south of the entrance of the Strait of Sunda.
For many centuries after Fahien's time we unfortunately find
no accounts of Chinese travellers visiting this island, the only
available sources are the notices in the dynastic histories, which
were compiled from the information current at the period. We
will now proceed to give these notices in their chronological order.
HISTORY OF THE FIRST SUNG DYNASTY (240 478). Book 97.
" In the year 435, the king of the country Ja-va-da,* whose
name was S'ri-pa-da-do-a-la-pa-mo, f sent an envoy to present a
letter and some presents."
This unimportant passage is translated only for the sake of the
name given to the country, which may be compared to that of
Ya-va-di, used by Fahien (v. pag. 7).
HISTORY OF THE LIANG DYNASTY (502 556.) Book 54.
" The country Lang-ga-su, or Lang-ga, \ is situated in the
southern ocean, its length from east to west is thirty days, and
from south to north twenty days, its distance from Canton is
twenty-four thousand //. The climate and the products of the
soil are about the same as in Siam.
" Lignum-aloes in its different qualities, and camphor oil, are very
abundant everywhere.
" Men and women have the upper part of the body naked, their
hair hangs loosely down, and around their lower limbs they only
- The first four characters may be
taken as the transcription oi the Indian title ^ripada, i.e. the feet of his
Highness.
136 NOTES ON THE
use a sarong of cotton. The king and the nobles moreover have
a thin flowered cloth for covering the upper part of their body
(slendang) ; they wear a girdle of gold and golden rings in their
ears.
" Young girls cover themself with a cloth of cotton and wear an
embroidered girdle.
" In this country they have made the city walls of piled up bricks ;
the wall has double gates and watch-towers.
"When the king goes out he rides on an elephant, he is sur-
rounded with flags of feathers, banners and drums, and is covered
by a white canopy. His military establishment is very complete.
" The people say that their country was established more than
400 years ago.
" It once happened that one of the succeeding kings was very
unsatisfactory in his rule ; one of his relations was a clever man,
and therefore the people began to turn towards him. When the
king heard of this, he put him in prison, but his chains broke
spontaneously from him. On this the king thought him a super-
natural being, and dared not hurt him, but sent him out of the
country ; whereupon his relative went to India, and there married
the eldest daughter of the ruler of that country. Some time after-
wards the king of Lang-ga died, and the exiled prince was
called back by the noblemen to be their king. He died more
than twenty years afterwards, and was succeeded by his son Pa-
ka-da-to.*
"In the year 515 this prince sent an envoy of the name
A-cha-to f to present a letter to the emperor, of the following
contents : ' This is humbly presented to the son of Heaven, may
he ever be most happy. He is averse to all that is bad, and
loathes what is foolish. He feels compassion with all that lives, his
loving heart knows no bounds. His appearance is imposing, his face
beautiful, his body resplendent as the moon in the water, illumi-
nating the whole world. The hair of his eyebrows is white as
snow, it is shining and brilliant also, like the moon. All gods
and good spirits favour him, and they have sent him the true
doctrine. The precious Sanscrit is generally known in his land.
The walls and palaces of his imposing cities are high and lofty, as
the mountain Gandhamadana. Religious edifices are seen every-
where ; the roads are level and good, the people are numerous
and delight in the security they enjoy ; they dress in all kinds of
clothes, just as the inmates of Heaven.
" It certainly is the first of all countries.
"The sacred emperor thinks in compassion on all living
creatures, his people are happy, his loving mind is deep and
broad, his laws and institutions are pure, the true doctrine is
MALA Y ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 137
brought down to the people, and the three valuables (San pau,
Triratna, i.e. Buddha, Dharma, Sangha or Buddha, the Law and the
Priesthood) are carefully promoted. His name and fame extend
everywhere and fill the whole universe ; the people joyously look
up to him as to the rising moon ; he may be compared to the ruler
of the heaven of Brahma, men and gods all alike rely on him.
" Reverently I do homage to the blessed emperor, just as if I
was standing before his face.
" I have ventured to accept the kingdom as an inheritance from
my father, and now offer my most sincere wishes.
" I send an envoy to inquire after your welfare ; it was my in-
tention to come myself, but I was afraid that the storms and
waves of the large ocean would make this too difficult ; now I
offer some trifling presents, and hope that Your Majesty will deign
to accept them.' "
This country, which we do not find described anywhere else, at
least not under the same name, has greatly puzzled the Chinese
geographers. 1 Some have placed it in Ceylon, and the name would
certainly point to this island, but then we have, in the same
volume from which the above extract is taken, a description of
Ceylon under its ordinary name of the Country of the Lions *
(Singhala), with quite a different account of its situation, in which
its vicinity to the continent of India is mentioned also.
Other Chinese geographers, amongst whom are those who have
best studied the subject, agree in placing this country on the
north coast of Java, but in the western part of the island, and we
have many reasons to accept this view. The description suits Java
very well, there is no other account of it in the history of this
dynasty, though Sumatra has found a place there ; and in the
course of these pages we shall see that the country Lang-ga-su is
sometimes used to determine the position of other islands, and
that, in these cases, it is taken for Java also. Langka, Langkapura
and Ngalengka, though names of Ceylon, having been transplanted
to Java in the mythology of the country, might it not be possible
that the Hindoo colonists had given this famous name to one of
their first settlements ?
No conclusion must be drawn from the fervent Buddhist spirit
in which the letter is written. It cannot reasonably be doubted
that such a letter was presented to the emperor by a man being,
or professing to be, an envoy from the country in question, but we
cannot vouchsafe the accuracy with which his credentials were
translated, and it is quite possible that the envoy himself, or the
people who prepared the Chinese version, put in a good deal of
1 [May this not apply to the country known as K&malankd, i.e., Pegu and
the Delta of the Irawadi ? See Beal's ' Si-yu-ki,' vol. ii., 200.]
138 NOTES ON THE
their own, in order to propitiate the Chinese court, where Bud-
dhism was in high favour at the time. \Ve shall soon see more of
such letters, and the above remarks may apply to all of them. 1
OLD HISTORY OF THE T'ANG DYNASTY (618 906). Book 197.
" Ka-ling * is situated on an island in the southern ocean, it
lies on the eastern side of Sumatra, f on the western side of
Bali ; t towards the north it hay Camboja, and on its south
the sea.
" The walls of the city are made of palisadoes ; there is also a
large building of two stories, covered with the bark of the gomuti
palm ; in this the king lives, and he sits on a couch of ivory.
" When they eat, they use no spoons or chopsticks, but put the
food into their mouth with their fingers.
" They have letters, and know a little of astronomy.
" Wine is made out of the flowers of the cocoa-nut tree ; the
flowers of this tree are more than three feet long and as large as
a man's arm, these are cut and the juice is collected and made
into wine, which is sweet and intoxicating."
Of this T'ang dynasty we possess two histories ; the first, quoted
just now, was considered defective, and so another compilation
was made from more abundant materials, and called the " New
history of the T'ang Dynasty." Its account of Java gives more
details than the Old history, and it will be observed that the name
Java had already begun to supplant that of Kaling.
NEW HISTORY OF THE T'ANG DYNASTY (618 906).
Book 222, Part 2.
" Ka-ling is also called Java, || it is situated in the southern
ocean, to the east of Sumatra and to the west of Bali. At its
south it has the sea, and towards the north lies Camboja.
" The people make fortifications of wood, and even the largest
houses are covered with palm leaves. They have couches of
ivory and mats of the outer skin of bamboo.
1 [Ma-tuan-lin's account of Lang-ya-sieu has been translated by M. d'Hervey
de Saint- Denys in 'Ethnographic des peuples etrangers a la Chine' (1883),
p. 455, 6. In a note we find : ' Selon Yang-otfcn-hoei, le royaume de Lang-ya-
sieou etait dans 1 ile d\<4z>rt.']
* 8J K t S , Pa-li or Po-li.
* HI ^ ^ Dva-pa-tan ; this country will be treated separately, when it
will be shown why it has been identified with Bali.
]$ j|{s] Coir, the fibres found on the borassus gomuti, is still much used
for thatching purposes.
" 7P.L 3c or \$ %& ) both representing the sound Java, Japa, or Japo.
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 139
" The land produces tortoise-shell, gold and silver, rhinoceros
horns and ivory. The country is very rich ; there is a cavern
from which salt water bubbles up spontaneously. They make
wine of the hanging flowers of the cocoa palm : when they drink of
it they become rapidly drunk. They have letters and are ac-
quainted with astronomy. In eating they do not use spoons or
chopsticks.
" In this country there are poisonous girls ; when one has inter-
course with them, he gets painful ulcers and dies, but his body
does not decay.
"The king lives in the town of Java (Japa),* but his ancestor,
Ki yen,f had lived more to the east, at the town Pa-lu-ka-si. J On
different sides there are twenty-eight small countries, all acknow-
ledging the supremacy of Java. There are thirty-two high
officials, and the Da-tso-kan-hiung is the first of them.
"On the mountains is the district Lang-pi-ya,|| where the king
frequently goes to look at the sea.
" When at the summer-solstice a gnomon is erected of eight
feet high, the shadow (at noon) falls on the south side and is two
feet four inches (2 4 / 10 ) long.
"During the period Chin-kwan (627 649) this country sent
envoys to bring tribute, together with those of Dva-ha-la and Dva-
pa-tan (Bali)lf. The emperor favoured them with a reply under
the great seal, and as Dva-ha-la asked for good horses these were
given to them.
" In 674 the people of this country took as their ruler a woman
of the name Sima.** Her rule was most excellent, even things
dropped on the road were not taken up. The prince of the
Arabs,ff hearing of this, sent a bag with gold to be laid down
* PM *7flt
ra] 3c Java, in Chinese as well as in other sources, is always given
as the name of the country: it is only here that we find it as the name of a town.
**.
3c HI uJD :JtJf This place must remain unidentified.
^ y"C ^t Sx JU We are unable to guess what may have been the
original word. Kern (op. cit. page 9) takes it for Datu Kanjong, which may
be right, though it seems likely that these words would have been differently
transcribed by the Chinese.
I' j*|) 7T IT /H may also be translated, The wild region of Lang-pi.
ft The Chinese text has 7 J } Tazi, the ordinary name for Arabs in the
Chinese annals. It would seem, however, that Arab settlements existed on
the western coast of Sumatra at a very early date, and in consequence of this
some Chinese writers confound this country with Arabia. A later author gives
the history of Mohammad as having occurred in western Sumatra. The "king
of the Arabs, mentioned here, may have been their chief in that island only.
MO NOTES ON THE
within her frontiers ; the people who passed that road avoided it
in walking, and it remained for three years. Once the heir-
apparent stepped over that gold, and Sima became so incensed
that she wanted to kill him. Her ministers interceded, and thf n
Sima said: 'Your fault lies in your feet, therefore it will he
sufficient to cut them off.' The ministers interceded, again and
she had his toes cut off, in order to give an example to the whole
nation. When the prince of Tazi heard this he became afiaid
and dared not attack her.
"Between the years 766 779 three envoys of Ka-ling arrived
in China.
"In the year 813 they presented four negro slaves,* parrots of
different colours, pinka-birdsf and other things. The emperor
honoured the envoy with the title of Left Defensor of the Office
of the Four Inner Gates ; the envoy wanted to waive this title in
favour of his younger brother, for which the emperor praised
him and bestowed a title on both.
" Between 827 and 835 they came again to court, bringing
tribute.
" Between 860 and 873 they sent an envoy to present female
musicians."
With respect to the name of Kaling, found in the two pre-
ceding extracts, we have to observe that the first Hindoo settlers
in Java probably came from Kalinga, in India. Accordingly they
called themselves men of Kling, and the Chinese again bestowed
this appellation on their adopted country. This circumstance
may be another proof for what we advanced on Chinese inter-
course with the Archipelago, on page 2 : the Chinese made the
acquaintance of the Java-Hindoos in China, and called their
country by the name of Kling, but when they began to visit this
country themselves to any extent, which we think was not the case
until after the first decades of this T'ang dynasty, they learned its
correct name and called it Java.
We have no direct indications for fixing the situation of the
towns of Java and Pelukasi, but we see that the former must
have been in the interior, as the king, when he wanted to look at
the sea, went to the mountains of Langpi or Langpiya. We know
further that the Hindoos, during the time to which our text refers,
were chiefly settled in central Java, where they ruled the country,
and had already begun to build the numerous religious structures,
chiefly Buddhist, which excite our admiration even in their
present dilapidated state. The temple of Kalasan, or Kali
* The text has JW $ 5X > Sangchi slaves, corresponding with the Persian
Znnggi, i.e. man from Zang (Zanguebar). This is a general name for negroes.
t $Jf f|d] ,Qr > about these birds many an hypothesis is possible, bin nut
one seems satisiactory.
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 141
Bening, on the eastern frontier of Jokyakarta, and the adjoining
monumental vihara, now called Chandi Sari, date from A.D. 779,
as is attested by a Sanscrit inscription in old Nagari, found in the
neighbourhood. This inscription, as read by Dr. J. Brandes (see
"Minutes of the Batavian Society," of April, 1886), tells us that
temple and vihara were erected by a reigning prince, with the
title of Maharaja, in consequence of a vow or wager : the site is
called Kalasa, being nearly the same name as that of the present
time. This temple is a perfect gem of architecture, excelling by
elegance of form, rich but tasteful ornamentations, and high finish ;
for all these reasons it certainly was not the first built in these
parts. It was dedicated to Arya Tara, the c,akti of the Dhyani
Buddha Amoghasiddha, and must have contained numerous
images, besides ihat of the principal deity. All the images from
the interior have disappeared, but those placed outside, along the
top, remain for the greater part, being the Dhyani Buddhas
Akshobhya, Ratnasambhava, Amitiibha, and Amoghasiddha, each
on the proper side allotted to him. The form of Buddhism, to
which this temple points, is a later Mahayana, which, as is
abundantly proved by other ruins and remains, closely resembles
what is found in Nepal in our days.
Taking together all these indications, we may assume that our
text refers to a state in the interior of central Java, in which
Hindoo Buddhists were the ruling class. We do not yet know
the name of this state, nor the place where its capital was situated,
but it is not improbable that the latter must be sought in the
neighbourhood of the above-mentioned temple, where numerous
other religious structures and extensive ruins of various descrip-
tions point to the seat of a powerful and civilized kingdom.
Native tradition, though not of much value in these matters,
holds the same opinion.
Langpi, or Langpiya, where the king went to look at the sea,
probably rather to worship it, a custom which has held out in
spite of the Islam, might then be the present Imogiri, the old
burial-place of the princes of Mataram, and even now used for the
same purpose by those of Surakarta and Jokyakarta. This hill,
of rather difficult access, is situated to the south of Jokyakarta,
about half-way between this place and the southern ocean, and
commands a fine view of the latter, for which purpose it is often
visited.
HISTORY OF THE SUNG DYNASTY (960 1279). Book 489.
"Java* is situated in the southern ocean. Going from the
capital to the east, one comes to the sea in a month, and from
142 NOTES ON THE
here it takes a ship half a month to go to Pulo Condore. On
the west the sea is at a distance of forty-five days. On the south
it is three days to the sea, and from there five days sailing to the
Tazi.* On the north the distance from the capital to the sea is
five days, and embarking there it takes fifteen days to go to
Borneo, fifteen days more brings one to the east coast of Sumatra,
seven days more to Kora.f and lastly, seven days again to Ch'ai-
lih Ting,J which is on the way to the land of the Giau-chi
(Northern-Annam) and to Canton.
" The country is flat and fit for agriculture, its products are rice,
hemp and peas, there being no wheat. The tenth part of their
produce they pay as taxes.
"Salt is obtained by boiling sea- water, and there is an abun-
dance of fish, turtles, poultry, ducks, goats and cattle, which they
kill for the purpose of eating.
" Their fruit are papaya, cocoa-nuts, plantains, sugar-cane and
taro (Arum aquaticum).
" The country further produces gold, silver, rhinoceros-horns,
ivory, lignum-aloes, sandal-wood, anise, pepper, pinang, sulphur
and sapan-wood. The people are also engaged in rearing silk-
worms and making silk; they weave a thin silk, a yellow silk, and
cloth made of cotton.
" They cut leaves of silver and use them as money. The func-
tionaries superintending the trade take one cKicn ( l j w tael, or
Chinese ounce) of gold from a quantity of padi amounting to
2 ; 2 () piculs.
"Their houses are handsome and adorned with yellow and
green tiles : when Chinese merchants arrive there, they are
received as guests in a public building, and what they eat and
drink is copious and clean.
" The country does not produce tea, but they make wine out of
cocoa-nut and other palm trees, which is very fragrant and good.
"They have no corporal punishments, all transgressions are
punished with a fine in gold, varying according to the nature of
y C ^c } Arabs on the west coast of Sumatra, v. pag. 139.
pf 3H the north-western part of the Malay peninsula. [It has been
suggested, that this might be identified with the island of Sangora, on the
nort\\-eastern coast of the peninsula. ]>ut the greater probability is in favour
of the Siamese city of Korat, on the high plateau between Siam and Camboja.
Ma-tuan-lin (1. 1., p. 578) mentions a high mountain of that name after which
both kingdom and city were called.]
* ^ SI ^f > probably an island about the entrance to the gulf of Siam.
S d .M Ki-pei, sometimes written "pf J\ ku-pei ; before the introduction
of cotton in China they called it by this native name ; comp. the Malay kapas
or kapek*
MALA Y ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 143
the transgression ; only robbers and thieves are made to suffer
death.
" The king has his hair in a knot upon the top of his head, he
wears golden bells, a silk robe, and shoes of leather. He sits on
a square couch, and his functionaries, who see him daily, salute
him three times on going away. When he goes out he rides on
an elephant or sits in a carriage ; from five to seven hundred
soldiers follow him. When the people see the king, they squat
down until he has passed. Three sons of the king are viceroys,
and there are four functionaries, called Lo-ki-lien,* who manage
together the affairs of the state, just as the ministers in China ;
these have no fixed pay, but they get from time to time products of
the soil and other things of this kind. Next, there are more than
three hundred civil employes, who are considered equal to siu-tsai
(graduates of the lowest degree) in China ; they keep the books in
which the revenue is put down. They have also about a thousand
functionaries of lower rank, who attend to the walls and the moat
of the town, the treasury, the granaries, and to the soldiers. The
general of the army gets every half-year ten taels (Chinese ounces)
of gold (between six and seven hundred gilders) ; there are thirty
thousand soldiers, who, every half-year, are paid according to
their rank.
" It is not the custom to use matchmakers in contracting a mar-
riage ; some gold is paid to the relations of the girl, and then she
is married.
"In the fifth month they go in boats for their amusement, and in
the tenth month they repair to the mountains to enjoy themselves
there. They have mountain-ponies, which carry them very well,
and some go in mountain-chairs.
" Their musical instruments are a transversal flute, drums and
wooden boards ; they can also dance.
" The people wear their hair hanging loose, their dress is wrapped
round their breast and goes down below the knees.
" When they are ill they take no medicine, but only pray to the
gods and to Buddha. They have proper names, but no family
names. In their language pearls are called mutiaraft ivory they
call kara^ incense kun-tun-lu-lin,\ and the rhinoceros ti-mt. ||
" In the 1 2th month of the year 992, their king Maraja^[ sent
an embassy consisting of a first, second and an assistant
fflr I p ?I& We have not been able to trace this name to its original
form.
* ^ jplt We have been unable to trace this and two following names to
their original form.
144 NOTES ON THE
envoy, to go to court and bring tribute. The first envoy said :
' Now that China has a rightful master again, our country comes
to perform the duty of bringing tribute.' The presents sent by the
king were ivory, pearls, silk embroidered with flowers and gold,
silk of different colours, sandal-wood, cotton goods in various
colours, tortoise-shell, betel-trays, short swords with hilts of rhino-
ceros-horn or gold, rattan mats plaited with figures, white parrots,
and a small pavilion made of sandal-wood, adorned with all kinds
of precious materials.
" After a voyage of sixty days they arrived at the district Ting-hai
(island of Chusan), where the superintendent of trade first sent a
messenger to inform the emperor. The envoys were dressed in a
similar way as those of Persia,* who had brought tribute before.
With the assistance of an interpreter the envoy said that a Chinese
from Kien-khi,f who was owner of many vessels, and a great
merchant, had come many times to his country, and that he now
availed himself of his guidance to come to court and bring tribute.
He also said that his king was called Aji Ma-ra-ya,| the king's
concubines were Lo-kien-sa-p'o-li, and that in his country they
had regular officials. In his language the superintendent of trad-
ing vessels was called Po-ho,|| and the wife of the king was
styled Po-ho-pi-ni.^I"
" In their vessel there was a woman (or, were women), whom
they called Mei-chu; she wore her hair in a knot, and had no hair-
pins or such ornaments. She had a garment of native cloth
wrapped round her body, and was very black ; nobody could un-
derstand her talk, and in saluting she prostrated herself just as
the men. There was also a child, who wore a golden chain, with
a lock, round his neck, and had golden bracelets on his hands,
which were fastened with a string of silk. He was called A-lu.
" The envoy related that his country was in enmity with San-
bo- tsai (east coast of Sumatra, Palembang), and that they were
always fighting together. He also told the following story : ' In
our country there are many monkeys on the mountains, and they
are not afraid of men ; when they are called with the sound siau-
siau, they come forward, and if any fruit is thrown to them two
large monkeys advance first ; these are called by the natives the
* M M H $1 $ > Aji Maraja, or Maharaja.
rflr ^J ^c 3t ^'J This, and the two following names, remain unex-
plained.
'
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. M5
kings or the chiefs of the monkeys, and it is only when they have
finished eating that the others take what remains.'
" When this envoy arrived at the capital the emperor gave orders
to some of his officers to treat him well ; he remained some time,
and when he left he was presented with large quantities of gold
and silk, and also with good horses and military arms, according to
what he had asked.
"The envoy related that they had as neighbour a country called
Brahman,* where they had the secret of looking into people's
minds ; whenever anybody wanted to do them mischief they
knew it beforehand.
"In the sixth month of the year 1109 they sent envoys to bring
tribute ; the emperor prescibed for them the same ceremonies as
for those of the Giau-chi (Northern Annam).
" In theyear 1 1 29, the emperor, bestowing favours on the southern
countries, gave to the ruler of Java the title of king of that
country,t and appointed 2400 houses, which were in reality
1000, for his sustenance (probably for the sustenance of envoys,
etc. sent by him). In 1132 this appanage was augmented with 500
houses, being in reality 200."
The writer of the above account shows that he was acquainted
with the shape of the island of Java, and had a notion of the
respective distances at which the neighbouring countries were
situated. The grave mistakes he makes in his attempt to group
them around Java say nothing against the authenticity of his
narrative ; we find the same inaccuracy with the Chinese of the
present day : they make maps of China on which the different
countries of Europe are given as small islands to the south and
east, and the " Hai-kuo-t'u-chi," a work published in 1844, and
containing correct maps from European sources, gives an
historical map of south-eastern Asia, completely in the old style
again, and on which Java, for instance, is divided into two separate
islands. The Tazi or Arabs are again placed at a distance of
only five days from the shores of Java; they must be those who
lived on the west coast of Sumatra, not even very far north, and
of whom we spoke on page 139,
zte jfn I i Pa-ra-man. These three characters are invariably used
for transcribing the word Brahman, and therefore would hardly be employed
for any other name. The meaning of this passage probably is that the envoy, who
came from a state where Buddhism was predominant, wanted to tell that there
were in the island settlements of Brahmanical Hindoos too. The one meant
here might be the centre from which the Saiva temples in Dieng, north of Peca-
longan, were built. The Java Hindoos were generally addicted to Tantric rites,
from which the secret power, alluded to in the text, was thought to be derived,
t The title, given in the Chinese text, is very long, and contains different
honorary charges, which we have been unable to translate ; it would have been
necessary first to study the institutions of the Sung dynasty, which we did not
think worth while to do for this purpose.
SECOND SERIES. VOL. I. L
146 NOTES ON THE
The products mentioned as coming from this country must
not be taken too literally. The Chinese, as a rule, (lid not
ascertain whether the articles which they found, or which were
brought to them, really were produced by the country itself. The
special mentioning of silkworms being reared by the Javanese
deserves our attention however.
The story of the monkeys having a chief is true even in the
present day ; they are found on the shores of a small lake, called
Blue Water, near Pasuruan, but in other parts of the archipelago,
for instance Palembang, also.
The people are in the habit of bringing them fruit and other
food, thinking that a ready acceptance on their part is a good
omen. The strongest monkey, who has established his reign by
brutal force, eats first, whilst the others sit around, waiting till he
has finished, when they throw themselves on what remains and
fight for it amongst each other.
We now come to the Mongol dynasty, called Yiian in Chinese,
which reigned over China from 1280 1367, and of which the
first emperor, Kublai, sent an expedition against Java. In the
history of this dynasty the particulars about this expedition are
not all given in the account of Java, but partly occur in the
biographies of the three generals who led the Mongol troops. We
will therefore successively translate these four pieces, and then try
to resume briefly what they teach us about this expedition, and
about the country which was the object of it.
HISTORY OF THE YUAN DYNASTY (1280 1367). Book. 210.
" Java * is situated beyond the sea, and further away than
Champa ; when one embarks at Ch'iian-choti,t and goes south-
ward, he first comes to Champa and afterwards to this country.
"The customs and products of this land are not much known,
but as a rule the barbarian countries over the sea produce many
rare and valuable things, which fetch a high price in China. The
inhabitants are ugly and strange, their nature and speech are not
understood by the Chinese.
,/fc Pjt The characters HO ^ > hitherto used for expressing the name
of Java, having gradually changed their pronunciation, did not suit the purpose
any more, and were discarded from this time. Henceforth the Chinese write
,/jV *_E ) which must be a transcription first used by Fukicn traders from the
neighbourhood of Amoy or Ch'uan-chou, where these characters are pronounced
Jiau-wa. In Chinese books the first character is often erroneously written
J& , which makes the name Kua-wa. [See also M. d'llervey dc Saint-lXnys's
remarks, 1. 1. p. 494.]
7TC /H ) a port on the coast of Fukien, formerly of much importance.
MA LA Y ARC III PEL A GO AND MALA CCA. 1 4 7
"When the emperor Shih-tsu (Kublai) pacified the barbarians of
the lour quarters of the world, and sent officers to the different
countries over the sea, Java was the only place he had to send an
army to.
" In the second month of the year 1292* the emperor issued an
order to the governor of Fukien, directing him to send Shih-pi,
Ike Mese, and Kau Hsingf in command of an army to subdue
Java, to collect soldiers from Fukien, Kiangsi and Hukuang to
the number of 20,000, to appoint a Commander of the Right
Wing and one of the Left, as well as four Commanders of Ten
Thousand; to send out a thousand ships, and to equip them with
provisions for a year, and with forty thousand bars of silver. The
emperor further gave ten tiger badges, forty golden badges, and a
hundred silver badges, together with a hundred pieces of silk,
embroidered with gold, for the purpose of rewarding merit.
"When Ike Mese and his associates had their last audience, the
emperor said to them : 'When you arrive at Java you must clearly
* We shall presently see that the expedition started the same year and
reached Java in 1293. Amiot says of this event that it took place towards
!2cS7, evidently not having certain data, and Dr. Schlegel places it in 1309.
My Chinese texts, as well as that translated by Dr. Schlegel, have the 2gth
year of the period Chih-yiian 3* ^C anc ^ anv chronological table will show
that this period begins in 1264. Lest those who do not know Chinese should
suspect Chinese chronology of being unreliable, we feel obliged to say that the
year given by Dr. Schlegel has its source in a mistake ; it is true that Kublai
did not actually accede to the Chinese throne before 1280, but nominally he
dates his reign twenty years back, and the period Chih-yiian was instituted by
him ; this has been overlooked by Dr. Schlegel, who has taken those 29 years
as counting from the beginning of Kublai's actual reign and so arrived at the
year 1309.
f ife 5$ > If* 3 IK fi and flj || 5 the two former are Mongols and
the latter a Chinese. The name of the second, Ike Mese, has been taken from
the Mandchu transcription given in an appendix to the dynastic histories ; Mr.
Mayers (China Review, vol. iv. no. 3, p. 188) writes Ihamish, which is pro-
bably more correct. It must also be observed that the characters, used for
expressing these Mongolian names, have been often interchanged with others
conveying the same sound, we find, e.g., the name of the second general also
written $ j ff ijfc and $J |& [ ^fe The latter form occurs in the
notes published by Dr. Schlegel on our present subject ; he did not, however,
recognize it as a name, but tried to translate it, and so the passage jjfc ffi ^
W ^ A & & 9 JIF Jg $E JKS was rendered by him: "The great
nobles of Ch'uan-chou blindly and disorderly went to attack Java with their
troops;" whereas it should have been: "The Governor of Ch'iian-chou, Ike
Mese, and his companions, led an army to subdue Java." We are obliged to
notice this mistake, because it has led Dr. Schlegel to a conclusion completely
at variance with our account of this expedition, which he considers not to have
emanated from the government, but to have been a filibustering attack of
privateers or pirates.
L 2
148 NOTES ON THE
proclaim to the army and the people of that country, that the
Imperial Government has formerly had intercourse with Java by
envoys from both sides, and has been in good harmony with it,
but that they have lately cut the face of the Imperial envoy, Meng
Ch'i.* and that you have come to punish them for that.'
" In the ninth month some troops were collected at Ch'ing-yiian
(old name of Ningpo) ; Shih-po and Ike Mese went with the
soldiers overland to Ch'iian-chou, whilst Kau Hsing brought the
baggage with the ships. In the course of the nth month the
troops from the three provinces of Fukien, Kiangsi and Hukuang,
were all assembled at Ch'iian-chou, and in the next month the
expedition put to sea. In the first month of the year 1293 they
arrived at the island Ko-lanf (Billiton), and there deliberated on
their plan of campaign.
" In the second month Ike Mese and one of his subordinate
commanders, taking with them their secretaries, and accompanied
by three officers of the Office of Pacification, J who were charged
to treat with Java and the other countries, and by a Commander
of Ten Thousand, who led 500 men and 10 ships, went first in
order to bring the commands of the emperor to this country.
The body of the army followed to Karimon (Karimon Java), and
from here to a place on Java called Tu-ping-tsuh|| (Tuban), where
Shin-pi and Kau Hsing met Ike Mese again, and determined,
together with the other leaders, that half the army should be sent
ashore and the other half proceed at the same time in the ships.
Shih-pi w T ent by sea to the mouth of the river Sugalu^j (Sedayu),
and from there to the small river Pa-tsieh** (Kali Mas). On the
other hand Kau Hsing and Ike Mese led the rest of the troops,
being cavalry and infantry, and marched from Tu-ping-tsuh over-
land, one of the Commanders of Ten Thousand leading the
van-guard. Three superior officers were sent in fast boats from
Sugalu, with the order to go first to the floating bridge of
Modjopait,tt ivnd then to rejoin the army on its way to the small
river Pa-tsieh.
"^ j-Jt . We may observe here, that in the Chinese text of this account
a number of subordinate officers are mentioned, all with their full names; as
these names are of no use for our purpose, and may fatigue the reader, we will
omit them as much as possible.
^ 'rfiJ jffi UJ > after translating the different accounts of this expedition, we
will try to establish the identity oi this and other geographical names occurring
in them.
t i: a also written g i 3 ^ PI
MALA Y ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. H9
" The officers of the Office of Pacification soon reported that the
son-in-law of the prince of Java, called Tuhan Pijaya,* wished to
make his country submit, but as he could not leave his army,
order was given to three officers to go and bring his prime minister,
Sih-la-nan-da-ch'a-ya,f and fourteen others, who wanted to come
and receive the army of the emperor.
" On the ist day of the 3rd month the troops were assembled at
the small river Pa-tsieh.
"This river has at its upper course the palace of the king of
Tumapan (Tumapel),^ and discharges itself into the sea called
Pou-pen (the sea south of Madura) ; it is the entrance to Java,
and a place for which they were determined to fight. Accordingly
the first minister of the Javanese, Hi-ning-kuan,|| remained in a
boat to see how the chances of the fight went ; he was summoned
repeatedly, but would not surrender.
" The commanders of the imperial army made a camp, in the
form of a crescent, on the bank of the river, and left the ferry in
charge of a Commander of Ten Thousand ; the fleet in the river,
and the cavalry and infantry on shore, then advanced together, and
Hi-ning-kuan, seeing this, left his boat and fled overnight, where-
upon more than one hundred large ships, with devil-heads on the
stem, were captured.
*' Order was now given to a strong force to guard the mouth of
the river Pa-tsieh, and the body of the army then advanced.
" Messengers came from Tuhan Pijaya, saying that the king of
Kalang^]" had pursued him as far as Modjopait, and asking for
troops to protect him. Ike Mese, and one of his lieutenants,
hastened to him, in order to encourage him, and another officer
followed with a body of troops to Chang-ku,** for the purpose of
assisting them. Kau Hsing advanced to Modjopait, but heard
that it was not known whether the soldiers of Kalang were far or
near, so he went back to the river Pa-tsieh ; at last he got infor-
mation from Ike Mese that the enemy would arrive that night,
and was ordered to go again to Modjopait.
" On the yth day the soldiers of Kalang arrived from three sides
to attack Tuhan Pijaja, and on the 8th day, early in the morning,
Ike Mese led part of the troops to engage the enemy in the south-
west, but he did not meet them ; Kau Hsing fought with the
enemy on the south-east and killed several hundreds of
*S#HUB- 1 1 JH HE JB .
150 NOTES ON THE
them, whilst the remainder fled to the mountains. Towards
the middle of the day the enemy arrived also from the south-west,
Kau Hsing met them again, and towards evening they were
defeated.
"On the 1 5th the army was divided into three bodies, in order
to attack Kalang; it was agreed that on the ipth they should meet
at Taha* (Daha), and commence the battle on hearing the sound
of the /'//. t A part of the troops ascended the river, Ike Mcse
proceeded by the eastern road and Kau Hsing took the western,
whilst Tuhan Pijaya, with his army, brought up the rear. On the
1 9th they arrived at Taha, where the prince of Kalang defended
himself with more than a hundred thousand soldiers. The battle
lasted from 6 A.M. till 2 P.M., and three times the attack was
renewed, when the enemy was defeated and fled, several thousand
thronged into the river and perished there, whilst more than 5000
were slain. The king retired into the inner city, which was
immediately surrounded by our army, and the king summoned to
surrender ; in the evening the king, whose name was Haji
Katang,J came out of the fortress and offered his submission, on
this the orders of the emperor were delivered to him and he was
told to go back.
" On the 2nd day of the 4th month Tuhan Pijaya was sent back
to his dominions in order to make preparations for sending tribute,
two officers and 200 soldiers went with him as an escort. On the
1 9th Tuhan Pijaya secretly left our soldiers and attacked them,
by which the whole party came to grief.
" On the 24th the army went back, taking with it the children
and officers of Haji Katang, altogether more than a hundred
persons ; they brought also a map of the country, a register
of the population, and a letter in golden characters presented by
the king.
"For further particulars see the account of Shih-pi."
' $|t' This character has been used by the Chinese first to denote cata-
pults, and afterwards guns. I am not prepared to take it in the second sense,
as I am not aware that the Mongols or Chinese had firearms at the time.
"Whatever it may have been, it must have given a sound sufficiently strong to
be audible to three bodies of troops. It probably was some kind of rocket.
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 151
ACCOUNT OF SHIH-PI. HISTORY OF THE YUAN DYNASTY.
Book 162.
" Shih-pi, whose literary name was Chiin-tso, and who was also
called Tarhun,* was a man Irom Po-yeh, district Li-chou, depart-
ment Pau-ting, province Chih-li."
(The historian first describes his military career, and, arriving at
that part of it which may interest us, goes on as follows) :
"When the emperor Shih-tsu (Kublai) wanted to subdue Java, he
said to Shih-pi : * Among my officers there are few who have
my full confidence, therefore I want to entrust this affair of Java
to you.' The other replied : 'If the emperor deigns to command
his servant, how could he venture to be afraid for his person.'
" In the year 1292 he was made commander of the expedition
to Java, whilst Ike Mese and Kau Hsing were appointed to assist
him. The emperor gave him a hundred and fifty stamped badges
and two hundred pieces of silk, in order to reward those who
made themselves meritorious. In the i2th month he joined the
other troops with 5000 men and departed from Ch'iian-chou ; the
wind was strong and the sea very rough, so that the ships rolled
heavily and the soldiers could not eat for many days. They
passed the Sea of the Seven Islands t (the Paracels Islands) and
the Long Reef J (Macclesfield Bank), they passed the land of the
Giau-chi and Champa, and in the first month of the next year
they came to the Eastern Tung Islands (Natuna?), the Western
Tung Islands || (Anamba?), entered the Indian Sea (?)^[ and
consecutively arrived at the Olive Islands (?),** Karimataf f and
Kau-lanJJ (Billiton), where they stopped and cut timber to make
small boats for entering the rivers.
" At that time Java carried on an old feud with the neighbouring
country, Kalang/and the king of Java, Haji Ka-ta-na-ka-la, had
already been killed by the prince of Kalang, called Haji Katang.
The son-in-law of the former, Tuhan Pijaya, had attacked Haji
Katang, but could not overcome him; he had therefore retired to
Modjopait, and when he heard that Shih-pi with his army had
arrived, he sent envoys with an account of his rivers and sea-ports
and a map of the country Kalang, offering his submission and
asking for assistance.
" Shih-pi then advanced with all his forces, attacked the army
of Kalang and routed it completely, on which Haji Katang fled
back to his dominions.
w vsr lu . i a -;,tL
ii a & % m
152 NOTES ON THE
" Kan Using now said : ' Though Java has submitted, still if it
repents its decision and unites with Kalang, our army might be in
a very difficult position, and we do not know what might happen/
Shih-pi therefore divided his army into three parts, himself, Kau
Using, and Ike Mese, each leading a division, and marched to
attack Kalang. When they arrived at the fortified town, Daha,
more than a hundred thousand soldiers of Kalang came forward
to withstand them. They fought from morning till noon, when
the army of Kalang was routed and retired into the town to
save itself. The Chinese army surrounded the town, and
soon Haji Katang came forward to offer his submission ; his
wife, his children and officers were taken by the victors, who then
went back.
" Tuhan Pijaya asked permission to return to his country in
order to prepare a new letter of submission to the emperor, and
to take the precious articles in his possession for sending them to
court ; Shih-pi and Ike Mese consented to this, and sent two
officers with 200 men to go with him. Tuhan Pijaya killed the
two officers on the way and revolted again, after which he availed
himself of the circumstance that the army was returning to attack
it from both sides. Shih-pi was behind, and was cut off from the
rest of the army, he was obliged to fight his way for 300 // before
he arrived at the ships ; at last he embarked again, and reached
Ch'iian-chou after a voyage of 68 days.
" Of his soldiers more than 3000 men had died. The emperor's
officers made a list of the valuables, incenses, perfumeries,
textures, etc., which he brought, and found them worth more
than 500,000 taels of silver. He also brought to the emperor
a letter in golden characters from the Muli (or Buli),* with
golden and silver articles, rhinoceros-horns, ivory and other
things. For more particulars see the articles on Kau Hsing and
on Java.
" On account of his having lost so many men, the emperor
ordered Shih-pi to receive seventeen lashes, and confiscated a third
of his property. In the year 1295 he was raised again to office,
and a memorial presented to the emperor, pointing out that Shih-
pi and his associates had gone over the sea to a distance of
25,000 //, had led the army to countries which had never been
reached in the last reigns, had captivated a king and awed into
submission the neighbouring smaller countries, and that, for these
reasons, mercy should be shown to him.
" The emperor then restored his goods which had been confis-
cated and raised him gradually to the highest ranks, until he died
at the age of 86 years."
DC Ifc or O2 Jt j this name cannot be identified.
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 153
ACCOUNT OF KAU HSING. HISTORY OF THE YUAN DYNASTY.
Book 162.
" Kail Hsing, styled Kung-ch'i, was a man from Ts'ai-chou."*
(The author gives a pretty long description of his chiefly
military career, and says at last) :
" When Java had marked the face of the imperial envoy, Meng
Ch'i, the emperor appointed Kau Hsing, together with Shih-pi
and Ike Mese, to take the command of an army and go to
subdue this country. He also got a girdle adorned with precious
stones, embroidered garments, a helmet, a bow and arrows, and
a thousand mou of good land near a large town.
"In the beginning of the year 1293 they reached Java ; Ike
Mese took command of the fleet, and Kau Hsing led the infantry ;
at the small river Pa-tsieh they rejoined again. As the son-in-law
of the late king of Java, Tuhan Pijaya, had offered his submission,
they marched to attach the country Kalang and subdued its king,
Haji Katang. For further particulars see the article on Shih-pi.
" They also awed into submission different smaller states, and as
Haji Katan's son, Si-lah-pat-ti Sih-lah-tan-puh-hah,f had fled to
the mountains, Kau Hsing went into the interior with a thousand
men and brought him back a prisoner.
" When he returned at the fortified town Taha (Daha), Shih-pi
and Ike Mese had already allowed Tuhan Pijaya to go back to
his country, with an escort from the imperial army, in order to
make preparations for sending tribute. Kau Hsing disapproved
of this very much, and indeed Tuhan Pijaya killed the men sent
with him and revolted again ; he collected a large quantity of
soldiers to attack the imperial army, but Kau Hsing and the
others fought bravely with him and threw him back. After this
they killed Haji Katang and his son, and returned to China.
"By an imperial decree, Shih-pi and Ike Mese, who had allowed
the prince of Java to go away, were punished, but as Kau Hsing
had taken no part in this decision, and moreover greatly distin-
guished himself, the emperor rewarded him with 50 taels of gold. ' ?
ACCOUNT OF IKE MESE. HISTORY OF THE YUAN DYNASTY.
Book 131.
" Ike Mese % was a man from the land of the Uigurs.
" In the year 1265 he entered the office of the night guard.
1*6 J^ ) ~* Wf tt= > ^j /M /* Ts'ai-chou is an old name for the
present district $f ^ , department $ Jp , in the province of Honan.
t # H A ft t M %&
* ff $ a 9, & & * & & . H * B A 4 . ,
account is translated in extenso, because it shows in what way and for what
purposes intercourse with foreign countries was carried on at the time.
i 5 4 NOTES ON THE
"In the year 1272 he was sent by the emperor across the sea
as an envoy to the kingdom Pa-lo-p'ei ; * he came back in 1274,
bringing with him people of this country, who carried precious
articles and a letter of tribute. The emperor praised him and
gave him a golden tiger badge.
"In the year 1275 he went again to the same country and
brought back a functionary, who offered a famous medicine to the
emperor ; on this occasion he got again most valuable presents.
"In 1277 he became a vice-president of the Board of War.
" In 1281 he was made Resident of King-hu and Champa. t
" In 1284 he was recalled and sent again across the sea as an
envoy to Ceylon, in order to inspect the alms-bowl (patra) and
other relics of Buddha ; the emperor gave him a precious girdle,
dresses and horse-trappings.
" In 1285 he came back from this voyage and was appointed
Resident at the court of the king of Chin-nan. Again a precious
girdle was bestowed on him. Whilst in this position he made
war against Champa, together with two other generals ; they were
defeated and one of the generals killed. Ike Mese then told the
king of Chin-nan to collect soldiers at the monastery of the High-
waved Lake, in order to be able to move again. His orders were
obeyed by the king, and so he succeeded in saving his army, and
came back.
"In 1287 he was sent to the kingdom of Maparj] to get the
alms-bowl, and other relics of Buddha. On his voyage he had
adverse winds, and it took him a year to arrive there. He suc-
ceeded in obtaining clever physicians and excellent medicines,
and came back with people of the country, bringing tribute.
From his own money he had bought boards of red sandal-wood,
in order to make a pavilion for the emperor ; these he presented
also.
" Once, as he waited on the emperor in his bath-room, the
emperor asked him how many times he had crossed the ocean.
He answered : ' Four times.' The emperor took pity on all his
hardships and gave him again a girdle, ornamented with jade, and
the title of Minister of Accumulated Virtue.
" Next he was appointed governor, residing at Ch'iian-chou, and
Jf'J fl$9 and p $JjX The first was probably a place situated in the
neighbourhood of Champa.
* ft $3 M ' Singhala.
^ ft m ) at that time a small semi- independent state in the present
province Yiin-nan.
ii SAW.
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 155
in 1292 he was called to court, on which occasion he presented
to the emperor all precious articles in his possession. At that
time an expedition against Java was contemplated, and an army
for the purpose formed in Fukien. Ike Mese, together with
Shih-pi and Kau Hsing, got the command of it ; the formation of
the army was entrusted to Shih-pi, whilst Ike Mese had to provide
for the transport over sea.
*' The emperor gave them the following instructions : * When
you have arrived in Java you must send a messenger to inform
me of it. If you occupy that country the other smaller states
will submit from themselves, you have only to send envoys to
receive their allegiance. When those countries are brought to
obeyance, it will be all your work.'
" When the army arrived at Champa,* they first sent envoys
to call into submission Lambri, Sumatra, Pu-lu-pu-tu, Pa-la-laj
and other smaller countries, and in the beginning of 1293 they
beat the country of Kalang and subdued its king, Haji Katang.
Another envoy was sent to the different Malay^ states, who all
sent their sons or younger brothers as a token of their allegiance.
"The son-in-law of the prince of Java, Tuhan Pijaya, sub-
mitted at first, but when he returned to his country he revolted
again, for which see the account of Shih-pi.
" The generals thought of carrying on the war, but Ike Mese
wished to do as the emperor had ordered them, and first send a
messenger to court. The two others could not agree to this,
therefore the troops were withdrawn, and they returned with their
prisoners and with the envoys of the different smaller states which
had submitted.
"The emperor reprimanded Ike Mese as well as Shih-pi,
because they had allowed Tuhan Pijaya to escape, and confis-
cated one-third of his property, but this was soon restored again.
" Not long afterwards he retired from office on account of his
age, and the emperor, as a reward for his distant and difficult
missions, gave him the title of Prince of Wu. He did not enjoy
it long, as he died soon afterwards."
* According to the other accounts, the army did not go to Champa, but only
passed it ; the meaning of this passage probably is that, when the expedition was
off Champa, a ship was detached from the fleet with the envoy for Sumatra,
whose way lay along the coast, whilst the body of the army went on straight
to Java.
^ $3 3? M > Lanbu-ri. 5$ /fc ffP J$'J } Suh-mu-tu-ra, the northern
coast of Sumatra. ^ fy /f ^fj) I do not know what country this is, the
name resembles that of Borobudur, a famous Buddhist monument in the middle
of Java, of which magnificent ruins remain, but it is highly improbable that
this should have been meant. A $|| $|| > Palala or Parara (?).
1 ft 2fc & > Mu-lai-yu.
156 NOTES ON THE
Before pointing out what information may be derived from the
four preceding accounts, we think it advisable to state in a few
words what we know about that epoch from other sources.
In Raffles' "History of Java," vol. ii., p. no ss., we find the
following account, drawn from a Balinese manuscript, which had
been obtained a short time before Raffles wrote.
" Sri Laksi Kirana, king of Tumapel, left two sons, the elder
named Sang Sri Siwabuda, and the younger Raden Wijaya. Sri
Siwabuda was killed by Sri Jaya Katong, king of Kediri, who
conquered the country and compelled Wijaya to fly. The latter
afterwards collected a number of adherents around him, founded
the new town of Majapah.it, and soon was so strong that he thought
of attacking Kediri. Some time before this the king of Tatar had
been to Kediri, and Jaya Katong had promised him his daughter
in marriage ; as he delayed fulfilling this promise the king of
Tatar became angry, and hearing that Wijaya was going to attack
Kediri, he proposed to join him. Wijaya accepted the proposal ;
the king of Tatar came with his army, and Jaya Katong was killed
by him in battle with his own hand. After this the Tatar king
went back to his country, and Wijaya reigned at Majapahit,
extending his sway over the whole island."
The same tradition, and probably from the same source, is
mentioned by Friederich.*
The traditions current in Java are rather at variance with these
details. Tumapel is not mentioned, and the ruling country in the
eastern part of the island is called Jenggolo. The names of the
different persons disagree also, and the only point of similarity is
that Jenggolo is said to have been destroyed by the chief of the
Kalangs, who is however called Boko."f
In utilising these various accounts, it must be remembered that
the Chinese version is a sober narrative of facts, disfigured, it is
true, by many errors and inaccuracies, but free from all fiction.
The Balinese account has been handed down through many
generations, gradually losing in accuracy, and becoming mixed
with much of the fantastic and marvellous ; whilst Javanese tradition
has been violently interrupted by the introduction of the Islam,
and, having been raked up from its embers at a later period,
hardly seems to deserve any credit at all.
Returning now to our translations, we find that the Mongol
prince, Kublai, having rendered himself master of China, at once
adopted the Chinese tradition of universal dominion, and accord-
ingly sent envoys all over the world, as far as he was aware of
* Voorloopig verslag van hct eilaml Bali, door R. Friederich, p. 21. In
Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunstcn en Wetcn-
schappen. Deel xxii. [Journal of the R. Asiatic Society, N.S., vol. viii. p. 186.]
f Ilageman. Geschiedenis en/,, van Java. Deel i. p. 14.
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 157
its existence, informing the various princes that a new family had
ascended the throne of the world, and asking them to renew their
allegiance.
The prince ofTumapel, in the eastern part of the island of Java,
whose country was called Java, par excellence, by the Chinese,
because it was in this part of the island they chiefly traded,*
seems not to have recognised these claims ; he cut or tattooed the
face of the imperial envoy, and sent him away in this ignominious
state. It is not stated in what year this happened, but we have
seen already that Kublai, though dating his reign back to 1260,
did not become undisputed master of China before 1280, and as
moreover he was not a man to brook an insult long, we may
assume that this envoy's visit to Java occurred not many years
before 1292, when this expedition was sent to revenge the outrage. 1
The fleet sailed from Ch'iian-chou, in Fukien, and did not follow
the accustomed course along the coasts of Malacca and Sumatra,
but kept further off, boldly taking the shortest road to its destina-
tion. For this reason the islands they passed on the middle of
their course are not mentioned anywhere else, and we have not
been able to identify these with absolute certainty, but the fact of
their coming near Karimata shows sufficiently what must have
been their course. They next came to an island which they call
K6-lan, or Kau-lan, where they went ashore to repair their vessels,
and also made some smaller craft for entering the rivers : we
cannot again identify this name, but as it was situated between
Karimata and Karimon-Java, we may safely say that it was Billiton.
During this delay the political agents, who accompanied the
The name of Tumapel, however, is mentioned by the Chinese also. On
p. 149 it is said that the palace of the king of Tumapel (Tumapan) was situated
on the upper course of the Surabaya river. We should say this was not quite
correct, as the Mongol army ascended this river as far as Daha in Kediri, but
does not seem to have found it on their way. Instead of on we have probably
to read near, and this royal residence may have been situated on the site of the
present village of Tumapel, on the upper course of the Tangi river.
1 [In Howorth's 'History of the Mongols,' vol. i. 250, the following account
of the occurrence, from Gaubil and de Mailla, is given : " Khubilai's envoy, a
Chinese mandarin called Mengki, returned home with his face branded ; the
punishment there awarded to highwaymen. Khubilai was furious, ordered a
great fleet to rendezvous in the parts of Fu-kien, under the command of a
genera! and admiral who had been in the Indian seas, and knew the language
of Java. This armament consisted of 1000 ships of all kinds, 30,000 soldiers,
besides sailors, etc., and provisions for a year. It set out in January, 1293,
and coasted along the shores of Cochin China. Having entered the Great
Ocean, they came to the mountains (? islands) Kanlan, Yukia, Linhta, and
Kesulang. There they landed to cut timber for making transports. The King
of Java (called Kuava by the Mongols) pretended to submit, and persuaded
the Chinese commander to attack Kolang, a neighbouring kingdom with which
he was at war. The King of Kolang was defeated in a battle which lasted
from -sunrise to mid day, and in which his forces numbered 100,000. He
submitted, but was put to death with his family."]
158 NOTES ON THE
army, went first to Java, to see what could be done by negociations,
and the army soon followed, going first to the island Ivarimon-Java,
and next to a place on Java's coast, which is called Tu-ping-tsuh.
The latter name looks throughly un-Javanese, and as it occurs
only once in the narrative, it may be that the Chinese characters
used for its transcription have become corrupted. Later Chinese
geographers , and Chinese tradition in Java, all agree in identifying
it with Tuban, in Rembang, on the north coast of Java.
At this place, Tuban, half the army was sent ashore with orders
to march to the mouth of the river Pa-tsieh, whilst the other half
proceeded in the fleet towards the same destination, passing on
its way the river Segalu (Sugalu), which must be the same as is
now called Sedayu. Pa-tsieh is the river of Surabaya, at present
called Brantas or Kali-Mas, which is proved beyond any doubt
by Changku, or Changko (afterwards an important place for
Chinese trade, will be treated separately, q. v.), being situated on
it, whilst it led also to the neighbourhood of Modjopait, and to
Daha in Kediri. The Chinese text gives this river as Pa-tsieh kan,*
i.e. the small river Pa-tsieh, and this name we find back in the
village Pachekan of the present day, situated on its right bank,
about nine miles from the sea. It is probable that formerly this
village gave its name to the Surabaya branch of the Brantas.
The two divisions of the Mongol-Chinese army rejoined at the
mouth of this river on the ist day of the 3rd month (between half
April and half May), but in the meantime information had been
obtained that the king of Tumapel, or Java, who had come to
punish the expedition had been killed by his neighbour Aji
Katang (or Katong), f king of the Katang (or Katong) people,
who reigned at Daha in the present Kediri. The territory of
Tumapel had been conquered by Aji Katang, only the son-in-
law of the late king, Raden Vijaya,J was still in arms against
the invader, and defended himself at Modjopait, which place he
had founded as a basis for his resistance.
A f p.
f The Chinese text has Aji (or Ilaji) Katang (or Katong), whilst the
Halinese account gives Sri Jaya Katong. Of course this Aji does not mean
here a Mahommedan, who has made the pilgrimage to Mecca, but it was a title
very common amongst the Hindoos in Java.
J The Chinese text has Tuhan Vijaya. This Tuhan is generally considered
to be an Arab appellation, introduced together with the Islam and not used by
the pagan princes in Java. If this view is correct, its use here is an anachronism,
which may be explained, however, by the most probable assumption that the
expedition was accompanied by Arabs from Canton, who served as interpreters
and bestowed this appellation on Raden Vijaya. It is also possible that
Arab merchants were already established on the coast of the island, and that
they, too, designed him by this name.
Modjopait must therefore have been founded between the visit of the
Mongol envoy Meng Ch'i, say I2$o (but probably later), and the arrival of the
expedition in 1293.
MALA Y ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 159
This Raden Vijaya offered his submission to the Mongol
generals, and sent some trusty followers, who gave the necessary
information about the roads, rivers and resources of the country.
Aji Katang was master of the delta of Surabaya also, and the
Mongols found there an army which tried to oppose them, and
which were either troops of Kalang or other Javanese who had
submitted to them. The Mongol generals therefore gladly ac-
cepted the assistance of Raden Vijaya, and soon fought their
first battle at the mouth of the river Pa-tsieh, where the Kalang
troops were easily routed.
These troops, which seem to have been under command, not of
Aji Katang himself, but of one of his ministers, retired into the
interior, and seem to have joined the army of Aji Katang before
Modjopait. Raden Vijaya at least sent word that he was sorely
pressed by his foe, and asked for assistance. The Mongol army
accordingly marched in that direction, and a strong body of troops
was sent ahead, to keep up the spirits of their ally. On the
8th day of the 3rd month a battle was fought under the walls of
Modjopait ; the Kalang army was defeated, and thrown back into
the mountains south of that place.
Not satisfied with this success, the victors now marched on
Daha, the capital of Aji Katang, which was attacked and
captured on the igth day of the same month ; the king was made
a prisoner, and seems to have been ultimately killed.
All resistance being now at an end, it became Raden Vijaya's
turn to pay for the services which the Mongol army had rendered
him ; as, however, his opponent was dead, and the force of his
country broken, he did not require these services any more, and
sought to avoid his obligations. He therefore pretended that
he had to go back to his capital in order to prepare adequate
presents for the emperor, and was allowed to depart for this
purpose, escorted by a few Chinese troops. On his way he threw
off the mask, the Chinese escort was treacherously massacred, and
he at once began hostilities against his former allies. By this
time the Mongol generals had found out how difficult it was to
carry on war in these parts ; they did not think it advisable to
begin a new struggle, and, taking with them the more important
prisoners from Daha, and whatever treasure they could collect,
they returned to their ships and left the island after a stay of
about four months.
The preceding notices only relate to eastern Java, and do not
even mention the central part of the island, which we saw pre-
dominant during the T'ang dynasty (v. pp. 138 ff.). As we
observed above, this may be owing to the fact that Chinese trade
was chiefly carried on in the eastern part of the island, for reasons
which we have been unable to ascertain, but which may have been
the greater security of the roadsteads there, perhaps also a more
160 NOTES ON THE
settled state of affairs. It must not be understood, however, that
the Hindoo kingdom of central Java, mentioned on page 140, had
disappeared altogether. It might have lost some of its power,
but certainly continued to exist, and in our extracts from the
books of the Ming dynasty we shall presently see that it is
mentioned again as a separate state in the fourteenth century.
HISTORY OF THE MING DYNASTY (1368 1643). Book 324.
" Java* is situated at the south-west of Champa. In the time
of the emperor Kublai, of the Yuan dynasty (1260 1249), Meng
Ch'i was sent there as an envoy, and had his face cut, on which
Kublai sent a large army which subdued the country and then
came back.
" In the year 1369 the emperor Tai-tsu sent an envoy to this
country, to communicate his accession to the throne ; at that
time an envoy from this country, who had brought tribute to the
house of Yuan, was in the province of Fukien, on his voyage back,
when the house of Yuan fell ; he therefore returned to the capital
of the new dynasty, where the emperor appointed an envoy to
escort him back to his native country, and presented him with an
almanac.
" In the year 1370 the emperor issued an edict, informing the
world that he had subjugated Sha-moh f (the country of the
Yuan), and of the following contents : ' In all past times the
ruler of the world had his attention fixed on all who live in it, he
continually watched over them, the far and the near were equal
to his mind, and it was his constant wish that all mankind should
enjoy tranquillity and happiness. Now, for this purpose, it is
necessary that China should be in a state of tranquillity first, and
then the countries outside can rely on it. Of late the prince of
the house of Yuan was wanton, libidinous, stupid, and weak, his
mind was not bent on the people, and the brave men in the
empire took away pieces on the frontier. I felt pity that the
people was thus trodden upon, I raised an army of patriotic
soldiers and made an end to that state of disorder, and the
soldiers and the people of the empire honoured me with the
throne ; the name of the universal empire is the Great Ming, and
the name of my reign is Hung-wu. Two years ago I took
the capital of the Yuan : the whole country is settled now, and
Champa, Annam, Corea, and other countries have already brought
tribute. This year I sent a general to subdue the north, and only
then I learnt that the prince of the house of Yuan had died ; his
grandson was brought a prisoner, and I bestowed upon him the
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 161
title of an earl. Following the example of the emperor and
kings of former dynasties in organizing the world, it is my only
wish that the people, in and out of China, should enjoy tranquility,
and as the different foreigners (fan, barbaroi) live in far distant
countries and do not yet know all these events, I now send
envoys to inform them of it.'
" In the Qth month of the same year (1370) the king Sri-pah-
ta-la-po* sent envoys with a letter written on a sheet of gold, and
products of the country as tribute. The envoys were treated
according to the prescribed forms.
"In the year 1372, when the imperial envoy, Ch'ang K'o-ching,f
came back to China, the king of this country sent an envoy with
tribute along with him, bringing back three imperial decrees
which they had received from the Yiian dynasty.
"In the year 1375 they sent tribute again.
"In the year 1377 the king Pa-ta-na-pa-na-buJ sent envoys
with tribute to the imperial court.
" In this country there is a western king and an eastern
king, the latter is called Bogindo Bong-kit and the former
Bu-la-po-bu ; both of them sent envoys with tribute, but as their
politeness was not sincere, the emperor ordered them to be
detained, and it was only after some time that they were allowed
to return.
"In the year 1379 the king Pa-ta-na-pa-na-bu sent envoys with
tribute, and so he did in the following year. Some time before im-
perial envoys had been sent to carry a seal to the king of eastern
* la" M A ?i f 'J US > the first four characters may be read ^ripada
see pag. 135, note f-
^J K ?.$?.& and #f ? JjJ $$ - The eastern kingdom must
have been Modjopait, of which we know that it had risen to considerable
power about this time, and even exercised a more or less direct supremacy,
nominally over the whole, virtually over a part of Java and different Hindoo
settlements or kingdoms in other islands. As the Chinese, about this time,
chiefly traded in the neighbourhood of the present Surabaya, they must have
known Modjopait well, this town being quite near. We can be less positive
about the western kingdom ; it may have been Pajajaran, a native state of
that time quite to the west, of which we do not know much more than that its
capital stood in the vicinity of the present Buitenzorg, south of Batavia, and that
its territory lay in the Priangan districts. As, however, the Chinese sources we
comment on here, seem to contain chiefly evidence collected in the eastern part
of the island, it looks more probable that this western kingdom must not'be
sought quite so far away, and was rather a native state in the central part of the
island, strong enough to cope successfully with Modjopait in 1406, as is told on
our next page.
SECOND SERIES. VOL. I. M
1 6z NOTES ON THE
Sumatra (San-bo-tsai)* and those of Java deluded and killed
them; the emperor was highly incensed, and detained their
envoys more than a month, with the intention to punish them,
but ultimately they were sent back with a letter to their king, in
which he was reproved for what he had done.
" In the year 1381 they sent envoys, who brought as tribute
300 black slaves and products of the country. The next year
they brought again black slaves, men and women, to the
number of a hundred, eight large pearls and 75,000 catties of
pepper.
"In the year 1393 they sent tribute, and the next year
again.
" When the emperor Ch'eng-tsu ascended the throne, he sent
information of it to this country, and the next year, 1403, he sent
a vice-envoy and a messenger to present the king with silks and
gauzes embroidered with gold. When the envoys had left, the
western king, Tu-ma-pan,f sent envoys to congratulate the
emperor, who again sent an eunuch and others to bestow upon
the king a silver seal inlaid with gold. The king sent envoys to
present his thanks for this seal, and offered products of his country
as tribute.
"The eastern king, Put-ling-ta-hah,J also sent envoys to court
for the purpose of bringing tribute and asking for a seal, and the
emperor sent an officer to bring it to him. From this time the
two kings brought tribute.
" In the year 1405 the eunuch Cheng Ho was sent as a
messenger to this country, and in the next year the two kings
made war upon each other; the eastern king was defeated and
wk W ' 1 ne reason why those of Java killed the imperial envoys,
was that ban-bo-tsai had been conquered by Java about 1377, whilst shortly
before the son of the last king had sent envoys to China, soliciting the imperial
investiture. A seal was brought by Chinese envoys when the Javanese were
already in the country, and these, thinking that the Chinese wanted to contest
their newly-acquired rights, killed the ambassadors. Compare account of
San-bo-tsai.
^ 4$ .^ wi Amiot, and after him, Schlegel (vide the latter's translation,
Appendix pp. viii. and ix.), say that Tumapan was the title of the western king
or that of Pajajaran, without giving any authority for their assertion.
Tumapan seems indeed to have been a title, or at least a name of frequent
occurrence (see page 165); on page 149 it is given as the name of a kingdom on
the upper part of the Surabaya river. This looks as if Tumapan (Tumapel) or
the kingdom of the western king Tumapan, must be placed not at all far away
from Modjopait ; at all events, also on account of what we advanced on the
preceding page, we do not think that Pajajaran can have been meant.
* ^ ^ 3 B& i a ] so P'i-ling-da-ha.
* 3T> ft
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 163
his kingdom destroyed.* At that time the imperial envoys were
just in the country of the eastern king, and when the soldiers of
the western king entered the market-place 170 of their followers
were killed by these ; on this the western king became afraid, and
sent envoys to ask pardon. The emperor gave them an edict,
reproving him severely, and ordered him to pay sixty thousand
thails of gold as a fine. In the 1408 Cheng Ho was sent again
to -this country, and the western king presented ten thousand thails
of gold; the officers of the Board of Rites observed that the
amount was not complete, and wanted to imprison the envoys
who brought it, but the emperor said : * What I want from those
people who live far away, is that they acknowledge their guilt, but
I do not not want to enrich myself with their gold,' and on this
he remitted the whole fine. From this time they brought tribute
continually, sometimes once in two years and sometimes more
than once a year, and the eunuchs Wu Pinf and Cheng Ho
visited their country repeatedly.
"At that time PalembangJ was under the domination of Java,
and the king of Malacca falsely pretended that he had an order
from the emperor to claim this possession. When the emperor
heard this, he gave an edict, saying : * When lately the eunuch
Wu Pin came back, he reported that you (king of Java) had
treated the imperial envoys in the most respectful way ; now I
have heard lately that the king of Malacca has claimed the country
Palembang from you, and that you have been very much astonished,
fearing that this was my will ; but I treat people in the most
upright way, and if I had allowed him to do so, I certainly would
have sent an open order, therefore you have no reason to be afraid,
and if bad men make use of false pretences, you must not lightly
believe them.'
" In the year 1415 the king adopted the name Yang Wi-si-sa,
and sent envoys to thank the emperor for his kindness, and to
bring as tribute products of the land.
* We have seen on the preceding page that the eastern kingdom must have
been Modjopait, and therefore our narrative is at variance with native tradition,
which tells us that Modjopait was destroyed in 1478 by a league of native
chieftains, recently converted to the Islam and headed by the prince of Demak
in Samarang. I am not able to determine how far native tradition is right
here, but as our Chinese sources are reliable as regards dates and principal
facts, though they may greatly err in details, we must take it as history that
Modjopait was overcome by the western kingdom in 1406 j it may be, however,
that Modjopait was not destroyed on this occasion, and recovered itself
afterwards.
+ W ftS > Ku-kang, or the Old River, by which name the Chinese call it
up to the present clay.
M 2
1 64 NOTES ON THE
" About that time some followers of the imperial envoys had been
driven by a storm to the country Pantsur.* and a Javanese,
hearing this, paid a ransom for them, and brought them to the
place where the king lived. In the year 1418 the king sent envoys
with tribute to the court, and sent these men back at the same
time ; the emperor praised the king in an edict, and sent also
presents to the Javanese who had rescued them.
" In the year 1436 the imperial envoy, Ma Yung-lang, presented a
memorial to the emperor, saying that the former Javanese envoy,
Pa-ti,f on coming to court, had got a silver girdle, and as the
present envoy, A-liet, % was a man of the fourth rank, he requested
a golden girdle for him ; his request was granted.
" In the intercalary sixth month of the same year the envoys of
Calicut, Northern Sumatra, Cochin, Arabia, Cail, Aden, Hormus,
DsahfTar, Comari and Camboja, were sent back, together with
the envoys of Java, and the emperor gave a letter to the king of
this country of the following contents : ' You, oh king ! have
never been remiss in performing the duty of sending tribute in the
time of my ancestors, and now that I have come to the throne you
have again sent envoys to court ; I am fully convinced of your
sincerity. Now, in the reign of my predecessor (1426 1435),
Calicut and ten other countries have come to bring tribute, and as
your envoys are going home I have ordered those other envoys to
go with them. I expect you will treat them kindly and send them
back to their respective countries, in order to carry out my bene-
volent intentions towards those who live far away.'
"In the year 1440 envoys who were going home were ship-
wrecked by a storm, fifty-six men were drowned and eighty-three
saved ; they came back to Canton, and the emperor gave orders
to the authorities to provide for them until there should be a ship
in which they could go home.
" In the year 1443 the Governor of Canton presented a memorial,
pointing out that the continual tribute of Java caused great expenses
and trouble, and that it was no good plan to injure China in order
to benefit those distant people. The emperor adopted his views,
Jj *2%L Jj , probably Fansur or Fantsur, mentioned by Marco Polo, on
the west coast of Sumatra. [See "'Ajaib el Hind," ed. Van der Lith & Devic,
pt. ii. p. 233 ff.]
t A W * 35 R -
"6" 2E Ku-li, Hi |"J HF $'J Su-men.ta-ra, jfjj /( Ko-chi, 5J Jj
Tien-fang, #0 JJ 1$J Ka-i-lih, rW ft A-tan, j& ^ g| fijf Wu-lu-moh-su,
jfl & Si Tsu-fa-r, ~ff JS Kam-pa-li and H J Chin-lab ; most of
these names are identified after Dr. E. Bretschneider, "On the Knowledge
possessed by the ancient Chinese of the Arabs and Arabian Colonies "
(London, Tnilmu-, 1871); and some after Mr. Phillips' notice in Doolittle's
"Handbook," &c., vol. ii. p. 555.
MALA V ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 165
and when the envoys of that country went back he gave them a
letter, saying: 'The different countries over the sea shall all
bring tribute once in three years ; you, oh king, must also have
compassion with your people and observe this arrangement.'
"In the year 1446 they brought again tribute, but afterwards
they became gradually more remiss.
"In the year 1452 the king Prabu* sent envoys to court with
tribute.
" In the year 1460 the king Tu-ma-pan (Tumapel?)f sent envoys
to carry tribute. When these envoys went back, and had arrived
at An-ch'ing,J they got drunk and had a fight with foreign priests
who came to bring tribute, and of whom six were killed. The
Board of Rites asked that the Chinese functionaries who escorted
the envoys should be punished, but that the latter should be sent
to their king with the order to punish them himself. This was
approved by the emperor.
"In the year 1465 tribute was brought from Java.
"In the year 1499 envoys with tribute were shipwrecked in a
storm, and only the ship of their interpreter arrived at Canton.
The Board of Rites requested that the authorities there should be
ordered to entertain them and send them back to their country
with presents, the articles of their tribute being forwarded to the
capital. The emperor granted the request, and after this their
envoys arrived very rarely.
" The country in question is situated near Champa, from where
one can go there in twenty days. When the army of the Yiian
dynasty went to attack it, they left Ch'iian-chou in the i2th month
of the year 1292, and arrived at this country in the first month of
the next year, so that the distance is only one month.
"When they brought tribute in the year 1432, they presented a
letter stating that their kingdom had been founded 1376 years
before, that is in the first year of the period Yiian-k'ang of the
emperor Hsiian of the Han dynasty (B.C. 65).
* E Jljft.Pa-la-bu.
' 'SP >?3 $E Compare note f on page 162.
* >C H& /ft" > in the province of An-hwui.
There is a discrepancy here which we are unable to explain. The letter
was presented, and probably written in 1432, and from there counting back
1376 years, we arrive at the year 56 of our era, whilst the Chinese writer cal-
culates back to 65 B.C. It is possible that the number of years, given in the
loiter, has been wrongly handed down by the Chinese, and was originally 1497,
in which case it would agree with the Chinese calculation, but it may also be
that the latter is wrong, though I do not see how such a glaring mistake could
be made. However it may be, we do not feel justified in deciding the question,
and from this interesting passage we only conclude that the Javanese dated the
foundation of their country, i.e. the first settlement of the Hindoos, back to
about the beginning of our era.
1 66 NOTES ON THE
" The country is large and the people are numerous ; their
temper is cruel and hasty ; young and old, high and low, all carry
a sword at their side, and on the slightest provocation they injure
each other, therefore their soldiers are the best of all barbarian
countries.
"Their letters resemble those of the country Soli,* they have no
paper or pencils, but cut them on kajang leaves, f The weather
is always like summer, and rice is cut twice a year. Tables,
couches, spoons or chopsticks are not used by them.
"There are three kinds of people: firstly, the Chinese, who
reside here temporarily, and whose clothes and food are fine and
nice ; secondly, the traders from other countries, who reside here
for a longer time, and who are also pretty civilised and clean ; and
thirdly, the natives of the country, who are very dirty, and are
fond of eating snakes, ants, insects and worms, and who sleep and
eat together with the dogs.
" Their skin is very black, they have hands like monkeys, and go
with their feet bare. They believe much in ghosts. When one
has killed a man he conceals himself for three days, and is then
free of guilt. When their parents die they carry them to the
forest and allow them to be eaten by the dogs ; if they are not
devoured completely they are very sorry. The remains are
burned, and often the wife and the concubines are burned also, to
accompany the dead.
" The country is sometimes called Pekalongan and also Ha-kang
and Sunda.J
"During the period Wan-li (1573 1620) the red-haired bar-
barians (Dutch and English) established a toko at the east of the
great river, and the Franks (Portuguese) another on its western
bank, where they traded every year ; Chinese traders also visit
the place continually.
-3i ||!| Jp[ HL Soli was the name of a country in India [most probably
the Chola kingdom, see Meal's "Si yii ki," vol. ii. 249, and Yule's "Marco Polo,"
vol. ii. 272] ; in an account of Siam we read that a man Irom Soli was first
minister there. Our translation agrees with that of Amiot, and Dr. Schlegel's
version; their letters are small and tiny, is obviously wrong. The words them-
selves of the Chinese text would not bear this translation : 3| means to resemble,
not to be, and ^ HJ. does not mean small m minute, but has no meaning at all.
i ?g J|L Kajang is a general name for different palm-leaves, used for
roofing and other purposes. The writer means the leaves of the Borrassus
flabelliformis, called lontar in Java.
+ If ^ jft . "f \ & , Ha-kang, "the lower river," is the Chinese
name of that time for Bantam, Jijj^ j|
^C fDJ] > the "great river," is a designation used for the river of Bantam.
\Vi: shall presently be able to give a separate notice of this place from other
sources, <|. v.
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 167
" In this country there is a place called Sin-ts'un (Grisse'),*
which has the reputation of beinej very rich ; the ships of Chinese
and barbarian merchants all collect there, and it is full of valuable
merchandise. The chief of this village is a man from Canton, who,
in the year 1411, himself sent envoys to court with a letter, and
offered products of the country as tribute."
We shall not attempt to compare the above account with what
is found in other sources : for this purpose we have nothing else
than native tradition, of which the real value has not yet been
satisfactorily fixed. Our translation is therefore given without
further comment, and we only hope that the native sources for the-
ancient history of Java may soon be more closely investigated,
when we trust that the Chinese narrative, especially by its chro-
nological data, will prove of some use.
We see further that the relations between China and Java,
especially in the beginning of this dynasty, were rather intimate,
envoys from both sides continually coming and going ; amongst
the Chinese envoys the name of Cheng Ho is frequently men-
tioned, this man acquired such a reputation by his travels to
foreign countries, that the historians of the dynasty have given
him a place amongst the biographies of celebrated persons ; and as
this article contains much valuable information about the way
and manner in which the intercourse with foreign countries was
carried on, we think it desirable to give a translation of it.
ACCOUNT OF CHENG Ho.f HISTORY OF THE MING DYNASTY.
Book 304.
" Cheng Ho was a man from Yiin-nan, and is the same who is
commonly called the eunuch San-pan. ^ At first he served in
the palace of the Prince of Yen (afterwards emperor under the
name Ch'eng-tsu), and having acquired military merit, he was
gradually raised to the rank of first eunuch.
" When the emperor Ch'eng-tsu (1403 1424) feared that Hwui-
ti (his predecessor, whom he had driven from the throne) was
concealing himself in some country over the sea, he wanted to
trace him and at the same time to display his military force in
foreign countries, in order to show that China was rich and
strong.
" In the 6th month of the year 1405 he ordered Cheng Ho, his
companion Wang Ching-hung, and others, to go as envoys to
Jr/T T* y the new village will be treated separately, q. v.
+ J^ i^ > amongst the Fukieiv -Chinese, Sam-po.
1 68 NOTES ON THE
the western ocean. They took with them 27,000 soldiers, a large
quantity of gold and silks, and made sixty-two large ships, 440
feet long and 180 feet broad.* They sailed from Su-chouf to
Fukien, and from there they went first to Champa, and next to the
various barbarian countries, making known the orders from the
emperor. They made presents to the princes and chiefs, and
those who would not submit were compelled by force.
"In the year 1407, the 9th month, Cheng Ho and his com-
panions returned, and envoys of the different countries followed
them to the court. He presented also to the emperor the chief
of Ku-kang (Palembang). whom he had taken prisoner. The
emperor was much satisfied, and promoted and rewarded them in
different ways. Ku-kang is the old San-bo-tsai ; the chief of this
country, Ch'en Tsu T i,| had been carrying on piracy, and when
Cheng Ho sent messengers with the orders from the emperor
he feigned to submit, but secretly made a plan to rob Che'ng Ho
also ; he was defeated, taken prisoner, brought before the
emperor, and decapitated in the market-place at the capital.
' In the 9th month of the year 1408 he went again to Ceylon,
where the king, A-liet-k'u-nai-r, enticed him into the interior of
his country and then wanted to extort gold and silks from him,
whilst he sent soldiers to attack his fleet ; when Cheng Ho saw
that the troops of this robber were gone, few being left in the
neighbourhood, he attacked him at once with the two thousand
men he had with him and captured his palace, whereupon the
* These improbable dimensions are thus given in our text, and we cannot help
translating them. It seems, however, that the Chinese Government at that
time used very large ships for its embassies to foreign countries, and we are
able to give a more detailed description of one, from the " Hai Yii," a book
published in 1537 :
'In the year 1486 the emperor sent two envoys to Champa in order to
perform the ceremony of investiture. These officers equipped a large ship for
the purpose. When a large ship makes a voyage, it has a smaller vessel, with
several tens of picked men who know the way on sea, and this vessel, called
the pilot, goes before the larger one.
"Behind the large vessel two boats are fastened, to be used for the purpose
of getting firewood and water, and to serve in case of emergency ; these are
called fast horses, or boats with feet.
"The soldiers and other people going with these envoys numbered about a
thousand ; what with men and what with goods the ship was overloaded, and
as the captain was not well acquainted with the sea, the ship struck upon a
rock on the coast of Annam ; it broke up and the two envoys were drowned,
which same fate was shared by ninety per cent of their suite. There was on
board a man from my village, who managed to save himself with about seventy
others in one of the smaller boats, in which they rowed to the shore, which
was very near."
m /H capital of the present province of Chiang-su.
* pfi jjlfl. ^ > chief of the Chinese in Palembang, q. v.
1 38 an? * a -
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 169
king was made a prisoner, together with his wife, his children and
his ministers. As soon as those who had gone to attack the
ships heard of this, they hastened back in order to rescue their
king, but Cheng Ho's army completely defeated them. In the
6th month of the year 1411 he brought the king a prisoner to the
capital, but the emperor did not decapitate him, but gave him
permission to return to his country.
." At the same time the land of the Giau-chi (Northern Cochin-
China) was subdued and made a Chinese province ; on account
of this the different countries were still more afraid, and the
number of envoys became daily greater.
"In the nth month of the year 1412 Cheng Ho and his com-
panions were again ordered to go as envoys to Sumatra (the
northern part of the island), where they found that a pretended
son of the king had killed that prince and put himself on the
throne ; being angry that he got no share of Cheng Ho's presents,
he collected soldiers and attacked the Chinese army, but he was
beaten and pursued as far as Lambri,* where he was taken
prisoner with his wife and children. In the yth month of the year
1415 he came back to the court; the emperor was much pleased,
and rewarded the generals and soldiers according to their rank.
" In the winter of the year 1416 Malacca, Calicut and seventeen
other countries, sent envoys to court to carry tribute ; when they
left Cheng Ho was ordered to go with them in order to bring
presents to their princes and chiefs. In the 7th month of the
year 1419 he came back.
"In the spring of the year 1421 he went again, and came back
the next year, in the 8th month.
" In the ist month of the year 1424, the Chief of Kukang (Pa-
lembang), called Shih Chi-sun,f requested to succeed his father
as Imperial Agent ; \ Cheng Ho went to bring him a seal and a
commission, and when he came back the emperor Ch'eng-tsu
had died.
" In the 2nd month of the year 1425 the emperor Jen-tsung
ordered Cheng Ho to be Guardian of Nanking, with the troops
which had subdued the south ; the office of Guardian of Nanking
dates from this time.
" In the 6th month of the year 1430 the emperor considered
that he had been on the throne so long now, while those of the
barbarians, who lived some distance away, had not yet appeared
* pi m m
^ JE 8? 3 > see under Palembang.
* -EL H H > lit. envoy (agent abroad) of the office for general pacification
(of the ioreign countries). We have seen functionaries of this office in Java
during the Yiian dynasty (v. pag. 148) and it seems that this title was now given
by the Chinese Government to the headmen of the Chinese abroad.
i yo NOTES ON THE
at court and brought tribute ; upon this Cheng Ho and Wang
Ching-hung again received orders to go to Hormus and sixteen
other countries. From this voyage they came safely back.
" Cheng Ho had now served three emperors; he had been sent
as envoy seven times, and had visited Champa, Java, Camboja,
Kukang, Siam, Calicut, Malakka, Brunei, Sumatra, Aru, Cochin,
Great Coilan, Little Coilan, Soli and Western Soli, Cail, A-po-pa-
tan, Comari, Ceylon, Lambri, Pahang, Kalantan, Hormus, Pi-
la, the Maldive islands, Sun-la (Sunda?), Magadoxu, Ma-lin-la-
sah, Dsaffar, Sa-li-van-ni, Jubo (Jeba), Bengal, Arabia, Li-tai and
Nakur,* altogether more than thirty different countries. He
brought back numberless valuable things, but what China had
spent on them was not little either.
"When he came back from his last voyage in the period Hsiian-
te (1426 1^35), the people from those remote countries still
came continually, but not in such numbers as in the time of the
period Yung-lo (14031412). Cheng Ho was now old, and died
soon afterwards.
"Whenever, after his death, anybody went as an envoy to the
southern seas, he took great care to speak of Cheng Ho, in order
to impress the barbarians, and therefore it was said that the voyage
of the eunuch San-pau to the western seas was the greatest event
in the beginning of the Ming dynasty.f
" In the time of the emperor Ch'eng-tsu (period Yung-lo, 1403
1424) much care was given to the intercourse with the various
foreign countries, and the envoys sent to them were mostly
eunuchs ; Cheng Ho and Wang Ching-hung were chiefly employed
as envoys to the western seas, whilst to the other countries other
men were sent."
We are sorry to say that the memorials which this remarkable
traveller is sure to have presented to the emperor after his different
voyages have never been published, and there is very little chance
* fi.jRn, j* B.B m,m *,*, IB mar.
Mffi.SnUFM.M ftvtirtti'* VK;'K*ff>9
i. , w ft $ m, #0 a m , iw m a, u- as m, m
in, *.#?, g ,a * m f, Jt w.fBi m.
*<#* ft*. ft #***& ft> * m IK,
f?$>ffS9lt;K:#,i; f (i and U E 51 Those countries
which do not fall within the limits of our task have been chiefly identified
alter Dr. E. Bretschneider and Mr. Phillips (see above, p. 164).
t The name of San-pau, or Sam-po, is still living amongst the Chinese in
Java, who call him Ong Sam-po 3E .H f^fc j mistaking his family name for
that of his companion, whilst he has become quite a legendary personage with
them.
MALA Y ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 1 7 1
of their having survived the fall of the Ming dynasty, so that we
must give them up as lost for ever. This loss is somewhat com-
pensated for, however, by the care of two Chinese Mahomcdan
priests, Ma Huan and Fei Hsin, who, knowing the Arab language,
accompanied Cheng Ho as interpreters, and each wrote an account
of the countries they visited, respectively under the title of " Ying-yai
Sheng-lan, or General Account of the Shores of the Ocean," and
"Hsing ch'a Sheng-lan, or General Account of Peregrinations on
Sea." These two interesting little books have been noticed at
greater length in our introduction, and as the plan and the details
of both works are almost identical, we shall only translate that
account which is most complete, and add from the other as much
as may seem desirable.
YING-YAI SH^NG-LAN (1416).
" The country of Java * was formerly called Ja-pa ; f it has
four towns, all without walls. Ships from other countries going
there first arrive at a place called Tuban, J next at a place called
Ts'e-ts'un, then at Surabaya, || and lastly at a place called
Modjopait,^" where the king lives.
" The residence of the king has a brick wall more than thirty
feet high and more than a hundred feet long, it has a double gate
and is clean and well kept. The houses inside stand high from
the ground and are thirty to forty feet high ; they have a floor of
boards, covered with fine rattan-mats or rush-mats with patterns,
on which the people sit cross-legged ; for the roofs they have
taken boards of hard wood, which is split and used as tiles.
"The dwellings of the people are covered with straw, and in
every house they make a store-room of masonry, three or four
feet high, for stowing away their goods, and they always sit on the
top of this.
"The king goes bareheaded, or wears a cap with golden leaves
and flowers ; he wears no garment on the upper part of his body,
but around the lower part he has one or two flowered cloths
/Iv Hi , Jiau-wa and
^ IS iSc > Japa are not different names, but the first is the Fukien tran-
scription, and the second that of the ancient Chinese, which did not answer any
more in modern times, when the sound of the Chinese characters had been
somewhat modified.
+ 4fc 5fS . M W 'he Chinese name for Grisse, q. v.
^ SS ^ f (3 B^ Moa-lsia-pa-i. All these names will be noticed more
fully in the course of this account.
172 1VOTS ON THE
(sarong), and he uses a piece of flowered silk-gauze or linen to
fasten these around his loins, for which reason the latter is called
loin-wrapper (slendang). He carries one or two short daggers
called beladau* and always goes barefooted. He rides on an
elephant or sits in a cart drawn by oxen.
"The men in this country have their long hair hanging down,
and the women wear it in a knot ; they use a kind of coat, and a
wrapper round the lower part of the body. The men have a
beladau stuck in their girdle, everybody carrying such a weapon,
from the child of three years up to the oldest man ; these daggers
have very thin stripes and whitish flowers, and are made of the
very best steel ; the handle is of gold, rhinoceros-horn or ivory,
cut into the shape of human or devils' faces, and finished very
carefully.
" The men and women of this country take great care of their
heads ; if another touches it, or if they get into a quarrel in
trading, or if they are drunk and insult each other, they draw their
daggers and begin stabbing, thus deciding the question by
violence. If one is killed, the other runs away and conceals
himself for three days, after which time he has no more to account
for his opponent's life. When, on the contrary, a murderer is
caught on the spot, he is also stabbed to death immediately.
" They do not know the punishment of flogging with whip or
bamboo ; for great and small offences the hands of the culprit are
bound on his back with a thin rattan, and, being led away a few
paces, he is stabbed with the dagger in his side or between his
ribs once or twice, until he dies ; not one day passes without a
man being killed, which is very frightful.
" Chinese copper coins of different dynasties are current here.
" Tubanf is the native name of a place with somewhat more
than a thousand families, all under one chief; amongst these are
many Chinese from Canton and Chang-chou,J who have settled
there. Fowls, goats, fish and vegetables are very cheap here.
" On the seashore is a small pond with fresh, potable water,
which is called the Holy water. It is said that in the time of the
Yuan dynasty the imperial generals Shih-pi and Kau Hsing
^ $') PM The first two characters are also written ffi [ pa-lak.
The word belaiiau is not now, and probably was not then, used by the Javanese
for this dagger, but it occurs in other native languages of the archipelago; it
may therefore have been learnt by the Chinese from these, or was probably
used in the lingua franca, which must have been spoken with and by the
foreign traders in the larger emporiums. The interpretation of Mr. Mayers,
who reads the second character Jpl] /z'e, and explains the name by "do not
strike at the head," will have to be given up.
/H province of Fukien, neighbourhood of Amoy.
MALA Y ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 173
having come to attack Java, were a month without obtaining
any advantage ; the water on board the ships was exhausted and
the army was in a precarious state ; the two generals then prayed
to heaven, saying : 'We have received the imperial command
to subdue the barbarians, if heaven is with us may a well spring
up, and if not, let there be no water.' Having finished this
prayer they thrust their spears with force into the seashore, and
immediately water sprang up from the place where the spears had
struck ; the water was good for drinking, all drank of it and were
saved by this assistance from heaven. The well exists up to the
present day.
" Going eastward from Tuban for about half-a-day, one comes
to Ts'e-ts'un, of which the native name is Gersik (Grisse').*
Originally this place was a barren seashore, but the Chinese who
came to this country established themselves there ; at the present
day the rich people are Cantonese ; there are about a thousand
families, and the natives come in large numbers from all places to
trade here ; all kinds of golden articles, precious stones and foreign
goods are sold here in large quantities, and the people are very rich.
" Going southwards from these two villages, a distance of about
seven miles,f one comes to Surabaya, where many rich people are
also found. Here are again about a thousand families, with
Chinese amongst them.
" At the mouth of the river is an island covered with luxuriant
vegetation, where a large number of long-tailed monkeys live. A
black old male is the chief of them, and an old native woman is
always at his side. When the women in this country are without
children, they prepare wine, rice, fruit, cakes, etc., and go to invoke
the old monkey ; when this old monkey is favourably disposed, he
eats something of what is put before him, and then lets the other
monkeys fight for the rest. When all has been eaten, two of the
monkeys come forward and copulate, after which the woman goes
home and forthwith becomes pregnant. If her offerings are
refused, she never has any children. This thing is very curious. %
"Going from Surabaya in a small boat, to a distance of 70 or 80
Ml W > native name 3pL JjjJ g Kg-r-sih. The former name is Chinese,
meaning the Dung-village.
t Twenty li; the distances between Tuban, Grisse and Surabaya, are
decidedly underrated.
About the origin of these monkeys, the Hsing-ch'a Sheng-lan has the
following legend : " It is told that in the time of the Tang dynasty (618 906)
there was a family of more than 500 souls, of which men and women were
equally bad. Once a Buddhist priest came to their house, and, having incan-
tated them, he took water in his mouth and spurted it over them, when they
were all changed into monkeys. Only one old woman was not transformed,
and remains until now at the place of her former abode. The natives and
traders always prepare rice, areca-nuts, fruit and other eatables as offerings to
them ; when they fail to do this, they are sure to meet with bad luck."
174 NOTES ON THE
//(about 25 miles), one comes to a market-place called Chang-ku ;*
going ashore here and walking southward for a day and a-half,
one comes to Modjopait,f where the residence of the king is. In
this place there are about 200 or 300 native families, and seven or
eight chiefs, who assist the king.
"The climate is always warm as our summer, and the rice ripens
twice a year ; its grain is small and white. They have also
sesamum and yellow beans, but barley and wheat are not found.
The country produces sapan-wood, diamonds, white sandal-wood,
nutmeg, long pepper, steel and tortoise-shell, prepared and unpre-
pared. Of strange birds there are parrots as large as a fowl,
others which are red, green, or of different colours, and the beo
(Gracula religiosa), { all of which can imitate human speech. We
find further, cockatoos, green and coloured pigeons, peacocks and
other birds.
" Curious animals are the white stag and the white monkey.
" They rear pigs, goats, cows, horses, fowls, and ducks, but
have no donkeys or geese.
" The fruits are plantains, cocoa-nuts, sugar-cane, pomegranates,
capsules of lotus, mangostine, water-melons, langsap (Lansium
domesticum), etc.
" The mangostine is somewhat like a pomegranate, with a skin
like that of the small orange, and four pieces of white flesh inside;
the taste is sweet and acid, very pleasant.
" The langsap is like the pi-pa (Eriobotrya Japonica), but a
little larger, with three pieces of white flesh inside ; its taste is
also sweet and acid.
"The sugar-cane has a white bark, and is very thick ; it grows
to a length of twenty or thirty feet. There are further, melons,
egg-plants (Solanum melongena) and other vegetables, but they
have no peaches, plums, or leek.
" The people of this country sleep sitting, not having beds or
couches, and when eating they do not use spoons or chopsticks.
" Men and women continually chew penang with betel and
lime ; when they are going to eat, they first rinse their mouth
in order to clean away the remnants of the penang, wash their
& Iffa 5 Chang-ko, according to the Fukien pronunciation, and written
J|C $&. in the account of the Yuan dynasty (v. above pag. 149). It is the tran-
scription of a native name, and may have been the present Changkir, on the
left bank of the river, near the top of the delta.
ww ^3 3*4 Moa-tsia-pah-i, a transcription by Chinese from Fukien.
* fiS if liau-ko. This, or rather jj% gj If the black liau-ko, is still
the Chinese name for this bird. [O. Mohnike, " PHanzen- und Thier-leben,"
p. 442, gives a description of the beo or Eulabes Javanus.]
It must be observed, once for all, that the Chinese call products of a
country whatever they find there, without ascertaining from where it has come.
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 175
hands and then sit down. They take a full bowl of rice, over
which they pour cream or some other sauce, and put it into their
mouth with their fingers. When they are thirsty they drink water.
" When receiving guests they do not offer them tea, but only
treat them with penang.
" In this country there are three kinds of people : first, the Ma-
homedans,* who have come from the west, and have established
themselves here ; their dress and food is clean and proper. Second,
the Chinese, being all people from Canton, Chang-chou, and
Ch'iian-chou (the latter two places situated in Fukien, not far from
Amoy), who have run away and settled here ; what they eat and
use is also very fine, and many of them have adopted the
Mahomedan religion and observe its precepts. The third kind
are the natives, who are very ugly and uncouth ; they go about
with uncombed heads and naked feet, and believe devoutly in
devils, theirs being one of the countries called devil-countries in
Buddhist books. The food of these people is very dirty and bad,
as for instance snakes, ants and all other kinds of insects, and
worms, which are kept a moment before the fire and then eaten ;
the dogs they have in their houses eat and sleep together with
them, without their being at all disgusted.
" It is said that in olden times a king of devils (Mararaja),
with a green face, a red body and brown hair, who lived in this
country, united himself with a bad spirit in the shape of an
elephant, and begot more than a hundred children, who lived on
human flesh and blood, and devoured a large number of people.
One day a peal of thunder came unawares and cleft a rock, in-
side of which a man was seen sitting ; the people were much
astonished at this and took him for their king, on which he led them
against the ghostly elephant and drove it away with its offspring ;
the scourge was thus done away with and the people multiplied
again in peace, but on this account they like fighting until now.
" Every year they have a * meeting of bamboo spears.' The
icth month is the beginning of their spring (of the rainy mon-
soon), when the king makes his wife ride, in a pagoda- carriage
before him, himself following in an ordinary cart. This pagoda-
carriage is more than ten feet high, with windows on all sides,
underneath is a revolving axle, and it is drawn by horses. At the
place of the meeting ranks are formed on both sides, every man
holding a bamboo spear without an iron point, but nevertheless
very hard and pointed ; every one of the combatants has his wife
or concubine with him, armed with a stick three feet long, and
standing between them. At a signal on the drum, which beats
quick or slow, two men advance with their lances and commence
fighting ; they engage three times, and then their wives separate
* @ 0. Arabs.
1 76 NOTES ON THE
them with their sticks, saying ' na-rah ! na-rah ! ' (or ' la-rah ! la-
rah !'),* on which they separate. If one is killed in the fight the
king orders the victor to pay one golden coin to the relations of
the deceased, whose wife henceforth follows the victor. Thus
they make a game of a deadly fight.
"When a man marries, he goes first to the house of the bride
to conclude the marriage, and three days afterwards he brings his
wife home, on which occasion the relations of the bridegroom
beat copper drums and gongs, blow on cocoanut-shells, beat
drums made of bamboo, and burn fireworks,t whilst a number of
men armed with small swords surround them. The bride has
her hair hanging loose, the upper part of her body and her feet
naked, round her waist a piece of green flowered cloth is fastened,
51) *'] ) probably the Javanese word larak, " to draw, to pull, to draw
back," and this exclamation would then mean, "pull them back ! pull them
back ! " Dr. Schlegel (v. Notes, p. 17) says this game was called Na-tsse-ki by
the Chinese, and in other respects also his account differs from ours, all which
is due to the fact that he has not quite caught the meaning of his Chinese
original, which is indeed a most slovenly composition and hard to understand,
unless, as in our case, one is assisted by a more complete description from other
sources. As Dr. Schlegel has given us the Chinese text which he translated,
it will be easy to prove what we advanced just now. The incriminated passage
runs as follows: S # * # $ 3? 3! * # * E K # * #
15 j j ? a ft m % 1 5t m % aj & - ft &
JW iS 19 JO" ^f tU > which he translates : "Those who appear in the
arena are also accompanied by their wives, and these wives are likewise armed
with a stick, three feet long, with which they attack each other. This is called
Na-tsse-ki. With regard to those who are wounded to death, the king causes
the victor to pay as indemnity one bamboo measure of gold, but if one has been
overcome by a widow (the payment of the indemity) is not exacted." We
take tfff as to separate; for Hj|| tz'e (tsse) we read }plj lah, the former being
seldom or never used for the purpose of transcription, whilst the latter is used
hundreds of times for expressing the sounds lah and rah ; H means in the
first place to say ; the second tfft must be joined to the following sentence ;
ySfi means a wife, but also, as here, to give as wife to. After these observations
we translate as follows: "Those who appear in the arena are also accom-
panied by their wives, and these wives are likewise armed with a stick, three
feet long, with which they separate (their husbands), saying larah. When,
after their being separated ($r *)> it is found that a man is wounded to death,
the king causes the victor to pay as indemnity one bamboo measure of gold,
and the widow is given as wife to the victor, by which the matter is arranged."
The expression ^g $y ' $ , which we have allowed to pass as "one mea-
sure of gold," because no other translation is possible, is no doubt an error in
the Chinese text ; our author has ^g j% ' gij one golden coin, which seems
more probable.
This game, called Senenan, still exists in eastern Java, though in a somewhat
modified and mitigated form.
f The Chinese text has jjx ^ $& > which now means to fire guns, but for
that time we think our translation preferable.
M.I LAY ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 177
on her head she wears strings of golden beads, and on the wrists
bracelets of gold and silver, nicely ornamented.
" The relations, friends, and neighbours, bring penang and
betel, whilst with garlands of flowers and leaves they adorn a little
ship, which they carry along with the newly-married as a form of
congratulation. Arriving at the house they beat drums and
gongs and rejoice for several days, after which they go away.
"Their burial-rites are as follows: When a father or mother are
a 1 tout to die the sons and daughters ask them first whether, after
their death, they prefer to be eaten by dogs, to be burnt, or to be
thrown into the water. The parents give their orders according
to their wishes, and after their death their directions are carried
out. If it is their wish to be eaten by dogs, the body is cairied
to the seashore or into the wilderness, where a number of dogs
soon arrive ; if the flesh of the corpse is eaten completely, it is
considered propitious, but if not, the sons and daughters lament
and weep, and throw the remains into the water.
" When rich people, chiefs, or men of rank die, their favourite
concubines swear, before their master's death, that in case he dies
they will go with him. On the day the corpse is taken out of the
house, a high wooden scaffolding is erected, at the foot of which
wood is piled up in a large heap, and when the fire burns fiercely
two or three of his concubines, who have sworn before, their
heads covered with flowers and their bodies covered with pieces
of cloth of various colours, mount on the scaffolding and, weeping,
dance a long time, after which they jump down into the fire and
are burnt together with the corpse of their lord.
" Among the natives are many rich people.
" In their trading transactions the Chinese copper cash of
different dynasties are current. They have letters which are similar
to those of Soli, but they use no paper or pencils, and write by
tracing on kajang-leaves with a pointed knife. They have rules of
grammar, and the language of this country is very fine and soft.
' Their weights are as follows : a cati (kin) has twenty taels
(//>///<;), a tael sixteen cKien and a cKien four kobangs; a kobang
is equal to 2. 1875 f en -> Chinese official weight, the cKien is 8.75
fen, their tael is 1.4 Chinese taels, and their cati has 28 Chinese
taels, all in official weight of China.*
* We have not been able to ascertain the official weights and measures of
the dynasty during which the above article was written, but we have been told
by a very reliable native scholar, that the present dynasty has made no change
in this respect. Taking, therefore, the Institutions of the present dynasty
(Ta-Ch'ing Hwui-tien), as our guide, we arrive at about the following values :
a Javanese cati = 1.12 kilogram ; a Javanese tael 0.056 kilogram,
a ch'ien = 0.0035 id. a kobang rz 0.000875 id.
For cati, tad and chicn, the author gives the Chinese names. Ko-bang is
written jljjj ?P
SECOND SERIES. VOL. I. N
178 NOTES ON THE
" Their measures of capacity are as follows : a joint of a bamboo
is cut off and made into a measure, which is called kulak, and is
equal to 1.8 sheng or pint, official measure. Their Aw, or peck, is
called nai-li, and is equal to 1.44 tou t official measure.*
" On every fifteenth and sixteenth day of the month, when the
moon is full and the night is clear, the native women form them-
selves into troops of 20 or 30, one woman being the head of them
all, and so they go arm in arm to walk in the moonshine ; the
headwoman sings one line of a native song, and the others after-
wards fall in together ; they go to the houses of their relations
and of rich and high people, where they are rewarded with copper
cash and such things. This is called ' making music in the
moonshine.'
" There is a sort of men who paint, on paper, men, birds, animals,
insects and so on ; the paper is like a scroll, and is fixed between
two wooden rollers three feet high ; at one side these rollers are
level with the paper, whilst they protrude at the other side. The
man squats down on the ground and places the picture before
him, unrolling one part after the other, and turning it towards the
spectators, whilst in the native language, and in a loud voice, he
gives an explanation of every part ; the spectators sit around him
and listen, laughing or crying, according to what he tells them.
" The people of this country are fond of Chinese porcelain with
green flowers, musk, flowered and plain linen, or silk, glass beads
etc. ; they buy these articles with copper cash.
*' The king continually sends chiefs and ships to China for the
purpose of bringing, as tribute, products of the country."
The history of the Ming dynasty has brought us down to the
time of the Europeans, where our task is at an end. We will
only add a few notices about the chief trading-ports of Java,
taken from the Tung Hsi Yang K'au, " Researches on the Eastern
yfa $'1 ku-lak and ^ ^ nai-li ; using the same source for our calcula-
tions, we find that a kulak is about equal to 1.86 litres, and the nai-li to 14.91
litres. The word kulak is still now used for a measure answering the descrip-
tion above ; the naili has become obsolete, at least in the archipelago, but was
well known not very long ago. In G. K. Niemann's "Bloernlezing uit
Maleische geschriften, " p. 58 (edition of 1870), we find the following note,
" Nalih, a measure of 1 6 gantangs, is probably the Tamil nali, a coin measure
of 8 marcals ;" and in Milburn, "Oriental Commerce," vol. ii. page 328,
*'i nelly 16 bamboos = 32 quarters, used in Acheen." The same work
(page ii) gives for the marcal a value of 750 cubic inches, being about 1.23
litres, which is considerably less than our kulak, though also the eighth part of
a nali. This does not necessarily point to an error in one of the two statements,
as it is well known that weights and measures of the same name differ consider-
ably in various localities. M. Horace Doursther, in his "Dictionnaire universel
des Poids et Mcsures, anciens et modernes " (Bruxelles, M. Hayer, 1840),
mentions the marcal as a measure used in different places of India, varying from
4 to 14 litres, and speaks of the nali as a weight, " Jfali or tiali, poids en usage
a Queda, cote occidental de Malacca = 14.51 kilogrammes.'
MALA Y ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 179
and Western Ocean," which work, though published as late as
1618, contains much information anterior to that period, and
which may well find a place here.
SUKITAN.
TUNG Hsi YANG K'AU (1618). Book 4.
" Sukitan * is commonly, but wrongly, called Sukit-kang ; \ it
is a dependency of Java, and has many different settlements, of
which Grisse' % is the chief place. At Grisse there is a king, who
is more than a hundred years old, and can predict future events.
It is situated in the interior, || and the merchant-vessels only pass
by without anchoring there because the current is very rapid.
The people of this country go to Yortan ^ in order to trade with
the Chinese.
" The anchorage of the Chinese ships is at Yortan, which is a
flat country with a fortress built of stones. When the chief of
this place goes out, he rides in a carriage drawn by four or eight
horses, or by oxen,** and is accompanied by more than a hundred
attendants with arms and insignia of his dignity. When the
natives see their king they conceal themselves, only the women
fold their hands and squat down at the side of the road ; for the
rest their customs are similar to those of Ha-kang (Bantam).
"The neighbouring countries are Surabaya and Tuban. ft In
Tuban there are many robbers, and therefore the Chinese will not
live there. They have there the second son of the king, whose
body weighed some hundreds of caties, when he was only about
H n TJ* This name has not been handed down by Javanese tradition.
* Pi JJ ^5 Ki-H-sik. Grisse is a European corruption of the native name
Gersik.
Probably the Susuhunan or Sunan of Grisse, which dignity was filled by
Arabs and their descendants, who were first religious teachers and soon acquired
considerable spiritual and temporal power. Many of them enjoyed the reputa-
tion of particular holiness.
|| Grisse has always been situated near the sea ; the word "interior" here can
only mean that it was not accessible to sea-going vessels.
" iDc fl&| Yau-tong, or Jiau-tong ; in former times a trading port at the
southern arm of the Brantas, the same river of which the northern arm flows
past Surabaya, near the present Bangil in the residency Pasuruan.
** The Chinese text has ^ ^ yellow oxen, which means cows or oxen, not
buffaloes.
' 4* 38 Tu-ban, according to the Amoy pronunciation ; the same which
is elsewhere written ^fc f^St
N 2
i8o NOTES ON THE
ten years old ; he was once stolen by robbers, but they could not
lift him, and now he has been made a Datu. *
" Behind Yortan are the mountains Kim-ho,f which are covered
with bamboo forests, and where the melati J grows without cul-
tivation. The inhabitants all go naked, and only wear a piece of
paper to cover the lower part of their body ; they plant beans for
food, and the able-bodied amongst them are good hunters, chasing
bucks, deer, apes and monkeys, which they eat after slightly
roasting them ; when thirsty they drink the blood, to which they
take wine made from a tree. They never come down from their
mountains."
On the next page of the same work we find the following
geographical indications :
" The White Island is a name for the mouth of the river
Yortan.
"Bangil || is situated more than 10 It (3 miles) beyond Yortan.
On the Trade.
" Grisse is subject to Java, but rules over Yortan, Surabaya and
other countries. Amongst the different nations which bring their
goods to Ha-kang (Bantam) this country is always found. When
our vessels arrive in these parts the different dependent places
all come to Yortan to trade with the Chinese, and though it is an
out of the way place it still is very prosperous. Formerly the
transactions were made on board the ships, but lately the number
of traders having increased, they have gradually made shops on
shore."
Looking back for a moment on the different accounts of Java,
which the Ming dynasty has transmitted to us, we see, in the first
place, that in the beginning of the i5th century the Chinese
envoys who visited this island only went to the eastern part, and
there found three trading ports : Tuban, on the northern coast
Ts'e-ts'un, a Chinese settlement at or near Grisse, and Surabaya.
At all these places Chinese were established and traded. The
**
^ 3i W. IU '> probably not a transcription of the native name, but rather
a Chinese denomination, which would mean "the golden mountains of the
interior." These mountains must be those called Tengger, of which the
inhabitants differ from the other Javanese even now, and have, for instance,
resisted the introduction of the Islam amongst them.
=f tyjlL , the island formed by the river of Yortan, near its mouth ; Vorlan
being situated further inland,
11 H #H I? Bang-ka-li.
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 181
capital of the country was at Modjopait, and was reached l>y
going u\) the Surabaya river, as far as Changko (Changkir) and
further overland.
Afterwards, as we see from the Tung Hsi Yang K'au, it seems
that Tuban has been left by the Chinese on account ot its insecurity,
or, as they say, because there were many robbers. Ts'e-ts'un, the
Chinese name of Grisse', is changed into Sin-ts'un, the New Vil-
lage, but it seems that the place became of more difficult access,
and Chinese ships were obliged to pass it. Surabaya is just men-
tioned, but was not of any'importance either, and all the trade
went to a new place called Yortan, situated in the present district
Pasuruan, and which has since disappeared again. * Modjopait
has vanished also, having been destroyed in the wars which
accompanied the introduction of the Islam, and the eastern coast
of the island is called Sukitan, which country had its capital at
( irisse, and was subject to the prince of Java (Demak). This must
have been the state of things about the arrival of the Europeans,
or not long afterwards.
The Chinese envoys of the beginning of the i5th century only
visited the eastern part of Java, probably because the western side
was not engaged in foreign trade, and therefore had no relations
with China. This seems not to have lasted long however, as the
Tung Hsi Yang K'au speaks of Ha-kang t (Bantam) as a thriving
place, and towards the end of the dynasty Pekalongan is men-
tioned also. The name Bantam is not found, the country in
which Ha-kang was situated being called Sunda.
No description of this part of the country is given, but the Tung
Hsi Yang K'au has the following account of the way in which trade
was carried on there.
TUNG Hsi YANG K'AU (1618). Book 3.
Trade at Ha-kang in Java.
" When a Chinese ship arrives here a chief comes on board to
take informations. The captain gives him a basket with oranges
and two small umbrellas. The chief writes at once to inform the
king, and on entering the river, fruits and pieces of silk are sent as
presents to this prince. The king has four Chinese and two
native writers to keep his books, and Chinese who know the
foreign language act as interpreters one man for every ship. For
* The site of Yortan has been a subject of much discussion, some have
sought it near Grisse, whilst others say that it must have been the present
]!.ui^il ; the details given in our translation show that it was situated about
three miles to the north of the latter place, on the southern branch of the
Surabaya river.
T fS J the Lower River or Port, is a Chinese and nut the native name.
182 NOTES ON THE
trading purposes the king has assigned two places outside the
town, where the shops are made ; in the morning everybody goes
to the market-place to trade, and at noon all is stopped. The
king levies daily market-duties.
" The red-haired barbarians (Dutch or English) have come to
Hakang and have established a magazine on the eastern side of the
great river ; the Franks (Portuguese) have done the same on the
western side ; and these foreigners arrive every year. In trading
they use silver money, but the natives use leaden coins ; 1000 of
these form a string,* and ten strings make a bundle ;f one bundle
of leaden coins is said to be equivalent to one string of
silver money.
" Ha-kang is a centre of general intercourse; our ships arrive
there before the merchants of other countries, and then the
goods are sold for silver or leaden money; when, afterwards,
the goods from other countries arrive, these are bought with
the money received before. This is done because Chinese ships
go there at different times of the year, and so have to wait for
the merchants of other countries."
Of the different countries to the east of Java very little mention
is made, and it would seem that the Chinese were not in the
habit of extending their trading expeditions so far. The little we
have found is given below.
TIONG-KA-LO.
HSING-CH'A SHENG-LAN (1436).
" Tiong-ka-lo % borders on Java ; it has high mountains covered
with verdure, and in one of these there is a cavern, with three
entrances in front and at the back, which can contain as many as
20,000 men.
" The products of agriculture are about the same as in Java.
The weather is always warm, and the manners and customs are
pure.
" Men and women have their hair in a knot ; they wear a long
dress of cotton and a striped sarong.
" They have no chiefs, but obey those who are old and virtuous.
They boil salt out of sea-water, and make wine of fermented
glutinous rice.
" Articles of export are antelopes, parrots, cotton, cocoa-nuts,
** f m-
* Hi ^ ${ Our transcription is given after the Amoy pronunciation,
but as the last character is generally used for the sound ra, it should probably
be Tiong-ka-ra ; the Mandarin pronunciation of the time was Clmng-kia-lo.
\Ve think the island of Madura is meant, but we must acknowledge that the
description affords little intrinsic evidence for our supposition.
MALA Y ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 183
and cotton-gauze. Articles of import are silver and flowered
silk.
"Across the sea, at a distance of several days' journey, are the
countries called Sun-to-lo (Sun-da-ra), Pi-pa-tho (or Pi-pa-da),
Tun-tiong (Tanjong?), Oan-kiau and Bali.* The inhabitants
of all these islands do not cultivate the land, but only live from
rapine, therefore merchant-ships seldom go there."
BALI.
The following account is applied by Chinese geographers to
the island of Bali, and we have no reason to disagree with them ;
it is true that there is not much internal evidence for their
opinion, but they were often able to base such statements on
uninterrupted tradition, which must not be too lightly set aside.
The account is found in the
OLD HISTORY OF THE TANG DYNASTY (618906).
Book 197.
"The country of Dva-pa-lanf is situated to the south of
Camboja, at a distance of two months, going by sea. It lies at
the east of Kaling (Java)J and the west of Mi-li-kii, on its north
it has the sea.
" Its customs are about the same as those in Kaling. Rice
ripens once a month. They have letters which they write on
patra-leaves.||
" When one of them dies they fill his mouth with gold, put
golden bracelets on his legs and arms, and, after having added
camphor-oil, camphor-baros, and other kinds of perfumery, they
pile up firewood and burn the corpse.
" In the year 647 their king sent envoys to bring as tribute
cotton-cloth, elephant-tusks, and white-sandal. The emperor
gave them an imperial letter and rewarded them with different
presents."
quite unable to identify these countries, except perhaps the last ; it is true that
the character ]|2 is generally pronounced p'ang or png, but at Amoy it is
sometimes p'a* or/V", and by the author of this account, as well as by others,
it is used simply for pa in Pahang j J/L > a place on the eastern coast of
Malacca. Later Chinese geographers also say that this name designates Bali.
" ^t 3> 3ps Pa-fa stands for the Sanscrit patra, leaves. They are the
leaves of the Borassus flabelliformis or Lontarus domestica.
1 84 NOTES ON THE
After this we find nothing more about Bali, which can only be
explained by assuming that this island, not yet, or but scantily,
settled by the Hindoos, offered little inducement to trade, and
was therefore not visited by the Chinese.
It would seem, however, that their isolation was not quite com-
plete, and that the island was visited by Chinese envoys in the
beginning of the fifteenth century, when China kept up an official
intercourse with foreign countries with remarkable energy. In the
" History of the Ming Dynasty," book 324, we find the following
notice about two places, which we are inclined to think were in
the island of Bali.
"Tieh-li* lies near Java. In the year 1405 the emperor sent
there an envoy, who came back with a messenger from the king,
bringing tribute. This country adheres to the doctrines of
Buddha, its customs are pure, there are few litigations, and its
products are not many.
" Ji-la-ha-tif is situated near Java. In the year 1405 the
emperor sent there an envoy, who brought back an envoy from
its king with tribute. The country is small, and the people are
acquainted with agriculture. There are no robbers, and they
believe also in the tenets of Buddha. Its only productions are
sapan-wood and pepper."
We feel inclined to apply these two passages to places on
the island of Bali, on account of the situation assigned to
them.
It must, however, be acknowledged that it remains very un-
certain whether the above accounts really speak of Madura and
Bali.
SUMATRA.
Of this island the ancient Chinese have only known the
northern and the eastern coast, on each of which they found an
emporium for their trade, which gave its name to the whole
country; though these names have changed in the course of
time, they all apply on the northern coast to the present Acheen,
and on the eastern side to Palembang, or if not exactjy to these
places, at least to their immediate neighbourhood. For a long
time the Chinese, as other early travellers, were not aware that
tli esc two places were situated on the same island, they speak of
them as (mite separate countries, and we will, accordingly, treat
them in the same way.
* ffi M Tich-li or Tih-li (Deli?)
t H I! 3 fij, ulsojihra-ha-chi.
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 185
EASTERN COAST OF SUMATRA.
KAN-DA-LI.
HISTORY OF THE LIANG DYNASTY (502 556). Book 54.
" The country of Kandali* is situated on an island in the
southern sea ; its customs and manners are about the same as
those of Cambodja and Siam. It produces flowered cloth, cottonf
and areca-nuts, these last being of excellent quality and better
than those of any other country.
" In the reign of the emperor Hsiau-wu of the Sung dynasty
(454 464), the king of this country, Sa-pa-la-na-lin-da,J sent a
high official of the name of Ta-ru-da, to present valuable articles
of gold and silver.
"In the year 502, the king Gu-dha-su-po-da-la|| dreamt on the
8th day of the 4th month that he saw a Buddhist priest, who said
to him : ' China has now a holy ruler, and after ten years more
the law of Buddha will greatly increase ; if you send messengers
to carry tribute, and show your reverence, your country will be
prosperous and happy, and the foreign merchants will visit it in
numbers increased a hundredfold. If you do not believe what I
say, your country will not enjoy peace.' The king, at first, could
not believe this, but some time afterwards he again saw the priest
in a dream, saying to him : ' As you do not believe me, I must
bring you there and make you see the emperor.' He then went
to China in his dream and had an audience from the emperor.
When he awoke he was greatly astonished, and as he was a
\" Ptll ^'J ) may also be read Kandari or Kandori. We cannot identify
this name, which soon disappears again, but the Chinese, who may know these
tilings by uninterrupted tradition, all agree in saying this is the Palembang of
modern times. [This view is confirmed by P. A. van der Lith in the Notes
to his edition of the " Kitab 'Aj&ib el Hind," p. 249. See also M. d' Hervey cle
St. Denys, 1. 1., p. 452]. In Valentijn's "Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indien " it is said
that Sumatra was formerly called Andalus. There is a place called Kendari on
the eastern coast of Celebes at Vosmaer-bay, but even if it already bore this
name, it is quite improbable that a Hindoo settlement has ever existed there.
1 )r Kern (see page 12 of his essay quoted on page 135) thinks that Kandali means
Pulu Condore, near Saigon, but his assumption is untenable for various reasons:
(1 ) this Ltlaml was already known to the Chinese under the name of K'un-lun;
(2) the native name is Kon-non, and Condore a foreign corruption, thus the
Chinese could never have transcribed it with Kanddi ; (3) this small rocky
island can never have been the seat of anything like a Hindoo kingdom.
Without being unduly positive, I prefer to follow my Chinese sources here.
' "p? J][ ki-pa, sometimes, perhaps erroneously, written ~fc J^ ku-pa, is
the transcription of the native word for cotton, which is now in Malay kapas or
/<//(//. At that time the Chinese themselves had no cotton. [See p. 142, note $.]
+ I? 38 S8 5fi 1$ M& Nalinda is probably a transcription of the
Sanscrit Narendra (king). See Kern, op. cit. pag. 12.
1 86 NOTES ON THE
skilful painter, he made a picture of the emperor's face as he had
seen it in his dream, adorning it with various colours. He then
sent an envoy, accompanied by a painter, to carry a letter to the
emperor and present precious stones and other things. When
the envoys had arrived, they made a picture of the emperor, which
they took home to their country, and, comparing it with the original
drawing, it was found to be exactly the same. The king now
mounted this picture on a precious frame, and honoured it more
and more every day.*
" Some time afterwards the king died, and his son Pi-ya-pa-mof
came to the throne. In 519 he sent a high official, called Pi-yen-
pa-mo, J to present a letter of the following contents: 'To the
ever victorious emperor, who is world-honoured as the different
Buddha's, ever happy and quiet ; who possesses the six super-
natural talents and the three stages of wisdom, who is the most
exalted on earth and is as Tathagata himself. He takes care of
the true light (Bodhi) and of the relics of Buddha's body, making
pagodas and images all over his country, so that it looks imposing
as the mountain Sumeru. His cities and villages are covered with
houses ; the dwellings of his functionaries in towns and suburbs
are as the palaces in Indra's heaven. Numerous are his soldiers,
and able to subdue all his enemies; his country is quiet and
happy, exempt from all disasters. His people are harmonious and
good, they have been renovated by the true law, and the happiness
resulting from this is pervading everywhere ; just as a mountain
covered with snow, of which the water flows down on all sides :
fresh and clear, all the rivulets are filled with it, they meander in
every direction, but dutifully bring it to the sea, all living creatures
meanwhile enjoying it; of all countries in the world, China certainly
must be named first.
" 'The Son of Heaven, at Yang-chou, in the great Liang country,
overshadows the earth with his benevolence, and the influence
* About this story we find the following sensible observations in the Wen
Hsien T'ung-kau of the celebrated Ma Tuan-lin, published in 1319 :
" The Emperor Wu, of the Liang dynasty, was a great admirer of Buddhism ;
this was known in and out of China, and when, in his time, envoys from
Kandali came to bring tribute, crafty ministers and priests introduced them
with this story, in order to flatter him ; it is not that the thing is really true.
" The barbarians of the islands only brought tribute, because they sought the
advantages of trade and the imperial presents, but they did not come because
they really had a sentiment of their duty, and if they were told to say something
to please the emperor, they would certainly do so Moreover, this king was
himself a follower of Buddha, who therefore was glad to see his religion
established in China, and perhaps he has conceived this idea himself in order
to meet the wishes of the emperor [1. 1., p. 453]-"
tuft WHS- *UfclttJg.
^ j|0 ji'H > at that time the capital of China.
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 187
of his virtue is like that of heaven ; though he is a man he may
be said to be a God who has come down to protect the world,
accumulating merit and virtue, and saving the world with great
compassion. He is my high master, his dignity is perfect, and
therefore I revere and honour him with the utmost sincerity.
" At the feet of the Son of Heaven I prostrate myself and ask
after his welfare ; I present respectfully golden fu-yung * flowers,
different perfumes, medicines and other things, hoping you may
deign to accept them.
" In the year 520 the same king sent again an envoy to present
as tribute products of his country."
It is probable that the Chinese have given the above account
from what was told them by the natives, but did not themselves
visit the country at this early date. Even its importance for trade
seems to have diminished, or faded altogether, for during the
following centuries, after the Chinese had already traded in Java a
long time, the eastern coast of Sumatra is not mentioned by them,
and it is only towards the end of the loth century that we find it
again, but under a new name.
SAN-BO-TSAI.
HISTORY OF THE SUNG DYNASTY (960 1279). Book 489.
" The kingdom of San-bo-tsai f is one of the southern bar-
barians ; it is situated between Camboja and Java, and rules over
fifteen different countries.
" Its products are rattan, red kino, % lignum-aloes, areca-nuts
and cocoa-nuts. They use no copper cash, but their custom is to
trade in all kind of things with gold and silver. During the whole
year the weather is mostly hot and seldom cold, in winter they
have no frost or snow. The people rub their bodies with fragrant
oil. The country does not produce barley, but they have rice and
green and yellow peas. Their poultry, geese and ducks are about
the same as in China.
jR -^ ?J ) golden mallows (Hibiscus mutabilis). I do not know
whether it was these flowers imitated in gold, or a peculiar species of this
ornamental plant, which has always been much valued in China.
' .H Wi W Arab travellers of the Qth century speak of the island
Sarbaza, which was subject to the king of Zabedj =. Ya-ba-di or Java. Sar-ba-za
and San-bo-tsai of course represent the same name, both perhaps with a net
quite correct transcription. Vide "Relation des voyages fails par les Arabes et
les Persans dans 1'Inde et a la Chine dans le IX. siecle," traduite par Reinaud,
Paris, 1845, p. 93. [The identification has since been fully discussed by
Professor A. P. van der Lith, 1.1., pp. 231-52].
* ^ $H > the Buddhist name for the red kino, made from the sap of the
Butca frondosa in India. Wells Williams, "Syllabic Dictionary," p. 463.
i88 NOTES ON THE
" They make wine from flowers, cocoa-nuts, penang or honey,
which are all intoxicating, though they use no leaven or yeast.
"For their music they have a small guitar and small drums;
slaves from Pulu Condore* make music for them by tramping on
the ground and singing.
"They write with Sanscrit characters, and the king uses his ring
as a seal ; they know also Chinese characters, and when presenting
letters with tribute they make use of them.f
" They have made a fortified city with a wall of piled bricks,
several tens of // J in circumference, and they use palm leaves for
covering their houses. The people live scattered outside the town,
and do not pay any taxes. When they have a war, they at once
select a chief to lead them, and everybody provides his own arms
and provisions. With a favourable wind the distance from this
country to Canton is twenty days.
"The king is styled Chan-pi, and in his country there are
many people whose names begin with Pu (lit. whose family name
is Pu).
" Towards the end of the T'ang dynasty, in the year 905, they
sent tribute, and the envoy, who was chief of their capital, got
from the emperor the title of the General who pacifies the Distant
Countries.
" In the Qth month of the year 960 Si-ri-hu-ta-hia-li-t'an|| sent
an envoy to bring tribute, which he repeated in the summer of the
next year. In the winter of the same year tribute was offered by
a king of the name Si-ri-wu-ya.^[
" In the spring of the year 962 the king Si-ri-wu-ya sent an
embassy of three envoys to bring tribute. They brought back tails
of the Yak (Bos grunniens or poephagus), white porcelain, silver
utensils, silk thread, and two sets of saddle and bridle.
" In the year 971 one of the former envoys was sent to present
iiL ~m 1$i Slaves from Condore seems to have been a general name
for slaves, winch the Malays probably got from this island and from the other
islands in the south of the Chinese Sea ; the dance here described is practised
even now by the natives of the Natuna and Tambilan islands.
f It is not probable that the natives knew Chinese, but we may infer from
this statement that there were already Chinese established in the country, who
wrote for the king the letters accompanying his tribute.
* JH Ten li is about three miles.
f*j- JjL . Our author probably makes a mistake here. \Ye shall see,
by-and-by, that San-bo-tsai was for a long time the principal port on this side
of the island, but that probably Palembang and Jambi existed long before
San-bo-tsai was destroyed ; we think that the author has heard the name of
Raja Jambi, i.e. the king of Jambi, and that he has mistaken the name of
the country lor the name of the king.
ii & Si * S ffi ffi if m & W .
MALA Y ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 189
crystals and lamp-oil ; in the next year he came again, and in 974
they brought as tribute ivory, olibanum, rosewatcr, dates and flat
peaches, white sugar, crystal finger-rings, glass bottles and coral-
trees. The next year new envoys came, who were presented with
caps and girdles.
"In the year 980 their king, Ha-ch'i (Haji or Aji),* sent an
envoy, and in the same year it was reported from Ch'auchou, that
a foreign merchant from San-bo-tsai had arrived in that port with
a cargo of perfumes, medicines, drugs, rhinoceros-horns and ivory ;
as the wind had been adverse he had been sixty days coming to
Ch'au-chou. His perfumes and drugs were all carried to Canton .f
" In the year 983 their king, Ha-chi,J sent an envoy, who brought
a tribute of crystal, cotton-cloth, rhinoceros-horns, perfumes and
drugs.
" In the year 985 the master of a ship came and presented
products of his country.
"In 988 an envoy arrived for the purpose of bringing tribute,
and in the winter of 9 92 information was received from Canton
that this envoy, who had left the capital two years ago, had heard
in the south that his country was invaded by Java, and had there-
fore remained a year. In the spring of 992 he had gone to
Champa with his ship, but hearing no good news there he came
back to ask for an imperial decree in order that his country might
follow his lead.
"In the year 1003 the king Se-li-chu-la-wu-ni-fu-ma-tiau-hwa ||
sent two envoys to bring tribute ; they related that in their country
a Buddhist temple had been erected in order to pray for the long
life of the emperor, and that they wanted a name and bells for it,
by which the emperor would show that he appreciated their good
intentions. An edict was issued by which the temple received the
name of Ch'eng-t'ien-wan-shou,^[ and bells were cast to be given
to them. Moreover one of the envoys got the title of the General
who is attracted by Virtue, and the other that of the General who
cherishes Civilizing Influence.**
f That the arrival of a foreign ship was specially reported to the Emperor,
does not necessarily show that it was a rare occurrence, but it was probably
done because Ch'au-chou (Swatow) was not open to foreign trade. It seems
that this ship put into Ch'au-chou by stress of weather, and it next was sent
to Canton, where it should have gone at first.
* JH 31 > the same name as under,* but written with other characters.
^ liHi ffffi ^B > we are unable to say what kind of cotton-cloth is meant
here.
i B * $ * Jg ft ft * : ' * X K
" & ffi m "%. and $ ft MF St.
1 90 NOTES ON THE
"In the year 1008 the king Se-ri-ma-la-p'i* sent three envoys
to present tribute ; they were permitted to go to the T'ai-shanf
and to be with the emperor in the audience-hall. Ultimately they
were sent back with very liberal presents.
"In 1017 the king Ha-ch'i-su-wu-ch'a-p'u-mi J sent envoys with
a letter in golden characters, and tribute in the shape of pearls,
ivory, Sanscrit books folded between boards, and slaves; by an
imperial edict they were permitted to see the emperor and to visit
some of the imperial buildings. When they went back an edict
was issued addressed to their king, accompanied by various
presents calculated to please him.
" In 1028, the 8th month, the king Si-li-tieh-hwa || sent envoys
to carry tribute. The custom was that envoys from distant
countries, who brought tribute, got a girdle adorned with gold and
silver, but this time girdles entirely of gold were given to them.
"In 1067 an envoy, who was one of their high chiefs, called
Ti-hwa-ka-la,^f arrived in China ; the title of Great General who
supports Obedience and cherishes Renovation,** was given to him,
and he was favoured with an imperial edict of the following con-
tents: 'Our reputation and Our teachings overshadow all
countries, whether far or near, and if their people are only loyal
and dutiful, We always give them Chinese titles, favouring them
with fine names in order to distinguish their countries. You have
gladly obeyed Our high influence and come across the sea to bring
valuable articles as tribute ; We praise you for this, and have raised
your rank in order to give an encouragement to loyalty and duti-
fulness.'
"During the period Yiian-fung (1078 1085) envoys came from
this country, again bringing silver, pearls, camphor-oil, olibanum
and other products of the country. The letter they brought was
first forwarded to the court from Canton, where they waited until
they were escorted to the capital. The emperor remembering that
they had come very far, gave them liberal presents, and then
allowed them to return. The next year he gave them 64,000 strings
of cash, 15,000 taels of silver, and favoured the two envoys who
had come with honorary titles. One of these envoys asked per-
mission to buy golden girdles, various things made of silver, purple
& m m m &
^ Jf| llj > one of the sacred mountains in China, province of Shan-tung.
our translation is subject to doubt.
J perhaps Sri Devva.
> DcwaKala? ** JR
MALA Y ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 191
dresses for Buddhist monks and official tablets,* all which was
given him according to his desire.
"In the year 1080 a foreigner from the south arrived at Canton ;
he said that he had the direction of the affairs in his country, and
the daughter of the king sent a letter in Chinese characters to the
superintendent of trade, together with camphor-baros and cotton-
cloth. The superintendent dared not receive this, and he reported
it to the throne, whereupon he was ordered to pay the estimated
value of the goods ; the said functionary then bought silks for the
amount and gave these to them.
" In 1082 three envoys from this country came to have an
audience from the emperor, and brought golden lotus-flowers
containing pearls, camphor-baros and sa-tien ;f they all received
honorary titles, according to their rank. The third envoy died in
China after he had left the capital, and the government gave a
present of fifty pieces of silk for his burial.
"In 1083 three other envoys came, who all received honorary
titles, according to their rank.
"In the period Shau-sheng (1094 1097) they made their
appearance once again.
"In the year 1156 the king Si-li-ma-ha-la-sha \ sent envoys to
bring tribute. The Emperor said : c When distant people feel
themselves attracted by our civilizing influence, their discernment
must be praised. It is therefore that I rejoice in it, but not
because I want to benefit by the products of their country.' On
this occasion the king had also sent pearls to be presented to one
of the ministers, who had however died in the meantime ; the
emperor gave orders to receive them, and to pay in return the
estimated value.
"In the year 1178 they again sent envoys to bring as tribute
products of the country : on this occasion the emperor issued an
edict ordering that they should not come to court any more, but
make an establishment at Ch'iian-chou in the province ofFukien."
The above account does not teach us much about the country
it treats of, but still we have thought it advisable to translate it in
extenso, as it contains much information on the intercourse which
was carried on between China and the countries of these parts
during the time. What we said above, on p. 129, about the tribute
of which the Chinese always speak, is fully carried out by the
details given here. The ceremony of bringing tribute to the
emperor was only a pretext to gain facilities for the trade, and the
pifi Jill > the meaning of these words is doubtful.
TfS M? we have been unable to find out the meaning of these words.
* % !l Ac SS P S 4 Sri Maharadja ; the text has fi instead of 4 ,
but this is probably a misprint, which we correct without hesitation.
192 NOTES ON THE
princes of the eastern coast of Sumatra largely availed themselves
of it, for this tribute was brought by them many times more than
is recorded in the account translated by us, where only those
instances are mentioned on which the historian had something
remarkable to tell ; but in the biographies of the different emperors
we meet also with a careful record of other visits, which have not
found a place here. It appears also that at last the Chinese began
to find these compliments rather expensive, and relegated their
foreign friends to Ch'iian-chou, to trade there in the ordinary
way.
In transcribing the names of the different kings, the old Mandarin
pronunciation has been followed, because these names were
written down at court and not carried to China by merchants from
southern China ; we are however but very insufficiently acquainted
with the pronunciation of that period, and so our transcription may
often not be quite correct. This is perhaps one of the causes
why many of these names look so strange, and cannot be brought
back to their original native sound. For the same reason we have
omitted the names of the different envoys, which are all given in
the Chinese text ; as they could not be identified they were of no
use, and would only have bewildered the reader.
The house of Sung was driven from the throne of China by the
Mongols who reigned under the name of Yuan, but it seems that
these did not occupy themselves any more with the southern
countries after their unsuccessful expedition against Java ; the
history of this dynasty says nothing of the other islands, and it was
only after its expulsion from China that the former official inter-
course was resumed again.
HISTORY OF THE MING DYNASTY (1368 1643). Book 324.
" San-bo-tsai,* formerly called Kandali, for the first time sent
envoys with tribute in the reign of the emperor Hsiau-wu of the
former Sung dynasty (454 464) ; during the reign of the emperor
Wu of the Liang dynasty (502 549) they came repeatedly, and in
the time of the second Sung (960 1279) they brought tribute
without interruption.
"In the year 1370 the emperor sent an envoy to command the
presence of this country ; and in the next year the king, who was
called Maharaja Prabhu,f sent envoys with a letter written on a
golden leaf, and bringing a tribute of black bears, cassowaries,
peacocks, parrots of various colours, different kinds of perfumes,
~ tyV ^ > see above, p. 187.
* / Pfr M tL A f ') h > Ma-ha-la-cha-pa-la-pu.
MALA > ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 193
//(loth,* blankets of woollen cloth, f and many other articles.
The emperor ordered to give them a copy of the imperial calendar,
and pieces of silk according to their rank. At the same time the
Board of Revenue reported that a vessel with merchandize,
belonging to them, had arrived at Ch'tian-chou and wanted to
make it pay duties, but the emperor gave orders not to let it
pay.J
."In the year 1373 the king Tan-ma-sa-na-ho sent envoys to
bring tribute, with a separate letter of congratulation for the next
new year.
" At that time there were three kings in this country.
"In 1374 the king Ma-na-ha-pau-lin-pang || sent envoys to
bring tribute, which was repeated in the first month of the next
year,
"In the ninth month of the year 1375 a king called Sang-ka-
liet-yii-lan^[ sent envoys to present tribute ; these envoys came to
court following an imperial envoy who returned from a mission to
another country.
" In the year 1376 the king Tan-ma-sa-na-ho died and his son,
Ma-la-cha Wu-li** succeeded him; the next year the latter sent a
tribute of rhinoceros-horns, cassowaries, white monkeys, black
and green parrots, tortoise-shell, cloves, camphor-baros and other
articles. The envoys said that the son dared not ascend the
throne on his own authority, and therefore asked the permission of
the Imperial court. The emperor praised his sense of duty and
ordered envoys to bring him a seal and a commission as king of
San-bo-tsai.
"At that time however San-bo-tsai had already been conquered
by Java, and the king of this country, hearing that the emperor
had appointed a king over San-bo-tsai, became very angry and
sent men who waylaid and killed the imperial envoys. The
emperor did not think it right to punish him on this account.
i& ^P [See M. d'Hervey de Saint-Denys, 1. 1., p. 539, note 141],
J\* Jf4u $%. - to-lo, blankets; the same word, with the first character
changed into (^ , is now used for Spanish stripes [ib., p. 474, note 33].
We have here a direct proof that the envoys, who brought tribute, were
at the same time engaged in trade.
11 ft $!> P u tt ^ ?B i the three last syllables remind us forcibly of
Palembangi and would seem to strengthen our supposition (v. p. 199) that,
whilst San-bo-tsai was the chief place on the coast, Palembang and Janibi
existed already as more or less independent states.
* ft fflli Si * ffi
* ft 35 % 3* M , probably Maharaja Wuli.
SECOND SERIES. VOL I. O
194 NOTES ON THE
" After this occurrence San-bo-tsai became gradually poorer,
and no tribute was brought from this country any more.
"In 1397 the officers of the Board of Rites memorialized the
emperor, saying that the different barbarians had not brought
tribute long since.
"The emperor replied as follows: 'In the beginning of my
reign the different barbarians continually sent envoys with tribute;
amongst these were Annam, Champa, Camboja, Siam, Java,
Liukiu, San-bo-tsai, Bruni (northern coast of Borneo), Pahang
(on the Malay peninsula,), Sumatra (the northern coast of the
island), and many other countries ; but lately San-bo-tsai has
availed itself of the rebellion of Hu Wei-yung, and by deceitful
representations enticed our envoys to their country, and the king
of Java, having heard of this, sent men to point out to them
that they were misled, and sent them back with great polite-
ness.* Since that time the commercial intercourse has been
stopped.
" ' The different countries are not of the same mind ; Annam.
Champa, Camboja, Siam and Liukiu appear at court and bring
tribute as before, and moreover Liukiu has sent young men to
study here. Whenever the barbarian countries send envoys, they
are always treated with politeness, and I am not at all indifferent
towards them ; but at present I do not know their mind.
" ' If we send messengers to Java now it is to be feared that
San-bo-tsai will stop them on their way. I understand that this
San-bo-tsai was originally a country belonging to Java.
" * You now may take my views and communicate them to
Siam, with orders to bring them to the knowledge of Java.'
" On this the ministers of the Board sent a letter saying : ' As
long as heaven and earth have been, the difference between ruler
and subject, between high and low, has existed. The countries
on all sides of China are united in one by our government, and
formerly the different barbarians from over the sea came regularly
to enjoy its influence ; but now San-bo-tsai has got bad inten-
tions, it has deceived our trusty envoys and made itself guilty of
treachery. Our holy emperor treats all the barbarians with the
same benevolence and justice, how dare they then be ungrateful
for these high favours and forget the duties of a subject towards
his prince? If the wrath of the emperor is aroused, he may send
an army of a hundred thousand men to carry into execution the
punishment of heaven, as easily as turning his hand ; why do
not the barbarians recollect this ? Our holy emperor has said
that Annam, Champa, Camboja, Siam and Liukiu observe their
duties as subjects, but San-bo-tsai alone turns itself against his
* The imperial statement of -the case is not quite correct ; perhaps the
emperor's pride could not openly avow that his envoys had been killed.
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 195
holy instructions ; though it is smaller than those countries, it
ventures to be obstinate and so will cause its own ruin.
" ' As you, Siam, reverently observe the duties of a subject, so
that the government ordained by heaven has great regard for
you, it has been entrusted to you to inform Java that it must
speak to San-bo-tsai about its duties, and if this latter country
changes its evil ways, it will be received kindly as before.'
" At that time Java had completely conquered San-ho-tsai and
changed its name to Ku-kang.* When San-bo-tsai went down
the whole country was disturbed, and the Javanese could not keep
all the land ; for this reason the Chinese, who were established
there, stood up for themselves, and a man from Nan-hai (Namhoi)
in Canton, called Liang Tau-ming,^ who had lived there a long
time and roamed over the sea, followed by several thousand men
from Fukien and Canton, was taken by them as their chief. He
reigned as master of a part of the country, and his son, who once
met an imperial envoy sent on a mission out of China, was taken
by the latter to the court.
"In the year 1405 the emperor sent a messenger, who was from
the same town as Liang Tau-ming, with an order summoning him
to court Tau-ming and his confederate, Cheng Po-k'o,J followed
this envoy and brought as tribute products of the country. They
returned bestowed with many presents.
" In 1406 the (Chinese) chief of Ku-kang, called Ch'en Tsu-i.
. sent his son, whilst Tau-ming sent his nephew, to go to court
together. Tsu-i was also a man from Canton, and though he sent
tribute to court, he carried on piracy at the same time, and the
envoys from other countries who brought tribute to China,
suffered much at his hands.
"In 1 407, when the imperial envoy Cheng Ho came back from the
west, he sent a messenger to call him ; Tsu-i feigned obedience but
secretly made plans to rob him too. Another Chinese, of the name
Shih Chin ch'ing,|| informed Cheng Ho of this, and when Tsu-i
came to attack him, he was made a prisoner, brought to the capital
and executed there. At the same time Chin-ch'ing sent his son-
in-law to bring tribute, on which the emperor gave an order to
institute the office of Pacificator of Ku-kang, ^[ and appointed
* 3flf Ait:
83- Hsr Ku-kang, "the Old River," is the Chinese name for Palemhang
up to the present day.
f f m m m . * m t a *s
* pjl JPil liH W r e see here that there was a Chinese chief at Ku-kang
and another at San-bo-tsai, therefore these two were different places, which
question we will discuss at the end of this account.
"PJ < "inpare p. 169, note J.
196 NOTES ON THE
Chin-ch'ing to it ; a seal, a hat and girdle were given to him by
imperial command, and since that time tribute was brought re-
peatedly. Though Chin-ch'ing had received a commission from
the emperor, he was at the same time subject to Java ; his ter-
ritory was not large and could not be compared to the old San-
bo-tsai.
" In 1424 the son of Chin-ch'ing, called Shih Chi-sun,* reported
that his father had died, and asked permission to succeed him,
which was granted. In 1425 he sent envoys to bring tribute,
who stated that the old seal had been destroyed by fire, on which
the emperor ordered a new one to be given him. After this their
tribute gradually became more rare.
" Towards the end of the period Chia-ching (1522 1566), the
famous Cantonese robber, Chang Lien.f made a disturbance, and
after some time the military officers reported that they had captured
him ; in the year 1577 traders who came to Ivu-kang saw that this
man had there a large commercial establishment (lit. a row of
shops), and was chief of the native ships ; a large number of
Chinese from Fukien were attached to him, and he was like a
superintendent of trade in China.
" This country is a place of much importance for the trade of
the barbarians; it is situated at the west of Java, from where, with
a fair wind, the passage takes about eight days. The country is
divided into fifteen districts, the soil is fertile and fit for agricul-
ture, and there is a saying : ' If you plant rice one year, you have
gold for three,' meaning that the harvest is abundant and may be
sold for much money.
" The rich people are much given to sensuality.
" The inhabitants of this country are skilled in fighting on the
water, and therefore their neighbours fear them.
" The country is rich in water ; only the chiefs live on the
land, whilst the common people dwell on the river ; for this
purpose they build their houses on rafts, which are fastened
to poles in such a way that, when the tide rises, the rafts are
Ufted up without being flooded. When they want to remove
to another place they have only to pull up the poles, which
does not cost much money or labour. 1
" The lower classes call their superiors by the title of Chan-pi, J
which means the same as sovereign of the country. After-
wards the place where their first chief lived, was called Chan-pi
(Jambi) also.
1 [See the account in the Notes 1>y Van dcr Lith, 1. 1., p. 247.]
1 m ~Jf- ^ee note on page 168. The explanation of Chan-pi in this
article, is probably a repetition <>f tlu- error \ve pointed out there.
MALAY ARCIliri-.LAGO AND MALACCA. IQV
" The country has changed its old capital for Ku-kang (Paleni-
l)ang) ; formerly it was a rich country, but since the conquest
by Java it has gradually become poorer, and few trading-vessels
go there. Its customs and products have been described in the
history of the Sung Dynasty."
In the beginning of the i5th century the eastern coast of
Sumatra was also visited by the famous imperial envoy Chcng-
Ho (s. above, p. 167), and one of his followers (s. above, p. 170)
has given us the following account of the country, which has
evidently been used also by the authors of the history of the
Ming dynasty.
YING-YAI SH&NG-LAN (1416).
" Ku-kang is the same country which was formerly called San-
bo-tsai ; it is also called Palembang,* and is under the supremacy
of Java. It borders on Java at the east and on Malacca at the
west, in the south are large mountains, and in the north it extends
to the sea. From whatever place ships come they enter the
Strait of Bankaf at the Fresh-water river,t and near a place with
many pagodas built of bricks, after which the merchants go up the
river in smaller craft, and so arrive at the capital.
"A large number of the inhabitants are people from Canton,
Chang-chou and Ch'iian-chou, who have run away and esta-
blished themselves here. The people of this country are very
rich, the soil being most fertile, and there is a proverb saying :
* when one sows for one year, he can recolt for three,' which is
not at all exaggerated.
" The country is not large. The people exercise themselves
much in fighting on the water, and as there is more water than
land only the houses of the chiefs stand on shore, whilst the rest
of the people build their houses on rafts, which are attached to
piles, so that they rise with the water and cannot be flooded.
When they want to go and live in another place they pull up the
piles and remove with their whole house, which is very con-
venient.
" The river has two flood-tides every day.
" The manners and customs, the marriage and burial ceremonies,
as well as the language, are all about the same as in Java.
* ffi ftf IP * EftSBS&ifJtMBJBJRiUi
flf fi-
'
nvcr.
vt , T'an-kang must have been the Chinese name for the I'alcmbang
"' fi!{ J-U '(V- 7l j'H > the two latter places in the province uf Fukicn.
198 NOTES ON THE
"Formerly, in the period Hung-wu (1368 1398), a Cantonese
called Ch'en Tsu-i, along with some others, ran away with his
whole family to this place, where he set up as a chief, and being
of a very bad disposition he plundered all the merchant-ships
passing there. In 1407 the government envoy, Cheng Ho, arrived
here with a fleet, and another Cantonese, called Shih Chin-ch'ing,
came to give information about the wicked intentions of Ch'en
Tsu-i ; the envoy thereupon took the latter alive and sent him to
the capital, where he was punished by death. Shih Chin-ch'ing
got a cap and a girdle, and was allowed to go back as the chief of
Ku-kang and to rule the country ; when he died he had no son,
so his daughter came in his place, and rewards, punishments, de-
positions and appointments were all made by her.*
" The products of the country are lignum-aloes in different qua-
lities, yellow wax, benzoe and other articles, all of them not found
in China. Benzoe looks as if it were inlaid with silver ; it has the
appearance of dark glue, with white wax inside, the better sorts
having much white and little black ; when it is burned the smell
is very strong, and the natives, as well as the men from Soli,f like
it very much.
" There is a bird from which the so-called crane-crests are taken ;
it is as large as a goose, with black feathers, a long neck and a
pointed bill. Its skull is about an inch thick, outside red and
inside like yellow wax ; it has a very fine appearance and is called
crane-crest ; J they use it for the handles and scabbards of their
swords, and for different other purposes.
"Here also is found the cassowary, which is as large as a
crane ; it has a round body and a thin neck, longer than that of
* This does not quite agree with the account in the History of the Ming
dynasty (v. above p. 196), but the contradiction is only apparent. Shih Chin-
ch'ing was appointed chief of the Chinese at Palembang in 1407, and in the
same year he sent his son-in-law to the capital of China, probably because he
had no son, or, at least, not one of sufficient age. When Ma Hvvan, the author
of the Ying-yai Sheng-lan, visited Palembang, which was before 1416, he found
Chin-ch'ing dead, and succeeded by his daughter. This change was not made
known to the Chinese court before 1424, when a son of Chin-ch'ing, who either
was very young at the time of Ma Hwan's visit, or may have been adopted after
that time, had taken his father's place and came to ask the imperial sanction.
f We have stated above that Soli was a country somewhere in India (v. pag.
166), and the men from Soli, meant here, probably were the Klings of the
present day.
+ $$ 1M This bird is not a crane, but the buceros, characterised by a
large beak, with an excrescence on the top of it, which is generally hollow, but
solid with some species ; even now it is much user! in Canton, where brooches
and other ornaments for the European market are cut out of it.
* ^Ay *$ the fire-fowl ; this name has been afterwards applied to the turkey,
which is now designated by it. The cassowary is not found on Sumatra, and
the specimen our author saw must have been brought from the Moluccos.
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 199
the crane ; its soft red crest is like a red cap, and begins on both
sides of the neck ; the beak is sharp and the whole body is
covered with hair as of a goat ; sparse, long, and of a greenish
colour. It has long legs, with hard, black claws, which are very
sharp, so that it can rip open a man's belly until the entrails come
out and death follows. It likes to eat burning coals, whence its
name. It is impossible to kill it with a stick.
" In the mountains of this country a supernatural animal is
found, called the divine stag.* It looks like a large pig, and is
about three feet high ; the forepart of the body is black, the hind
part white, and the hair is sleek, short and very fine. The mouth
is like that of a pig, but not flat in front ; the hoofs have three
grooves and it only eats plants, not other animals.
" The cattle, goats, pigs, dogs, fowls and ducks, gourds and
fruit, are the same as in Java.
" The people of this country are much given to gambling ; they
play pa-kui, chess, or fight cocks, in all cases staking money.
" In trading they take Chinese copper coin and cotton-cloth f
They also send to China tribute of the products of their country."
On the trade of Palembang and Jambi in the i6th century we
find the following notice in the
TUNG Hsi YANG K'AU (1618). Book 3.
"When a ship arrives at Ku-kang (Palembang), a present of
fruit and silk is offered to the king, for which there is a fixed
quantity.
" When the men of Jambi bargain for goods, the price is
agreed upon in gold, but they pay only with pepper ; e.g. if some-
thing costs two taels of gold, they pay a hundred picols of pepper,
or thereabout. They like to buy outside women, and girls from
other countries are often brought here and sold for pepper.
" They use money made of lead.
" San-bo-tsai was formerly known as a rich place, but since it
was conquered by Java, the capital had been deserted and few
traders go there now."J
From the different extracts translated by us, and treating of the
eastern coast of Sumatra, we see that it was known to the Chinese
* ~*tb tfr
J|"T /ED > evidently the tapir, a native of eastern Sumatra.
f The Ilsing-ch'a Sheng-lan has the following passage :
"Articles of import are glass-pearls of various colours, green and white
crockery, copper caldrons, cotton-cloth and silk -gauze of different colours,
coloured silks, large and small earthen jars, copper coins, etc."
J This account is not very clear : Ku-kang is Palembang, but at once the
author introduces "men of Jambi," without saying whether they traded with
these at their own capital, or only at Palembang.
200 .VOTES ON THE
of the 6th century as Kandali, which name has since been lost and
is not found anywhere else.
In the icth century the Chinese speak of it as San-bo-tsai,
which is the Sarbaza of the Arabian travellers who visited the
country a hundred years before ; the latter inform us that it was a
dependency of Java in their time already, and it would seem that
in this, as well as in other instances, these Javanese conquerors
settled there and soon made themselves independent from their
mother-country, for the Chinese speak of a new invasion about 990
and another conquest about 1377 (v. above p. 189, 161 and 193).
With this last conquest the name of San-bo-tsai disappears, the
new conquerors establishing their capital at Palembang.
We are not told at what particular place San-bo-tsai was situated,
but only see on page 195 that it was apart from Palembang. It is
probable, however, that it was on the same river, in the first place,
because it was the largest stream of the coast, and therefore the
best accessible place for foreign trade, and secondly, on account of
the Chinese name which was given to Palembang and its river
after the conquest of 1377. They called it Ku-kang, "the OldRiver,"
to distinguish it from Jambi, where probably the princes of San-
bo-tsai established their capital, after they had been driven away
from the old one by the Javanese ; this name, " the Old River,"
given by them to the river of Palembang, implies that they were
familiar with it long since, and that it had been visited by them
during their previous trade, which we know had always been
carried on at San-bo-tsai.
It is not to be supposed that Jambi and Palembang were new
places altogether ; they probably existed before, and only rose to
higher importance by these political changes. We see on page 193
that previous to the conquest of Java, there were three different
kings in the country, and the names of Jambi and Palembang
occur also before this event, coupled with the names of those kings
(v. above p. 188 and 193). The explanation of the name Jambi,
given in the history of the Ming dynasty on page 196, does not
seem reliable, but rather to have no other authority than the fancy
of the writer.
INDRAGIRI.
This country, situated on the eastern coast of Sumatra, a little
to the north of Jambi, is mentioned for the first time in the
HISTORY OF THE MING DYNASTY (1368 1643). Book 325.
" Indragiri* is a country under the control of Java ; its circum-
J 1/3$ jEL ' Ting-ki-gi ; the transcription is very inaccurate, but lhi> has
i.iten happened to Chinese geographers, when they met with an uncommonly
hard name.
.I/.//../ r ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 201
ference is very small and it does not contain more than a thousand
families. As Johore was crafty and had, and as Indragiri was
situated in its neighbourhood, it had always to suffer from it.
Afterwards it sought a matrimonial alliance with Johore by large
presents of silk, and then it had a little more peace.
" In this country they have fortifications of wood, and at the
side of their chiefs residence stand a clock-tower and a drum-
tuwer. When the king goes out, he rides on an elephant.
"The loth month is the beginning of their year.
" The manners and customs of the people are much like those
in Java, and the products of the country are the same as of
Johore.
" The people set great value on cleanliness ; whatever the chief
eats is all cut and cooked by himself.
" The precepts against wine are strictly observed, and there is a
duty on it ; people of rank never drink any, and only vagabonds
of the lower classes take it, and even these are scolded and
ridiculed by their equals.
" In marrying, the husband goes to the house of the wife and
afterwards belongs to her family, therefore they prefer getting girls
to boys.
" The bodies of the dead are burned.
" The Chinese who went to trade there found the people fair
in their dealings, but since the country has been conquered by
Johore, few merchants visit it any more."
TUNG Hsi YANG K'AU (1618). Book 4.
"The natives of Indragiri* only trade with us on our ships, to
which they come for the purpose. They are nearly the same as
those of Johore, but their customs are better and their goods
cheaper. Since this country has been invaded by Johore it has
no rest, and the foreign traders are also in continual danger, for
which reason mariners mostly turn their backs on it."
Before leaving the eastern coast of Sumatra we will treat of the
smaller islands which are near it, and which, according to our plan,
must find a place here.
BILLITON, OR BLITUNG.
In the account of the Mongol expedition against Java in 1293
(v. supra, p. 157) we have seen that this island was then called
Kau-lan, K6-lan, or Kou-lan ; t the Chinese travellers of the
beginning of the fifteenth century still know it by the same name,
as is shown in the following account, taken from the
202 NOTES ON THE
HSING-CH'A SHENG-LAN (1436). THE ISLAND KAU-LAN.*
"Going from the Sacred Mountain in Champa, with a fair wind,
one may arrive here in ten days. The island is high and covered
with trees ; rattan, bamboo, material for rudders, spars, masts,
yards and sails are all to be found here.
" When, in the time of the Yuan dynasty, the imperial generals
Kau Hsing and Shih-pi went to attack Java with numerous
soldiers and large ships, they were driven by a storm on this
island, and many of their ships were lost ; therefore they landed
and constructed a hundred vessels, after which they continued
their expedition against Java, captured the chief of the country
and brought him to China. Amongst the present inhabitants are
still Chinese, for about a hundred sick soldiers were left behind
and settled here.
" The weather is always hot, and little rice is produced ; the
people live chiefly from hunting.
" Men and women have their hair in a knot ; they wear a short
jacket and a sarong.
"Articles of export are skins of leopards, bears and deer, and
also tortoise-shell ; articles of import are rice, glass beads of all
colours, green cloth, copper articles, green earthenware, etc.
BANKA.
On page 197 we have seen the strait of Banka mentioned in
order to determine the situation of Palembang, but nowhere the
island itself is described under this name. We think, however,
that the following account applies to Banka, or at least to its
eastern coast.
HSING-CH'A SHENG-LAN (1436).
" Ma-yi-tungf is situated at the west of the island of Billiton
Kaulan), in the southern ocean. It has high mountains and flat
land intersected by small rivers.
" The people live together in villages. The climate is rather
warm. Men and women have their hair in a knot, wear long
dresses and sarongs of different colours. The fields are very
fertile and produce more than in any other country.
" They highly value chastity, and when a husband dies his wife
^ m> ill $Jj In the History of the Ming dynasty, where this article is
copied nearly verbatim, the name is written HJJC 5^ ff| We take it to lie
the island of Jlanka from its situation, but have not been able to identify the
name [Van der Lith, 1. 1., p. 253 5.]
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 203
cuts her hair, lacerates her fare and docs not eat for seven days,
sleeping all the time together with the dead body of her husband.
Many die during this time, but if one survives after seven days,
her relations exhort her to eat; she may then live, but never
marries again. On the day that the husband is burned, many
wives throw themselves into the fire and die also.
" Salt is boiled out of sea-water, and wine fermented from
sugar-cane.
" Products of the country are cotton, yellow wax, tortoise-shell,
areca-nuts and flowered cotton-cloth.
" Articles . of import are copper-pots, unwrought iron, cotton-
cloth, silks of different colours, etc."
LINGGA.
HSING-CH'A SHNG-LAN (1436).
"The Strait of Lingga* is situated to the north-west of Palem-
bang (San-bo-tsai) ; high mountains face each other as the teeth
of a dragon, and between these the ships pass.
" The soil is barren and yields only little rice ; the climate is
warm, and in the 4th and 5th month there are heavy rains.
" Men and women have their hair in a knot, and wear a short
jacket with a sarong of striped stuff. They chiefly live from piracy,
and when they see native vessels they go out with many hun-
dreds of small boats to attack them ; when there is a favourable
wind these ships may escape, but otherwise they are plundered
and the crew killed. Therefore ships are very careful in this
neighbourhood."
NORTHERN COAST OF SUMATRA.
POLL
HISTORY OF THE LIANG DYNASTY (502 556). Book 54.
" The kingdom of Poli f is situated to the south-east of Canton,
on an island in the sea ; the distance from Canton is two months,
travelling daily. From east to west the country is fifty days broad,
and from north to south it is twenty days ; there are one hun-
dred and thirty-six villages in it. The climate is warm, just as the
summer in China ; rice ripens twice a year, and plants and trees
are very luxuriant. The sea produces spotted conches and
Hi ^T f ) the first two characters, used for the transcription of the
native name Lingga, originally mean " Dragon's teeth," and we next see the
writer, preoccupied by this name, discover a resemblance to a dragon's mouth
in the configuration of the country.
t ^Ij, 1',,-H, IVli, Ta-ri or Bari.
204 NOTES ON THE
canrics. They have a kind of stone, called kampara* which is
soft when first taken and may be cut into figures and dried, after
which it becomes very hard. The people of this country use cotton
for their clothes, and also make sarongs of it.
" The king uses a texture of flowered silk wrapped round his
body ; on his head he wears a golden hat of more than one foot
high, its shape resembling the one called pien^ in China, and
adorned with various precious stones. He carries a sword inlaid
with gold, and sits on a golden throne with his feet on a silver
footstool. His female servants adorn themselves with golden
flowers and all kinds of valuables, and some of them carry white
feather-dusters or fans of peacock-feathers.
" When the king goes out, his carriage, which is made of dif-
ferent kinds of fragrant wood, is drawn by an elephant. On the
top of it is a flat canopy of feathers, and it has embroidered
curtains on both sides. People blowing conches and beating
drums precede and follow him.
" The king's family name is Kaundinya, J and he never before had
any intercourse with China. When asked about their ancestors,
or about their age, they do not know it, but they say that the wife
of S'uddhodana was a woman from their country.
" In the year 518 they sent an envoy to present a letter of the
following contents: 'We humbly enjoy that the holy prince (of
China) believes in the three gems, and has erected pagodas and
temples, beautiful, large and imposing, filling the whole land.
The roads of his country are large and even, clean, and without
filth ; terraces and halls abound everywhere, resembling the
palaces of heaven, grand, beautiful and mysterious, the world has
nothing to compare with them. When the holy king (of China)
goes out numerous soldiers surround him on all sides, and
feathery banners are about him everywhere. The people in the
capital are well dressed ; the shops are abounding and rich, filled
with valuable articles ; the king's institutions are excellent, and
there is no thieving. Students collect from all sides to study the
three conveyances (triyana), and the preaching of the true law
goes over the whole world, and comes to all kingdoms as an over-
^if Jl $fc J wc nave not keen able to trace tins name. The material
meant here is well known ; it is a soft silicious stone, hardening on being
exposed to the air, and found in various parts of the archipelago.
(EJ ?f 3l As Kaundinya was the maternal uncle, and S'uddlio.lona
the lather of lUiddha, it would seem that the princes of this country were
immigrants from India, who claimed relationship with P.uddha and were fer-
vent liiuldhists ; this may explain the letter to Hie emperor of China, of which
we subjoin a translation, though as we observed l>elore, such letters must be
regarded with diffidence.
MALAY AkCIIiri'.LAGO AND MALACCA. 205
shadowing cloud, or as a penetrating rain. The course of his
teaching is like a largo river full of water, pure, cool, deep and
large; all that lives is benefited by it, and it cannot be defiled.
In his country the forces of nature are well balanced and no
disasters strike it.
" 'The holy king at Yang-chow, in the great country of Liang,
has no equal. With paternal love and sympathy he rules over his
co.untry, treating and fostering all mankind as his children, feeling
with them in their difficulties, making no difference between friend
and foe, relieving those that are destitute, and not hoarding for his
own benefit. He shines on every thing, as the light of the sun ;
all rejoice in him, as in the bright moon.
" ' His ministers are wise and virtuous, his officers pure and
faithful ; with the utmost loyalty they serve their prince, thinking
of nothing else.
"' I humbly consider the emperor as my true Buddha. I am
the king of the country Poli, and now reverently prostrate myself,
and do homage at the feet of my holy lord, only hoping that
Your Majesty may know my feelings, which I have cherished
long since, and which are not of to-day. Mountains and seas
separate us, and 1 cannot have the happiness of coming myself to
you, but I now send an envoy to present golden mats and other
things. I have written down my true feelings.'
" In the year 523 the king, Pin-ka,* again sent an envoy, called
Chu-pa-ti,t to bring as tribute white parrots, glass utensils, cotton-
cloth, cups made out of shells, different kinds of perfumes and
medicines, altogether a considerable number of articles."
HISTORY OF THE Sui DYNASTY (518 617). Book 82.
" When from Giau-chi (Northern Annam) one goes southward
by sea he passes Chih-t'u and Tan-tan, J and next comes to Poli.
Its breadth from east to west is four months' travel, and from
north to south it takes forty-five days.
"The king's family name is Ch'a ri-ya-ka,|| and his personal
name Hu-lan-na-po.^[ The functionaries are called Tu-ka-ya-na,**
and those of lower rank Tu-ka-si-na.ft
" The people of this country are skilled in throwing a discus-
knife ; it is the size of a (Chinese metal) mirror, in the middle is
a hole, and the edge is like a saw ; when they throw it at a man
* $JI ft Pin-ka or Vingka. f IS M ^
* ^ i > the Red Earth, and JJ ft ', the first, a place in the Gulf of
Siam ; the second, Southern Siam or Northern Malacca.
$mm- ".so fjt&fti. I^ESBI.
206 NOTES ON THE
they never fail to hit him. Their other arms are about the same
as in China. Their customs resemble those of Camboja, and
the productions of the country are the same as of Siam. When
one commits a murder or theft they cut off his hands, and when
adultery has been committed, the culprit has his legs chained for
the period of a year.
"For their sacrifices they choose the time when there is no moon ;
they fill a bowl with wine and eatables and let it float away on the
water ; in the eleventh month they have a great sacrifice.
" They get corals from the sea, and they have a bird called s'ari*
(beo, gracula religtosa). which can talk.
"In the year 616 they sent an envoy to appear at court and
bring tribute, but they ceased to do this afterwards."
NEW HISTORY OF THE T'ANG DYNASTY (618 906). Book 222.
" Poli f is situated at the south-east of Camboja ; going by sea
from Northern Annam (Giau-chi) and passing the gulf of Siam
and Malacca, one arrives there. The country is large, and its
settlements are numerous; a horse is also called ma by them.
Its circumference is many thousand //. In this country they have
a kind of fire-pearls, \ of which some are as large as a hen's egg ;
they are round and white, and shed a lustre to a distance of
several feet ; if you let the sun shine through them on tinder it
takes fire immediately.
" The country produces tortoise-shell, spotted conches and a
stone called kampara ; this substance is soft at first, so that you
can cut it, but after it has been carved it becomes hard. There
is also a bird called s'ari (beo, gracula religiosa), which under-
stands human speech ; its body is black, its head red, and it has
claws like a hawk.
" They carry the teeth of wild beasts in their ears and wrap a
piece of cotton round their loins ; cotton is a plant of which they
collect the flowers in order to make cloth of them ; the coarser
kind is called kn-pa^ and the finer cloth fich*^ They hold their
markets at night, and cover their faces.
v'v JgC ) evidently a kind of burning-glass, but whether of glass or crystal,
and manufactured in what place, we have no means to ascertain.
#fl R St ' Sec page 204.
" "pf J.-}. sometimes writ I en 3 _(, , transcription of the Malay name for
cotton : kapas, kapa and kapcli.
' -
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 207
"The king's family name is Ch'a-ri-ya-ka,* and his own name
Hu-lu-na-po ; t his dignity is hereditary. His dress consists of a
piece of flowered silk or cotton, adorned with pearls, wrapped
round his body ; he sits on a golden throne, and on both sides
are attendants with white dusters and fans of peacock feathers.
When he goes out he sits in a chariot drawn by elephants,
with a canopy of feathers and embroidered curtains, whilst
music is made by sounding gongs, beating drums, and blowing
conches.
"At the east of this country is situated the land of the
Raksha's,+ which has the same customs as Poli."
The country called Poli (Pali, Pari, or Bari) in the three pre-
ceding articles, is said by all Chinese geographers to be the
northern coast of Sumatra, and its neighbourhood to the Nicobar
Islands is a sufficient proof that they are right. ]t is true that
the direction of these islands is wrongly given, but this occurs
often in those earlier times, and especially in those cases where,
as here, the notice has been compiled from other sources, by an
author who understands nothing of, and cared little about, the
subject.
It is probable that here, as in other instances, the whole country
has been called after the capital or chief native establishment on
the coast ; what particular place this may have been, we have no
means to ascertain. The rulers were Hindoos, professing the
Buddhist religion, and it seems that an extensive part of the
country recognized their authority.
From this time the name of Poli disappears, and it seems that
intercourse with China ceased completely as well, for we do not
find it mentioned again before the beginning of the fifteenth
century, and the "T'hai-ping Hoan-yii Ki," a universal geography,
published between 976 983, only gives an abstract from the
three articles we translated just now, without adducing any new
material.
\Vc therefore come at once to the beginning of the fifteenth
century, when this country was visited by the Chinese embassy
of which we spoke on p. 170; and two of its members, the same to
whom we are already indebted for very interesting accounts of
other countries, have also left us a description of this, to which
they give the name of Sumatra.
#U *!) 3P Ufl The first two characters are a common transcription of
the word Kshattriya, the caste of warriors and kings.
+ ${l ^'J This has been, for a long time, the name of the Nicobar
Islands, probably on account of the wildness and bad reputation of their
inhabitants.
208 .VOTES ON TUT.
SUMATRA.*
YING-YAI SHENG-LAN (1416).
" This country is situated on the great road of western trade.
When a ship leaves Malacca for the west, and goes with a fail-
eastern wind for five days and nights, it first comes to a village on
the sea-coast called Ta-lu-man;t anchoring here, and going
south-east for about ten // (3 miles), one arrives at the said place.
" This country has no walled city. There is a large brook
running out into the sea, with two tides every day ; the waves at
the mouth of it are very high, and ships continually founder there.
" To the south of this place, at a distance of more than a
hundred //, are high and wild mountains ; to the north is the sea,
and on the east are also high mountains, extending as far as the
territory of Aru. Due west, on the sea-coast, are two small
countries : the first is the territory of the king of Nakur,J and the
next that of the king of Litai.
"The king of Sumatra was formerly attacked by the king of
Nakur and killed by a poisoned arrow ; he left one infant son,
who could not avenge his father, and therefore the king's wife
made a public oath, saying : ' Whoever can avenge the death of
my husband and recover his land, I am ready to marry him and
reign together with him.' When she had said this there was an
old fisherman who roused himself, and said : * I am able to avenge
him.' Thereupon he led the army, defeated and killed the king
of Nakur, and avenged the death of the late king. W T hen the
king of Nakur was killed, his people retreated and submitted, and
did not undertake any more hostilities. The king's wife did not
break her former engagement, but married the old fisherman, who
was called the old king, and all affairs of the palace and the
country went by his orders.
*' In the year 1409, moved by his sense of duty, he brought as
tribute products of his country, and was favourably received by
the emperor. In the year 1412 he returned to his country, when
the son of the former king, having grown up, secretly leagued
with the nobles, killed his stepfather, the fisherman, and took his
* & P3 ^ #J > sometimes written gj X 8 U
^ ^ " ^8 > Ta-lu-man, or Ta-ru-ban. Il may be interesting to compare
with this the account of Ibn Uatuta, who visited this place in 1346. \Vc quote
from the translation by S. hoe, p. 200 : " \Yhen we had arrived at the shores
of this place, we put into the port, \\hich is a small village in which there arc-
sonic houses, as well as magazines for the merchants, and from this the city of
Sumatra is at the distance of four miles, at that place resides the king."
* m a *
MALA Y ARCHIPELAGO AND AT A LA CCA. 209
throne. The fisherman had a nephew railed Su-kan-lah,* who
assembled his followers with their families, and ran away into the
mountains, where he made a fortification and soon began attacks
to revenge the death of his uncle.
" In the year 1415 the eunuch Cheng Ho arrived here with a
fleet ; He sent his soldiers to take Su-kan-lah prisoner, and sent
him to the court of China, where he was condemned to death.
The son of the king was grateful for the imperial favour, and
continually sent tribute to the court of China.
" The climate of this country is not the same during the whole
year ; in the daytime it is warm as in summer, and at night it is
cool as in autumn. In the fifth and seventh months there is much
malaria.
" The mountains produce sulphur, which is found in caves, and
on these mountains no plants or trees will grow, the ground being
scorched. The fields are not very fertile either ; they only plant
rice in dry fields, where it ripens twice a" year, but barley and corn
are not found. Pepper is grown near the mountains, where
people plant it in gardens ; it grows against other objects. Its
flowers are yellow and white, and pepper is the fruit, which is
first green and becomes red when it is ripe. When half ripe it is
gathered and dried in the sun in order to be sold. The pepper
with large and hollow kernels comes from this place. Every
hundred catics, official weight, are sold for eighty pieces of gold,
representing a value of one tael of silver, f
" The fruits are plantains, sugar-cane, mangostine, nangka, etc.
There is one kind called by the natives durian^ eight or nine
inches long, and with sharp points on its surface ; when it is ripe
it divides into five or six parts, and when opened smells like
rotten beef; it has large kernels covered with a juicy and white
pulp, fourteen or fifteen in number, and very sweet and nice ;
when the kernels are roasted they taste like chestnuts.
"Citrons are abundant throughout the whole year; they are
not very sour, and can be kept a long time without rotting.
"There is a kind of mango, called by the natives yaw-pa ; it
is like a pear, but a little longer, and has a green skin ; its smell
is very strong, and when eaten the skin is removed and slices of
the pulp are cut off; it is sour and sweet, very nice, and the
kernel is the size of a fowl's egg.
" Peaches, pears, and such fruit are not found at all.
* & $ $'i i probably Su-kan-dah (lah) or Sekander.
t It is probable that an error has crept into the text here.
" MS W 5 J il j > ttt-ri-yeii ; the original has ^ instead of fjj , which must
l>c a misprint.
SECOND SKRIKS. - VOL. I.
210 NOTES ON THE
" The vegetables are onions, leek, ginger, and mustard; squashes
mv very abundant and last long; the water-melon is green outside
and has red kernels ; some grow to the length of two or three
feet.
"The people keep many cows, and milk is extensively sold.
The goats are all black ; white ones are not found. There are no
capons, the natives not understanding how to castrate them, but
their large fowls weigh as much as seven catties, and are very
tender ; with a little cooking they taste well, in fact they are
superior to the fowls in any other country. The ducks have short
legs, and some weigh as much as five or six catties. They have
also mulberry trees, and the people rear silkworms, but they do
not understand how to spin the silk, and only make wadding of it.
" The customs of this country are pure ; the language, the
marriage and burial ceremonies, the dress, etc., are all the same
as in Malacca.
" The houses of the people are high from the ground and have
no flooring of boards : they split up cocoa- or areca-palm trees,
which are fastened with rattan, over this they put rattan-mats and
so live in them.
" This place is visited by many native ships, and the trade in
native articles is very important ; the money used are coins of
gold and tin. The golden coins are called dinar* and contain
seven-tenths of pure gold ; they are round, have a diameter of
5 fen official measure (1.6 centimeters), and weigh 2 fen 3 // (a
little more than 9 decigrammes). f
;< In trading they make much use of tin money."
HSING-CH'A SHENG-LAN (1436).
" Going from Malacca with a fair wind it takes about nine days
to arrive at this country. The people live along the sea-shore,
and the land is not very fertile ; it produces pepper, which grows
against trees and poles ; the leaves are like those of flat beans,
the flowers are yellow and white, and hang down in clusters, like
those of the coir-palm. One po-ho being a native weight equal
to three hundred and twenty catties, official weight, costs twenty
pieces of silver, weighing six taels.
*mm a-
f Fur the reduction of those weights and measures, see note on pa
Instead of 2 j\'n 3 It, however, we have to read 2 ch* icn 3/V/, which is ten
tune,, as much, and then we get a weight of about 10 grammes for the ,/inar,
which suits its si/.e better, and agrees with the details given on the ne\:
+ $5 -fuj , baliar or bahara, a commercial weight varying much in different
places, ami still in use during the first times of Kumncan intercourse.
MALA Y ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 2 1 1
"The golden dinar* is a golden coin, twenty of which weigh
5 taels and 2 mace of gold, f
" The manners and customs are pure ; many people live from
fishing ; in the morning they put out to sea in boats made out of
one tree, and they return at night.
" The men wrap up their hair in a white handkerchief and tie a
coarse cloth round their loins ; the women bind up their hair in a
knot, have the upper part of the body naked, and round the lower
part a coloured cloth.
" They make salt out of sea-water, and wine from the fruit of a
palm-tree. J
" Articles of import are green and white earthenware, copper,
and iron, Java-cloth, coloured silks, etc."
HISTORY OF THE MING DYNASTY (1368 1643). Book 325.
11 Sumatra)) is situated at the west of Malacca, at a distance of
seven days if the wind is fair. It is a centre of intercourse in the
western seas.
"In the beginning of the reign of the emperor Ch'eng-tsu (1403
1424), envoys were sent to this country to inform its ruler of
his accession, and to call him to court, whilst in the year 1404 the
emperor sent envoys to present the chief of the country with
velvets, silks, and gauzes embroidered with gold, and to bring him
to the imperial court. When the eunuch Yin Ch'ing^f was sent to
Java, he visited this country also, and when Cheng Ho went to
the western ocean in 1405, presents were sent again.
"Before Cheng Ho arrived there the chief, Tsai-nu-li-a-pi-
ting-ki,** had sent envoys with Yin Ch'ing to go to court and carry
tribute ; the emperor issued an edict appointing him king of
Sumatra, and gave him a seal, a commission, and a court-dress of
coloured silk. After this he sent tribute every year, and did not
cease as long as the emperor Ch'eng-tsu lived.
It ft*
t This would give 10 grammes for the weight of a dinar.
* 5C W ^p Kajang fruit. Kajang is the Malay name for mats made
from different palm-leaves, chiefly of the nipa palm (nipa fruticans). It may
be that this palm-tree is meant here, but the author is certainly mistaken
in saying that wine is made from the fruits, as only the sap from the flo\vcT-
stalks is used for this purpose.
* yJR P^ 'ftj ) we have been unable to ascertain v\hat kind of cloth is
meant here.
ii m n M . *?&.
"* 3 $( JI p} ejj T B ; the three last syllable*, perhaps, express the
native title /. .
P 2
212 NOTES ON THE
" Cheng Ho was sent three times to this country ; when he
came there for the first time, the father of the king had been fighl
ing with his neighbour, the king of the country of the Tattooed
Faces,* and had been killed by an arrow; the king's son was still
young, and his mother cried out to the people : ' Whoever can
avenge me, I will take l.im tor my husband and reign together
with him.' There was a fisherman who heard this ; he rallied the
people of the country and went to attack the enemy; after killing
their king he came back, and the wife of the late king took him
for her husband, on which he was called the old king.
"AVhen the son of the late king was grown up he secretly
leagued himself with some people of rank, killed the old king and
took his place; a younger brother of the old king, called Sit-
kan-la (Sekander),f escaped into the mountains and harassed the
country for several years.
" AVhen Cheng Ho went there again in the year 1414, this Su-
kan-la was dissatisfied that he got nothing from the imperial
presents', and therefore collected several thousands of men to
attack and rob Cheng Ho; the Chinese soldiers and the people
of the country routed them, and killed a large quantity of these
robbers, who were pursued as far as Lambrit and brought back
prisoners. The king then sent envoys to present his thanks.
" In the year 1426 envoys came with congratulations, and in
[430, the emperor, seeing that the envoys of many outer bar-
barian countries did not appear with tribute, sent Cheng Ho and
\Yang Ching-hung to go to all these countries with the following
edict: 'I have received the mandate of Heaven; I am carrying
out the great task handed down to me by my illustrious ancestors,
and reign as sovereign over all countries. I have taken the
benevolent way of my ancestors, spreading peace over the whole
world, and not seldom forgiving guilt. At the beginning of my
reign 1 have adopted the style of Hslian-te. You, different bar-
barians, who live far away over the sea, perhaps have not yet
heard of all this. I now send the eunuchs Cheng Ho and Wang
Ch ing-hung, with an edict and orders, and 1 hope that you may
follow the good path, treat your people well and enjoy together
the happiness of universal peace.' These envoys went to more
than twenty countries, amongst which was Sumatra.
"The next year this country sent envoys twice to bring tribute.
In the year 1433 they brought a tribute of dragon's-blood. In
tin: year 1434 the king's younger brother came to court and died
in the capital. The emperor pitied him much, bestowed a post-
humous title on him, appointed an officer to take care ol the
? ]5 HI 5 the same as Nakur, <|. v.
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 213
funeral, and gave one family to look after the grave. At that time
Wang Ching-hung had gone again to that country, and the king
sent another younger brother to go with him to the court ; he told
that the king was already old and could not manage the affairs
any more, and now asked permission to cede the throne to his
vn, railed A-pu-sai,* who was accordingly appointed king of the
country.
" From this time their tribute became gradually more rare. In
the year 1486 envoys from this country came to Canton, but as
the authorities there found they had no seal or token as a sign of
their office, they locked their letter in the treasury and told them
to go back. The envoys sent some of their people to the capital
by a different way, bringing various articles as tribute, but as the
return presents were not many, no envoys of them came any
more.
"During the period Wan-li (1573 1619) the reigning family
was twice changed, and at last their king was a slave. At first the
master of this slave was one of the great dignitaries of the kingdom,
and commander of the troops. The slave was treacherous and
cunning ; first his master ordered him to take care of the
elephants, and the elephants all became fat ; he was ordered to
superintend the fish tax, and every day he presented large fish to
his master. The latter was much satisfied with him and employed
him as an attendant, who was always about his person..
" Once he followed his master to court, where he saw the king
exalted and dignified as a god, and his master bowing with the
utmost reverence.
" When they left the palace he said to his master : * Why were
you so very reverent ?' His master replied: 'It was the king,
how could I dare to be otherwise.' The slave said again :
4 It is only that my master does not wish to be king, if he
wished he should be one at once.' His master scolded him
and ordered him to retire.
' ( )n another day he came again and said : ' The body-
guard of the king are few in number ; you, as commander of
the army must certainly take leave of the king on going out
of the town ; I pray you to take me with you, and then you
must tell the king that you have a secret affair, and ask him
to send away those who are about him ; the king will have no
suspicion, and then I will avail myself of the opportunity, kill
him and make you king; this is as easy as to turn my hand.'
"His master assented ; the slave indeed slew the king and
cried out loudly : ' The king did not follow the right path, there-
fore I have slain him, and now my master is king ; whoever has
to say anything against it, will feel this sword.'
2i4 NOTES ON THE
"The people submitted and dared not stir; his master then
usurped the throne and let his slave do whatever he chose ; he
gave him the command of the army, and not long afterwards the
slave killed his master and put himself in his place. He then
took great precautions : he enlarged the palace and made six
doors to it, which nobody could enter without permission, and
even the high officers were not allowed to come to the audience
hall with their swords ; when he went out he sat on an elephant
bearing a small pavilion all surrounded with curtains, and there
were more than a hundred of these animals got up like this, so
that the people could not make out on which one the king was
sitting.
"The customs of the people are pretty good, and they are quiet
in their speech ; only the king is much given to cruelty ; every
year he kills more than ten people and washes his body with their
blood, saying that this may prevent disease.
" Amongst the things they brought as tribute were precious
stones, agate, crystal, carbonate of copper,* good horses, rhino-
ceros-horn, ambergris, lignum-aloes, putchuk, cloves, swords,
bows, tin, pepper, sapanwood, sulphur and such more.
" When merchant vessels go there they trade with them in a
fair way. The soil is poor and they have no wheat, but there is
rice which ripens twice a year. Merchants from all sides collect
at this place, and as the country is distant and the prices high,
the Chinese who go there make more profit than anywhere else.
" The temperature is hot during daytime and cool at night ; in
summer malarious fevers are prevalent.
"The women leave the upper part of their body bare, and only
fasten a piece of cloth round their loins. The customs and man-
ners of this country are much like those of Malacca.
" After the murder of the king, the name of the country was
changed into Atjeh."f
The three preceding articles, beginning on p. 208, give the
name of Sumatra to the northern part of the island, which is now
entirely called by this name. In this case the name is certainly
taken from the capital or principal settlement on the coast.
Marco Polo, who visited Sumatra in 1290, speaks of Samara,
which probably is the same place, as the difference in sound is
easily explained by the circumstances under which Polo's book
was written. Ibn Batuta (1346) correctly calls it Samathra, or
Samuthra, and describes its situation nearly in the same terms as
our author. It appears that this place, Sumatra, was not situated
* Here follows an article called [SI "}>/ , which I have not been able to
identify.
' 'ill ?^> a correct transcription of the native name, which has been cor-
rupted by Europeans into Aeliin or Aelieen.
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 215
on the spot of the present Acheh, but more to the east, on one of
the smaller rivers which fall into the sea there ; this is proved
beyond doubt by the fact that three smaller states were situated
due west of it, before the Indian Ocean, on the western side of the
island, was reached, the last of these three occupying the site of
the present Acheh, as will be shown afterwards. Native tradition
points to Pasei as the former seat of the ruling state in these
parts, and it seems that this tradition is right here, for we find the
name Samudra preserved in a village on the left bank of the Pasei
river, about three miles from the sea. In this village is the tomb
of a sainted Arab, who is said to have introduced the Islam into
the country. It is possible that this villege only borrowed its
name from the ancient capital, and is not situated at the place
where this stood ; it may also be that this Arab apostle was not
buried in the capital itself, but it is more probable that we have
here a remnant of that capital, and that the man who introduced
the Islam lived and preached, and then was also buried,
where this influence could be turned to its best account, /. e. in
the political centre of the country, as was the habit of these ardent,
but well advised men. At the mouth of the Pasei river we find
even now the high and dangerous surf mentioned above on p. 208.
We do not learn at what epoch Sumatra lost its importance, and
was supplanted by Acheh ; the time assigned to this event in the
' History of the Ming Dynasty,' translated just now, is certainly too
recent, and we think that the latter part of this article does not
apply to Sumatra, but to the new capital of Acheh.
Of this latter place, at least under its modern name, we have
only found the following account :
ACHEH.
TUNG Hsi YANG K'AU (1618). Book IV. fol. nr.
On the Trade.
"When a ship arrives there is a guard who looks out and
informs the king of it, and an elephant is sent to take the captain,
who goes with it, and has an audience. Presents of fruit and silk
are sent to the king, who on his side gives him a dinner. The
taxes on the trade are said to be very just."
(Here we omit a quotation from the Hsing-ch'a Sheng-lan,
which has already been translated on page 211.)
"The ambergris costs 12 golden coins the tael, which makes
192 golden coins a caty ; taking such a golden coin as equal to
9000 copper cash of China, the price cannot be called cheap.
" Those who come from far to this country make more profit
than elsewhere, and during the Sang dynasty it had the reputation
of possessing much gold, silver and silk, whilst the skill of its
216 NOTES ON THE
artisans was highly praised. Even now it is still as rich and pros-
perous as before."
No other places on this coast are mentioned in the older
sources, but the two accounts, for which we are indebted to the
Chinese embassies of the beginning of the i5th century, describe
quite a number of them, which notices we will now translate,
beginning on the eastern side of the north-coast.
THE COUNTRY OF THE FRESH-WATER SEA. *
HSING-CH'A SHENG-LAN (1436).
" This country is connected with the territory of Aru,f and is
three days away from Malacca. There is a sea-arm entering the
land, with a large stream (or large streams) falling into, it ; this
stream covers the sea to a large distance, and its water is clear and
sweet, for which reason the mariners who pass it call it the sea of
fresh water.
" The ground is fertile and rice abundant ; its grain is pointed
and small, but has a delicious flavour.
" The manners and customs of the people are rather good.
The weather is always warm ; men and women have their hair in
a knot, and wear a striped sarong round their loins.
" Articles of import are gold, silver, iron goods, earthen-
ware, etc."
This place probably is the mouth of the river Rokkan and the
adjacent part of the Sumatra coast. It falls into the sea, south of
the Aru-group, through a large estuary, into which two other rivers
of considerable importance discharge their waters, and where,
during the rainy season, the sea-water may easily be covered by a
sheet of fresh water. As there was no place of note in this neigh-
bourhood, the name of this phenomenon has been given to the
whole locality.
THE KINGDOM OF ARU.J
YING-YAI SHENG-LAN (1416).
" Going from Malacca with a ship for four days and nights one
may arrive there.
" In this country is a river called the Fresh-water River, and
entering this one arrives at the settlement. On the south of this
country are large mountains, on the north it has the sea, on the
west it is connected with Sumatra, and on the east there is all
flat land.
ii iRr lit- tin: Fresh-water Sea. ' 55 *iy ) v. next article.
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 217
" The soil is only fit for dry rice-fields, and the rice is of a very
small grain, but there is always a sufficient quantity of it. The
people live by agriculture and fishing.
44 Their manners and customs are pure ; the ceremonies of
marriage, burial, etc., are similar to those in Java and Malacca.
Foreign goods are little used by them. Cotton-cloth is called
k'au-ni. * Besides rice they have plenty of cattle, goats, fowls
and ducks ; milk is much used amongst them.
" The king and the people are all Mahommedans.
44 In the forest is a sort of flying tiger, of the size of a cat ; its
whole body is covered with hairs of an ashy colour, and it has
fleshy wings like a bat ; these wings connect the fore with the
hind legs and it cannot fly far ; when it is caught it will not be
fed, and soon dies.
44 The country is small, and produces nothing for export but
fragrant resins and such things."
HSING-CH'A SHENG-LAN (1436).
44 Aru f is situated opposite to the Sembilan-islands ; \ with a
fair wind it takes three days and nights to go there from Malacca.
44 The customs of the people, and the climate, differ little from
Sumatra. The soil is barren and produces little; the people
chiefly live on bananas and cocoa-nuts.
44 Men and women go with the upper part of the body naked,
and wear round the lower part a coarse cloth ; for their livelihood
they fish in the sea, in boats made out of one tree, or they go into
the forest to collect camphor and such things. Every man carries
a bow and poisoned arrows to protect himself.
44 The products of the country are crane-crests and camphor,
which they sell to foreign traders. In exchange they take coloured
silks, earthenware, glass beads, etc."
HISTORY OF THE MING DYNASTY (1368 1643). Book 325.
" Aru is situated near Malacca ; with a fair wind the passage
takes three days.
44 The customs and manners are about the same as in Sumatra ;
their fields are poor and yield little, but they plant large quantities
of plantains and cocoa-nuts, which they use as food.
44 In the year 1411 their king, Su-lu-tang Hut-sin, || sent envoys
to bring tribute, together with those of Calicut and other countries.
^r / ) perhaps kain, the Malay name for textiles.
t.
* 7L /Ij the Nine Islands, or Pulu Sembilan, on the coast of Perak.
* B or 35$.
t > probably Sullhan llusain.
218 NOTES ON THE
The envoys were presented with caps, girdles, silks, money and
paper-money, and presents for the king were sent with them.
" In the year 1412 Cheng Ho visited their country as an imperial
envoy.
"In the year 1419 the king's son, Tuan A-la-sa,* sent envoys
to bring tribute, which was repeated in 1421 and 1423. In 1431,
when Cheng Ho went to the different barbarian countries, presents
were also sent to this land, but afterwards their tribute-bearers did
not come any more."
The name of the country, mentioned above, still survives in the
Aru islands, but from the description it clearly follows that not
these were meant, but a place on the coast of Sumatra. It is
however probable that the Aru islands belonged to it, and either
are indebted to it for their name, or that it was called after them ;
we think, therefore, that it was that part of the coast which is
nearest to them, about the mouth of the Burumon River.
When the Europeans arrived in these parts, Aru still existed as
a separate kingdom, and in the first war of the Portuguese with
Acheh we find the king of Aru amongst their allies.
On its western frontier this country bordered on the territory of
Sumatra, which has been treated already, and we may therefore
proceed at once to the western side of the latter state, where three
other countries were visited by the Chinese envoys.
NAKUR.
YING-YAI SHENG-LAN (1416).
" The king of Nakur f is also called the king of the Tattooed
Faces. His country is situated at the west of Sumatra, and con-
sists only of one mountain-village ; his people tattoo their faces
with three pointed green figures, and for this reason he is called
the king of the Tattooed Faces.
" The country is not large, and has only about a thousand
families. The arable land is small with regard to the population ;
they make dry rice-fields, but the product is not very abundant.
" Pigs, goats, fowls and ducks are all found.
" Their language, manners and customs are the same as in
Sumatra, but there are no articles of export, the country being so
small."
HSING-CH'A SHNG-LAN (1436).
" The country of the Tattooed Faces J borders on Sumatra,
* S W M &> Tuan Arsa (?) f 55 E 51 , Na-ku-ul,.
+ 'ft ifti Wl > wc have seen just now that Nakur was knuwn by this
name also.
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 219
and extends as far as the sea of I.ambri ; it is all situated along
the mountains, but still its fields produce rice in sufficient quantity.
" The weather is variable. The men tattoo their faces with
representations of flowers and animals ; their hair hangs loose,
and the upper part of the body is naked, the lower part being
covered with a single piece of cloth. The women wear a coloured
piece of cloth, and have their hair in a knot behind the head.
."The country is rich in cattle, goats, fowls and ducks.
"The strong do not oppress the weak ; high and low equally
cultivate the ground ; the rich are not proud towards the poor,
whilst the poor do not steal ; indeed it may be called a virtuous
country.
" The land produces different kinds of perfumes, and also blue
lotuses.*
" In the neighbourhood is the mountain Nakur,f which yields
sulphur. When our fleet was in Sumatra, men and ships were
sent there to collect it.
" Articles of import are silks, earthenware, etc.
"The chief, having received presents from the emperor, has
ever since sent products of his country as tribute."
The account in the history of the Ming dynasty is only an
abbreviated copy of the two articles given above, and may there-
fore be omitted.
It seems that this Nakur was an advanced establishment of the
Battas, the wild natives who lived in the interior, whilst the coast
was more settled by Malays, or similar people. 1 The limited
number of a thousand families, given by the author, can only
apply to those who lived in the neighbourhood of the Sumatra
frontier ; but the circumstance that they were able to carry on a
war with so large a country as Sumatra, and the fact, mentioned
by the author, that the territory extended inland as far as the sea,
on the west-coast of the island, sufficiently show that they were a
tribe of considerable importance.
LITAI.
YING-YAI SHENG-LAN (1416).
"The country of LitaiJ is situated at the west ofNakur; on
the south it is bordered by large mountains, on the north it extends
1 [On the probability of Nakur being identical with Angkola in the Ualta
country, see Van der Lith, 1. 1., pp. 237 43.]
* If? ft The history of the Ming dynasty, which has copied its account
from tliis article, writes |j? ft Li-fall ; we have preferred to follow the
original narrative ,
220 NOTES ON THE
as far as the sea, and on the west it is bordered by Lnmbri. Tile-
population amounts to one or two thousand families, who have
chosen one man to be their chief, and to administer their affairs.
They acknowledge the supremacy of Sumatra. The country
produces nothing for export. The language and the customs are
the same as in Sumatra.
" In the mountains there is an abundance of rhinoceroses ; the
king is in the habit of sending men to hunt them, and the horns
are brought to China as tribute, together with that of Sumatra."
LAMBRI.
YING-YAI SHENG-LAN (1416).
"The country of Lambri* is situated due west of Sumatra, at a
distance of three days, sailing with a fair wind; it lies near the sea,
and has a population of only about a thousand families. The
inhabitants are all Mahommedans, and very good people. On the
east the country is bordered by Litai, on the west and the north
by the sea, and on the south by high mountains, at the south of
which is the sea again.
" The king is also a Mahommedan ; his house is built high from
the ground, on large wooden pillars forty feet long ; the ground
below has no enclosure, and cows, goats, and other domestic
animals freely live there, whilst above, a flooring and rooms are
made with boards ; it is very neat and clean, and he lives alto-
gether in the upper part. The houses of the people are the same
as in Sumatra.
" In this country, cows, buffaloes, goats, fowls, ducks, vegetables
and rice, are all scarce, but fish and shrimps are very cheap.
" They use copper cash, and the mountains produce the fragrant
wood called chiang-thin-hsiang.^ There are also white lotuses
and rhinoceroses.
" At the north-west of this country, in the sea, at a distance of
half a-( 7 ay, is a flat mountain, called the Hat-island ; J the sen at
the west of it is the great ocean, and is called the Ocean of
Lambri. Ships coming from the west all take this island as a
land-mark. Around this island, where the water is about twenty
feet deep, sea-trees grow, which are collected by the people, and
used as a valuable article of trade, it being coral. These trees
grow as high as three feet ; the stem is as thick as the thumb, jet
black, and glossy as jade-stone ; its branches are very handsome,
f$3 '/ ^0 PI > the country of Lam-po-li.
' F^ :S>r uf See the description of different products in the Appendix.
* 'to m . m & m & .
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 221
extending to all sides, and out of the stem cap buttons, and other
articles are made.
" About twenty to thirty families live at the foot of the moun-
tain, every man of whom calls himself a king ; if you ask a man
his name, he replies, ' aku radja,'* which means : ' I am a king ; '
and if you put the same question to another, he gives the same
answer, which is very remarkable. The island belongs to the king
of Lambri.
"Whenever Chinese ships arrive at Lambri, the king avails
himself of the occasion to send, as tribute to China, the fragrant
wood mentioned above, and other products of his country."
HISTORY OF THE MING DYNASTY (1368 1643). Book 325.
" Lambri is situated at the west of Sumatra ; with a fair wind it
takes three days to go there."
(We omit a part of this account, which is only a repetition of
the preceding.)
" In the year 1412 the king, Ma-ha-ra-sa,f sent envoys, together
with those of Sumatra, to carry tribute ; the envoys were presented
with court-dresses, and-the king got a seal, a commission and silks,
whilst Chng Ho was sent to carry the instructions of the emperor
to that country. Till the end of the reign of the emperor Ch'eng-
tsu (1424), they sent tribute every year.
"When, in 1430, Cheng Ho brought presents to different
countries, Lambri was one of them."
According to the last two extracts, Lambri must have been
situated at the north-western corner of the island of Sumatra, on,
or near, the spot of the present Achin. We see that it was bounded
by the sea on the north and the west, and that the Indian Ocean
was called after this insignificant place, because it was considered
to 1 iegin there. Moreover, the small island at half a-day's distance,
railed Hat Island, perfectly agrees with the small islands Bras or
Nasi, lying off Achin, and of which the former, with its newly
erected lighthouse, is a land-mark for modern navigation, just what
in our text it is said to have been for the natives then. We
venture to think that the much discussed situation of Marco
Polo's Lambri is definitely settled herewith. 1
The last place mentioned on this coast is the
PnJ jfix #'J \ JL -. the \vord:s are Malay, and correctly translated l>y I he
author.
t &*$.
1 [This view lias l>een adopted by Van der Lith in his Notes to the A'/Vi/Y-
'Ajiiib d I find, p. 234.] .
222 NOTES ON THE
AMBERGRIS ISLAND.*
USIXC.-CH'A SHKNG-LAN (1436).
" This island has the appearance of a single mountain, and is
situated in the sea of Lambri, at a distance of one day and one
night from Sumatra. It rises abruptly out of the sea, which
breaks on it with high waves.
" Every spring numerous dragons come together to play on this
island, and they leave their spittle behind. The natives after-
wards go in canoes to the spot and collect this spittle, which they
take with them. If they meet with wind or rough sea, they throw
themselves into the water, and, holding the boat with one hand,
and beating the water with the other, they gain the shore.
"The dragon-spittle is at first like fat, of a black and yellow
colour, and with a fishy smell ; by length of time it contracts into
large lumps, and these are also found in the belly of large fish, of
the size of the Chinese peck, and also with a fishy smell. When
burnt it has a pure and delicious fragrance.
" It is sold in the market of Sumatra, one tael official weight
costing twelve golden coins of that country, and one cati, 192 of
such pieces, equal to about 9000 Chinese copper cash, and so it is
not very cheap."
This must be Pulu Rondo, to the north-north-west of Acheen.
The western coast of Sumatra has never been described in
Chinese geographical literature ; it seems that no trade or inter-
course was carried on with it. Where it is mentioned at all, it is
continually confounded, sometimes with Persia, but mostly with
Arabia. The Tung Hsi Yang K'au relates the history of Mohammed
as having occurred on this coast. This can only be explained
by assuming that the Arabs, or Tazi, as they are called by the
Chinese, have had establishments or colonies on this side of the
island. Compare also note ft, on page 139.
BORNEO.
The first passage relating to this island in Chinese geographical
literature is found in the
HISTORY OF T'ANG DYNASTY (618 906). Book 222!).
" Sailing from Ch'ih-t'uf towards the south-west one conies to
Po-lo.J In the year 669 the king of this country sent an envoy,
ifE ^1 flJ'H > lit- the Dragon-spittle Island.
I >JJ jl ) "the red hoil," a place in the gulf <>f Slum.
* Sc )S> may also l>e read 1'a-la, or I'a-ra.
MALA Y ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 223
who came to court, together with the envoy of Iluang-wang
(Siam).''
There is, of course, not the slightest internal evidence that this
passage relates to Borneo, but all Chinese geographers agree in
assigning it to this island, which is designated by it up to the
present day. 1 We have further no means of ascertaining which
part of the island was meant, and here again the Chinese say it
was the northern coast, from which they have derived their name
for the whole island, just as we have taken Bruni, or Brunei, for
the same purpose.
It seems that, subsequently, the Chinese have had little or no
intercourse with Borneo or its inhabitants ; the name of Po-lo, at
least, disappears, and the northern coast of Borneo is not men-
tioned again before the time of the Ming dynasty, when we find it
under its present name of
BRUNEI.*
TUNG Hsi YANG K'AU (1618). Book V.
" Brunei is the same as Po-lo ; it is the last land of the eastern
ocean, and the beginning of the western sea. In the year 669 the
king sent envoys to court, together with those of Huan-wang
(Siam), but intercourse has since ceased for a long time.
"In the year 1406, the king sent his minister to the court, with
a tribute of products of the country. The emperor made presents
of embroidered silk to the king and his wife.
" It is said that the present king is a man from Fukien, who
followed Cheng Ho when he went to this country, and who settled
there ; for this reason there is a stone,, with a Chinese inscription,
near the king's palace.
"In former years this country had been attacked by the
Portuguese ; the people retired into the interior and threw poison
into the river, which, floating down with the current, killed a
large number of their enemies; on this they went away and
attacked Manilla.
" Formerly their city had a stone wall and a wooden wall ; the
stone wall was demolished in order to fill up the island Ch'ang-
yauf and shut out the sea ; the wooden wall exists until now.
" The king shaves his head and wraps around it a cloth em-
broidered with gold ; he has two swords at his side, and when he
goes out he walks, and is followed by 200 men. His relatives
1 [See also d'Hervey de St. Denys, 1. 1., p. 460.]
* !%. r *k, Uun-kii.
$ flic *yk > I' 1 - th^ Long-loined Island, perhaps I'ulu Miuua before the
rver.
224 NOTES ON THE
.ire called Fnngernn,* and arc only second in rank to the king
himself.
" The king has a golden seal, weighing sixteen taels ; on the
seal are Chinese seal-characters, and on the top is the image of
an animal ; it is said to be a present from the time of Yung-lo
(1403 1424). When the natives marry, they ask for an im-
pression of this seal on their backs. I fear, however, that it is
only represented as a present from the emperor, in order to
impress the people, but that it has not come from China at all.
" In their temples they always sacrifice living animals.
" The people are not allowed to eat pork ; who does so is
punished with death.
" In this country are the Mau-su,f who go to all places as
pirates ; half of the goods, and the men they bring back with
them, is given to the king.
" In this country there is a temple^ in which three men are
worshipped as deities, who were superintendents of public works,
and of the treasury, at the time the country was founded ; they
fell in battle, and were buried together on this spot ; a temple was
erected over their tomb, and when a merchant vessel arrives, it
must kill a cow or roast fowls, and offer at the same time melati
and other flowers ; if any man in .the ship does not worship he
becomes ill. When the people of the country go out trading, they
make an offering of flowers, and when they come back, having
made profit, they take two cocks, to whose feet they attach knives,
and let them fight before the tomb ; if one of these fowls is killed
they thank the deities for it, which is certainly very curious.
" The trade is carried on in the following way : When a
Chinese ship arrives presents are sent in to the king. The
trade is. superintended by a head-writer, a second writer, a head-
assistant, a second assistant, a functionary for the weights and
measures, etc. It is very difficult to get out of the river, and
it is necessary to do so with spring tides ; sometimes, before the
trading transactions are finished, the ships have to go out first
and wait outside."
We know that the work, from which this account has been
taken, was published in 1618, but the materials used in com-
posing it must partly have been written at a much earlier date. So,
for instance, the story of the Chinese, who is said to have gone
there in the beginning of the i5th century, and who was still
* ?[$ "pj 1 lil > Pang-ki-lan. In our days all the relatives of the king in
IJrunei have this same title.
^ ^ f&- } this was, at the time, the common name of the Chinese for the
]>onieo pirates, but we are not able to find out the origin.
J This temple is called }? #ft ffi J$j ; the temple Fow-na-chiau,
MALAY ./ AT ////'/':/..; (70 AND MALACCA. 225
reigning there as king. \Ye cannot say whether this story is true
or not, but it seems that at one time a large number of Chinese
had emigrated into this country ; native tradition at least says so,
and there is a Dayak tribe in the interior who claim to be
descendants of Chinese.
The history of the Ming Dynasty has also an account of Brunei
which, being only a repetition of what we translated just now,
may safely be omitted.
SULU.*
HISTORY OF THE MING DYNASTY (1368 1643). Book 325.
" The country of Sulu is situated near Puni (the western
coast of Borneo) and Java. Shortly after the year 1368 they
attacked Puni, where they made a large booty, and only retired
when Java came with soldiers to assist this country.
"In the year 1417 the eastern king of this country, Paduka
Pa-ha-la, f the western king, Ma-ha-la-ch'ih,J and the king of the
Mountain of Ka-la-ba-ting, called Paduka Prabu,|| brought their
families and their chiefs, altogether more than 340 persons, and
came over the sea to court, in order to carry tribute. They
presented a letter of gold, with the characters engraved upon it,
and offered pearls, precious stones, tortoise-shell and other
articles. . They were treated as those of Malacca, and after some
time they were each appointed king of their country, and pre-
sented with a seal, a commission, a complete court-dress, a cap,
a girdle, a horse with trappings, insignia of their rank, and other
things ; their followers also got caps and girdles according to
their rank. The three kings remained twenty-seven days, and
when they were about to return, each of them got a girdle
adorned with precious stones, a hundred taels of gold, two thou-
sand taels of silver, two hundred pieces of gauze and silk with
patterns, three hundred pieces of plain silk, ten thousand taels
in paper-money ,^[ two thousand strings of cash, one robe em-
broidered with golden snakes, one with dragons, and one with
kilins.
"The eastern king died in the government hotel at Te-chou ;*
the emperor sent an officer to perform sacrifices, and ordered
* & % - f B n ^ PA P& $'J , Pa-tu-ka-pa-ha-la.
* SI "ft $'1 5fc , probably Maharaja.
sV K; $ ! nm ~J Wi > probably the mouula ; n Klailmtangan, on the north-
eastern coast of Borneo.
II 9 S E *J h Fa-tu-ka Pa-la-pu. ^ V f .
ii& /M ' on * ne Grand Canal in the north of the province of Shan-tung.
SECOND SERIES. VOL. I. O,
226 NOTES ON THE
the authorities to provide the funeral and to arrange the tomb. He
got a posthumous title, and his wife and concubines remained,
with eighteen followers, to take care of the grave; when they had
finished the three years' mourning, they were sent back to their
country, and the emperor sent at the same time an envoy with a
letter to the late king's eldest son, Tu-ma-han ; * the letter was
of the following contents : ' Your father knew to honour the
Middle Country, and he came himself, with his family and his
officers, to the court, across ten thousand miles of sea ; I
appreciated his sincerity and appointed him king, treated him
with kindness, and sent officers to escort him back, but when the
boat had arrived at Te-chou he became ill and died. When I
heard this I was very sorry ; I ordered a burial and sacrifices
according to the rules, and as you are the eldest son of his first
wife, the people of the country belong to you, and it is fit that
you should succeed him, in order to satisfy the people. I there-
fore appoint you eastern king of Sulu ; you must more and more
cultivate your feelings of loyalty, and respectfully follow the way
prescribed by Heaven, to assist my loving disposition, and con-
tinue the intentions of your father. Respect this.'
" In the year 1420 the western king sent an envoy to bring
tribute.
" In the year 1421 the mother of the eastern king sent to court
a brother of her late husband, called Paduka Suli ; f he presented
as tribute a large pearl, weighing more then seven taels.
"In the year 1423 the concubine of the late eastern king
returned to her country ; she was sent away with liberal presents.
The next year they sent tribute again, but did not come any more
afterwards.
" During the period Wan-li (1573 1619) the Franks attacked
them many times, but as their towns were naturally fortified by
mountains, they could not subdue them.
" We have no information about this country in former times.
" The soil is poor, and rice and barley are not abundant ; the
people all eat fish and shrimps ; they make salt by boiling sea-
water, and wine by fermenting the juice of the sugar-cane ; the
outer fibres of the bamboo are woven into cloth. The weather
is always hot.
" There is a pond with pearls in it, and at night their light
is seen on the surface of the water ; the natives sell pearls to
the Chinese, and on the large ones enormous profits are made.
When the (Chinese) merchant vessels leave, a few of their men
are detained as hostages for their coming back again.
"Near Sulu there is a country called Kau-yoh, from where
tortoise-sKell comes."
MA LA Y ARC HI PEL A GO AND MALA CCA. 2 2 ^
In addition to the above article we find the following in
the
TUNG Hsi YANG K'AU (1618). Book V.
"Of the three kings who came to China in 1417, the eastern
king is the first, the western king the second, and the king
of the Mountain the third.
" Merchant vessels which have been there speak of a city lying
on a high steep mountain, this is probably the capital of the
king of the mountain (Klaibatangan).
" Trade is carried on in the following way : When a ship
arrives there natives take all the goods and carry them for
sale into the interior, whilst they sell also to the neighbouring
countries, and when they come back, the native articles are
delivered to our merchants as payment When many pearls
have been found during a year, and our traders get large
ones, they make a profit of many hundred per cent. ; but even
if there are only a few pearls, still a profit of a hundred per cent.
is made.
" The natives are always afraid that our ships will not come
there, and whenever a ship leaves they detain some men as
hostages, to make sure that the ship will call again."
The above accounts of Sulu do not require any further ex-
planation ; it only deserves attention that, whilst Brunei is
called the country of the pirates on page 224, this accusation
is not at all brought against those of Sulu, who in later days have
become so notorious on this account ; their attack on the west
coast of Borneo however, mentioned on page 225, looks much
like a piratical expedition.
From the sailing directions given in the "Tung Hsi Yang
K'au," it seems that Chinese vessels going to Sulu first went
over to the Philippines, and made the voyage along the different
islands of that group.
BANJERMASIN.*
HISTORY OF THE MING DYNASTY (1368 1643). Book 323.
" At Banjermasin they have a city with walls of wood, one
side of which lies against a mountain. The chief of this country
keeps several hundreds of finely dressed girls, and when he
goes out he rides on an elephant, and is followed by these
girls carrying his clothes, shoes, knife, sword and betel-tray ;
if he goes in a boat he sits cross-legged on a couch, and
these girls sit on both sides with their faces turned towards
fit"
Q 2
228 NOTES ON THE
him, or are employed in poling the boat ; his state is always
very great.
" Many of the people make rafts of trees bound together,
and build houses on the water, in which they live, just as it is done
at Palembang.
" Men and women use a piece of cloth, with many colours,
for wrapping round their head ; their back and breast are ge-
nerally bare, but sometimes they have a jacket with short
sleeves, which they put on over their heads ; the lower part
of their body is covered with a piece of cloth. Formerly they
used plantain-leaves as plates, but since they trade with the
Chinese, they have gradually begun to use earthenware. They
also very much like earthen jars with dragons outside ; when
they die they are put into such a jar and buried in this way.
" They detest adultery, and he who commits it is punished
with death ; when a Chinese has intercourse with one of their
girls they cut off his hair, and give him the girl as a wife, never
allowing him to return to his country.
"Far in the interior there is a village called Wu-lung-li-tan,*
where the people all have tails ; when they see other men they
cover their face with their hands and run away; their country is
rich in gold-dust, and when merchants carry goods there to trade
with them, they give a sign by beating a small copper drum (gong),
lay their goods down upon the ground, and step back about ten
feet. These people then come forward, and when they see some-
thing which suits their fancy, they put some gold at the side of it;
if the owner tells them from his distance that he is prepared to sell
it at that price, they take up the article and go away, if not, they
collect their gold again and go home, without talking any further
with each other.
" The products of the country are rhinoceros-horns, peacocks,
parrots, gold-dust, crane-crests, wax, rattan-mats, chillies, dragon's-
blood, nutmegs, deer-hides, and so on.
" In the neighbourhood are the Beajoos,f who are of a ferocious
disposition, and go out in the middle of the night to cut offpeople's
heads, which they carry away and adorn with gold ; therefore the
traders fear them very much, and at night carefully mount guard
to await them.
" The last king of Banjermasin was a good man, who treated
the merchants very favourably ; he had thirty-one sons, and fearing
that they might molest the merchant vessels, he did not allow
them to go out. His wife was the daughter of a Beajoo chieftain,
.jjj ^ ~ b rr| rpjj
jjji |}! .51 Pfi > O-lang-li-tan, according to the Fukien pronunciation.
' M* r. He > Be-oa-dziu, according to the Fukien pronunciation. A large
tribe of Dayaks (aborigines) in the interior.
MALA Y ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 229
and a son of hers succeeded his father ; this man listened to the
words of his mother's relatives, began to oppress the trade, and
owed much money to the traders, which he never paid. After
this the number of those who visited the country gradually di-
minished."
"The Tung Hsi Yang K'au (1618)." Book iv. fol. 20, adds to
this:
." The women in this country come in small sampans to the
ships, in order to sell articles of food, but the trade is carried on
by the men. In their trade they use coins of lead."
The western coast of Borneo has been known to the Chinese
under the name of Pu-ni,* a name of which we have not been
able to find cut the origin. It seems to have been visited earlier
than the north coast, and the voyage to it was made via Java.
PUNI, OR THE WEST COAST OF BORNEO.
HISTORY OF THE SUNODYNASTY (960 1279). Book 489.
" This country is situated in the south-western sea ; its distance
from Java is 45 days, from San-bo-tsai (Palembang) 40 days, and
from Champa 30 days, in all cases taking the wind to be fair.
" There is a town of which the walls are made of boards, and
in this town live more than 10,000 souls ; it rules over fourteen
different places. The house in which the king lives is covered
with palm-leaves, and the cottages of the people are covered with
grass.
" Those who are about the king are his ministers. The king
sits on a couch made of cords, and when he goes out he sits on
a large piece of cloth (a hammock), and is carried by a number
of men. When they fight, they carry swords and wear armour ;
this armour is of cast copper, and resembles in shape a large tube,
which they put over their body, to protect their front and their
back.
' In this country there is no barley, but they have hemp and
rice ; they have also goats, fowls and fish. There are no silkworms,
and they use cotton f instead, of which they weave cloth. They
drink wine made of the cocoa-nut-tree. For their marriage presents
they first send this cocoa-nut-tree wine, then they send areca-nuts,
and next a finger-ring ; at last they send some cotton-cloth, or
weigh out some gold or silver, by which the ceremonies are con-
cluded.
"For the dead they use also coffins, and make a kind of carriage,
on which they bring the body to the wilderness, and expose it
there ; in the second month, when they begin their agricultural
230 NOTES ON THE
labours, they sacrifice to the deceased, and do this for seven years,
after which time they cease to do so.
" The seventh day of the twelfth month is their new year. The
climate is hot, and there is much wind and rain.
" When the people of this country have a feast, they make
music by beating drums, blowing flutes, and clashing cymbals ;
they also sing and dance. They have no crockery, but use
bamboos and palm-leaves for cooking and serving their rice ; when
they have finished eating they throw them away.
" In former times they never went to the court of China, there-
fore no mention is made of them in the histories.
"In the year 977, their king, Hiang-ta,* sent three envoys to
bring as tribute, one cati,f camphor, J in large pieces, eight caties
camphor of the second sort, eleven caties of the third sort, twenty
caties small grained camphor, and twenty caties of the last sort,
one cati being equal to twenty taels Chinese weight (about 0.8
kilogram). They further brought five boards of camphor-wood, a
hundred tortoise-shells, three trays of sandal-wood, and six
elephant-tusks. 1
"These articles were presented with the following words : 'May
the emperor live thousands, and ten thousands of years, and may
he not disapprove of the poor civilities of my little country.'
" The letter was enclosed in different small bags, which were
sealed, and it was not written on Chinese paper, but on what
looked like very thin bark of a tree ; it was glossy, slightly green,
several feet long, and somewhat broader than one inch, and
rolled up so tightly that it could be taken within the hand. The
characters in which it was written were small, and had to be read
horizontally ; translated into Chinese it ran as follows : ' The king
of Pu-ni, called Hiang-ta, prostrates himself before the most
august emperor, and hopes that the emperor may live ten
thousands of years. I have now sent envoys to carry tribute ; I
knew before that there was an emperor, but I had no means of
communication. Recently, there was a merchant called P'u
Lu-hsieh,|| whose ship arrived at the mouth of my river; I sent a
man to invite him to my place, and then he told me that he came
from China. The people of my country were much delighted at
this, and preparing a ship, asked this stranger to guide them to
the court. The envoys I have sent, only wish to see your Majesty
in peace, and I intend to send people with tribute every year.
But when I do so I fear that my ships may occasionally be blown
t nm- *<-*
1 [Sec also Ma-tuan-lin's account, 1. 1.. p. 569.]
MI am.
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 231
to ( 'hampa, and I therefore hope your Majesty will send an edict
to that country with orders that, if a ship of Hian^-ta arrives
there, it must not be detained. My country has no other articles,
and 1 pray your Majesty not to be angry with me.'
"These were the contents of his letter; the emperor ordered
his envoys to be lodged in the hall for treating guests, and they
were sent away with presents.
?'In the second month of the year 1082, their king, Sri Ma-ja,*
again sent an envoy to bring as tribute products of the country ;
this envoy asked permission to embark at Ch'iian-chou,f on his
homeward voyage, which was granted to him."
HISTORY OF THE MING DYNASTY (1368 1643). Book 325.
" Pu-niJ came to China for the first time in the reign of the
emperor T'ai-tsung, of the Sung-dynasty (976 997).
"In the 8th month of the year 1370, the emperor sent two
officers to go abroad as envoys ; they left Ch'iinn-chou in a ship,
arrived at Java after half a year, and in a month more they came
to this country. The king, called Maha Mosa, was haughty, and
did not show them any politeness, but one of the envoys reproved
him, and then he came down from his seat, bowed down, and
received the imperial orders. At that time the country had been
plundered by those of Sulu, so that it was weak and poor, and
the king excused himself on this account, asking permission to
bring tribute after three years ; but one of the envoys pointed out
to him the magnitude of his duty, and then the king assented.
" Now this country had hitherto belonged to Java, and the
people of the latter country tried to prevent him ; the king was
wavering in his decision, but the envoy remonstrated with him,
saying: 'Java has already a long time acknowleged itself a subject,
and brought tribute ; why do you only fear J ava, and not the
Celestial Court?' The king then appointed envoys to bring a
letter, and to carry as tribute crane-crests, living tortoises, peacocks,
caniphor-baros in small lumps, camphor in powder, cloth from the
west, || and various sorts of incense. In the 8th month of the next
year, they followed the Chinese envoys, and came to court. The
letter consisted of a sheet of gold, the characters were of silver,
f , I am inclined to consider the two last characters as a
mutilation of Jfejt & jfj'J $$ , and the whole name would then he Sri
Maharaja.
t&j'H- *?$. *$$.
II W fll > we have no means to ascertain what kind of cloth is meant
here.
232 KOTES ON THE
and resembled those of the country Hui-ku ;* they were all
engraved. The emperor was much pleased, treated them, and
gave them presents in the most liberal way.
" In the year 1375 the emperor ordered that the mountains and
the streams of this country should be included in the sacrifices
to the mountains and streams of the province of Fukien.
" In the winter of the year 1405, the king, Maraja Ka-la,f sent
envoys to bring tribute, and the emperor sent functionaries to
invest him as king of the country, and gave him a seal, a com-
mission, and silks of various colours. The king was greatly
delighted, and, embarking with his wife, his younger brothers and
sisters, his sons, daughters, and functionaries, went to court. He
arrived in Fukien, and the governor reported his arrival, on which
a eunuch was sent to receive him ; he was feasted in every place
he passed, and in the eighth month of the year 1408, he arrived
at the capital and had an audience with the emperor. The
emperor praised him, and the king, kneeling down, pronounced
the following address : ' Your Majesty has received the precious
mandate of Heaven, and rules over the whole world; though I
live far away on an island in the sea, I have enjoyed your favour,
and been presented with an investiture and a title ; since that
time the rain and the seasons have been favourable in my country,
every year has been abundant, and my people w r ere free from
calamities ; in mountains and rivers all kinds of precious and rare
things came to the light ; plants and trees, birds and beasts,
multiplied rapidly, and the old men in my country all said that
this was caused by the protection of the holy emperor. I wished
to see the face of the sun, and to give proof of my sincerity ;
regardless of the dangers of a long voyage I have come with my
family and my ministers, to present my thanks personally.'
" The emperor addressed him repeatedly in the most kind and
laudatory way, and gave orders that the letter to the empress, and
the articles which the king's wife had brought, should be laid out
in one of the halls of the palace. The king went to this hall and
entered to present them, and when this was done, the king, his
wife, and the others were presented with caps, girdles, and suits
of clothes. After this the king was entertained at the Feng-t'ian-
men, and his wife, with her suite, in another place, which being
finished, they were escorted back to where they resided.
"The Masters of Ceremonies asked instructions about the
ceremonies for the king's visit to the princes of the blood, and the
l^J Jpj > this country has not been identified. [The Hui-ku writing was
>iy the Ouigur. See M. d'llervey tie St. I Uniys's note, 1. 1., p. 205.]
* /tt 511) fe W m> ) the second dim: -rally pronounced na, but
in many dialects it is /</, and usi d (or the traiiM-riptiun of the foreign sound ra,
and sometimes lor da.
M.I LAY ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 233
emperor ordered that he should be allowed to adopt the same
forms as a noble of the first rank.
"After some time the emperor gave to the king different
insignia, a chair, silver utensils, umbrellas, fans, horses, and
saddles inlaid with gold, and ten suits of dresses, made of
different kinds of silk with flowers, and embroidered with gold.
His retinue got presents, each according to his rank.
*' In the tenth month the king died at his residence ; the
emperor was very much grieved, closed his court for three days
and sent an officer to perform sacrifices, and to give the silk
required for the funeral. The heir-apparent, and the imperial
princes, also sent officers to perform sacrifices, and when the coffin
and other necessaries of the burial had been prepared by these
officers, they buried him on the Stone hill outside the An-te gate,*
where a tombstone was erected, and the grave arranged as for a
great personage. They also erected a temple at the side of the
grave, where every spring and autumn an officer sacrificed a goat.
The posthumous name, Kung-shun,f * Reverent and dutiful/ was
given to him.
" The emperor issued an edict to console his son, Hia-wang, J
who was ordered to succeed his father, and appointed king of the
country. Hia-wang and his uncle reported that their country
had to give Java forty caties camphor-baros every year, and
begged an imperial order to Java that this annual tribute should
be stopped, in order that it might be sent to the imperial court
instead ; they further said that, as they were going home now, they
asked for the emperor's orders, and for permission to remain at
home a year, in order to satisfy the wishes of the people ; at last
they requested that the time for bringing tribute, and the number
of persons who were to accompany it, might be fixed.
" The emperor acceded to all these wishes ; he ordered that
tribute should be sent once in three years, and that the number
of persons coming with it should depend on the king's pleasure.
He also gave an order to Java, telling them not to ask any more
the annual tribute of this country.
" When the king took his leave he was presented with a girdle
adorned with precious stones, a hundred ounces of gold, three
thousand ounces of silver, paper-money, embroidered silks, gauze,
coverlets, mattrasses, mosquito-curtains, and other furniture. His
followers also got presents, and the eunuch, Chang Ch'ien, and
the messenger, Chau Hang, were sent to escort him.
" Formerly the late king had made representation to the effect
that, having got a title by favour of the emperor, and his country
now being altogether subject to the imperial government, he
begged that the mountain range at the back of his kingdom
234 NOTES ON THE
might be made a guard to his country. The new king preferred
the same request, and so it was called ' The mountain of lasting
tranquillity, preserving the country.'* The emperor wrote an
inscription for a stone, which he ordered Chang Ch'ien and his
party to erect on the top of it."
(This inscription contains an eulogy on the deceased king, and
the ordinary extollation of China, and its civilizing influence over
the barbarians, of which we have had more than enough already.
As it has no allusions useful for our purpose, we may spare our-
selves the trouble of translating, and our readers of wading
through it)..
" In the ninth month of the year 1410, Chang Ch'ien and his
party returned to China, and the king sent envoys with them, in
order to carry tribute, and to present thanks for the imperial
favours.
" The next year Chang Ch'ien was sent again to present the
king with flowered silk, silk-gauze, and silk of various colours,
altogether one hundred and twenty pieces ; his functionaries also
got presents.
" In the ninth month of the year 1412, Hia-wang came to court
with his mother. The emperor gave orders to the officers of the
Board of Rites to lodge them in one of the imperial pavilions, and
to provide for all their meals. The day after their arrival the
emperor entertained the king at the Feng-t'ien gate, and the
mother of the king was also entertained. After two days this
was repeated, and on this occasion the king ' was presented with
a cap, a girdle, and a suit of clothes, whilst the king's mother, his
uncle, and the rest, all got presents according to their rank. In
the second month of the next year the king took his leave, when
the emperor bestowed on him a hundred ounces of gold, five
hundred ounces of silver, paper-money to the value of 3000 taels,
1500 strings of cash, four pieces of flowered silk, eighteen pieces
of other silk, three dresses of different kinds of silk, coverlets,
mattrasses, mosquito-curtains and other furniture, all complete.
"From the year 1415 to the year 1425 they brought tribute
four times, but after that time their tribute-bearers became more
rare.
" In the year 1530 one of the functionaries in the capital
addressed a memorial to the emperor, stating that Siam, Champa,
Liukiu, Java en Pu-ni (west coast of Borneo), when bringing
tribute, all came by Tung-kwan,f and as often merchants had
joined themselves to them in a clandestine way (which had been
objected to by the Chinese authorities), their tribute had been
; a place a little to the east of Canton.
MALA Y ARcniri.i ,H;O AND MALACCA, 235
discontinued for the greater part. In addition to this, during the
period Cheng-te (1506 1521), the Franks (Portuguese) had been
violently spreading their bad influence, and then the tribute had
ceased altogether ; a few years afterwards the natives had tried to
begin again, but it was evident that the regard for the Chinese
empire had suffered very much.
"This memorial was sent to the Censorate, which requested
the emperor to keep the old rules and not to allow any departure
from them.
"During the period Wan-li (15731619; the king of Pu-ni
died without posterity; his relatives fought for the throne and
there was a great war in the country ; at last all competitors were
killed and then a daughter of the late king was put on the throne.
At that time there was a man from Chang-chou in Fukien of the
family Chang, who had before been made a datu* in that country,
which means in Chinese a high officer ; he had fled on account
of those troubles, but when the queen came to the throne she
called him back. The daughter of this man had free access to
the palace, but her mind became insane and she falsely told that
her father intended to revolt. The queen, hearing this, became
afraid and sent people to take informations from those of his
household ; the datu killed himself and as the people of the
country asserted that he had been unjustly prosecuted, the queen
felt great remorse ; she caused his daughter to be strangled and
made his son an officer.
" Since this time, though they did not bring any more tribute,
the intercourse by traders was uninterrupted.
"The country consists of fourteen different places, and is
situated at the east of Palembang ; from Champa one can arrive
there in forty days.f
"The customs and products of the country have been described
in the history of the Sung dynasty."
The above account shows that the relations between China and
the western coast of Borneo have been rather intimate at one
time, but nevertheless, the description of the country is very hazy
and gives us no clue for determining the locality. The Chinese
have been puzzled by it too, and have frequently confounded it
la-tu, for the Malay word datu, a title much used amongst them.
t We here omit a few details applying to Patani, on the coast of Malacca,
which place is confounded with the subject of this article. This mistake is
owing to the peculiar liberties the Chinese take in writing the names of places.
They like to reduce them to one syllable, and accordingly they often write l\i
instead of Ka-la-pa (Batavia), Lat instead of Si-lat (Singapore), At instead of
Pu-ni. Patani is called Ta-ni by them, but as the character used for the tran-
scription of the syllable Ta, has originally the meaning of grt-al, the author lias
taken it in the latter sense and read Great Ni, which he considered identical
with Pu-ni.
236 NOTES ON THE
with Ta-ni (Patani on the coast of Malacca) ; we saw our author
make this mistake just now, and we find the same error committed
in the Tung Hsi Yang K'au, where the accounts of these two
countries are hopelessly mixed together.
The last item we have to treat of under the head of Borneo
are the
KARIMATA-ISLANDS.
HSING-CH'A SHENG-LAN (1436).
" Karimata,* lies opposite to Kau-lan (Billiton) ; it is an island
in the sea, and has a long range of mountains. They use the
water from the mountains to irrigate their fields, but their rice is
not very abundant.
" The weather is always warm. Their manners and customs
are rather bad. The men shave their heads, wear a short jacket
of bamboo-cloth, and a kilted sarong. They plant bananas, and
cat the fruit instead of rice. They make salt out of sea-water, and
wine from the sugar-cane.
"Products of the country are tortoise-shell and antelopes.
Articles of import are Java-cloth, glass -beads, calico printed with
flowers, rice, etc."
EASTERN PART OF THE ARCHIPELAGO.
The eastern part of the archipelago seems to have been little
visited by the Chinese, and their accounts of it are even more
scanty than the rest, and comparatively recent. They only
mention Timor and the Moluccos.
TIMOR.
HSING-CH'A SHENG-LAN (1436).
"Kih-ri Ti-mun,t is situated at the east of Tiong-ka-lo (Madura,
v. p. 182) ; the mountains are covered with sandal-trees, and the
country produces nothing else.
"There are twelve ports or mercantile establishments, each under
a chief.
"The fields are rich and abundant ; the weather is warm during
daytime, and cool at night.
M, JtL ^ J ) Ka-ri-ma-tang ; the text has Ka-ma-ri-tang, but this is
evidently a mistake. The islands are mentioned in the I listory of the Yiian
dynasty, under the name of ife| JH $j ^ Ka-ri-ma-ta (v. p. 151).
* a J M PpJ > the hist two characters are used for Timor up to the
present day, but we do not know what is meant by the prefix Kri or Kiri.
MALAY ARcinri-.i.Aco AND MALACCA. 237
"Men and women cut their hair and wear a short dress; whilst
sleeping at night they do not cover themselves.
" When merchant- vessels arrive there, the women come on board
to trade, and many men get infected with disease ; from those
who get ill, eight or nine out of ten die, which is caused by the
unhealthiness of the country, and their secret diseases.
"Articles of import are gold, silver, iron and earthenware, etc."
TUNG Hsi YANG K'AU (1618). Book IV.
" Timor is the vulgar name for Kih-ri Timor ; * this country is
situated at the east of Tiong-ka-lo (Madura) and is very fertile.
The mountains are so covered with sandal-trees, that they cut it
for firewood, and its strong smell often makes people ill. The
country is very warm ; about noon it is necessary to sit with the
face towards the water, in order to escape illness. Men and women
cut their hair and wear short dresses ; when they sleep at night,
they do not cover themselves.
"To stand in the presence of others is a sign of dignity, and
when they see their king, they sit down on the ground with folded
hands. They have no family-names, and do not know the times
of the year. They are also without writing ; when they want to
record something, they do it with flat stones, and a thousand
stones are represented by a string. They have chiefs to whom,
when they have disputes, each party brings a goat ; he who is
wrong loses his goat, and the other takes his away again. The
old Chinese practice of reckoning with knotted strings and bundled
arrows, is thus preserved in these distant islands.
" The market-place is some distance from the town, and when-
ever a merchant-vessel has arrived, the king comes down from the
town, accompanied by his wife and children, his concubines and
servants, his suite being rather numerous. Taxes have to be paid
daily, but they are not very heavy. The natives continually
bring sandal-wood for bartering with the merchants, but they may
not come when the king is not present, for fear of disturbances.
Therefore the king is always requested to come first."
MOLUCCOS.
The first time we have found these islands mentioned by
Chinese geographers, has been in the History of the T'ang-dynasty
(6 1 8 906), where they are introduced under the name of Mi-li-kii,
to determine the position of the island of Bali (v. p. 183). No
special description however is given, and we do not hear of them
again before the i6th century. 1
* m m % ^ m it p^i m &
1 [Ma-tuan-lin, 1. 1., pp. 52231.]
238 NOTES ON THE
HISTORY OF THE MING DYNASTY (1368 1643). Book 323.
" The Moluccos* are situated in the south-eastern ocean, and
have a reputation of being wealthy. When their chief goes out
he has a great state, and his subjects, who meet him, lie down at
the side of the road with folded hands.
" There is an incense-mountain, and when it has rained, the
incense falls down and covers the ground in such quantities, that
the people cannot collect it allf Their chief stores up large
quantities, in order to sell it to the merchant-vessels that visit this
place. It is the only country in the eastern sea which produces
cloves, which are useful for dispelling bad humours, and therefore
Chinese merchants go in large numbers to trade there.
" During the period Wan-li (1573 1619) the Franks (Portuguese)
came to attack this country ; the chief was overcome in battle, and
offered his submission, on which they pardoned him and put him
again on the throne ; they imposed an annual tribute of cloves,
and then went away, without leaving soldiers in charge of the
place.
" Afterwards the Dutch (red-haired barbarians) came across the
sea, and knowing that the Portuguese had gone away, availed
themselves of the occasion and went to the town, where they took
the chief and said to him : ' If you serve us well, we will be your
masters, and we can beat the Portuguese.' The chief had no
choice, he obeyed and continued to govern his country.
"When the Portuguese heard this, they became very angry, and
collected soldiers to attack them, but these were killed on their
way by the Chinese, as is told in the history of Manila. The
Dutch now, though they kept the Moluccos, went away every year
or every two years and then came back again. In the meantime,
the son of the Portuguese chief had succeeded his father; he wanted
to carry out his plans, and came with a large force for this purpose.
Now it happened that the Dutch were absent at that time, so he
conquered the Moluccos, killed the chief, and put a man on the
throne whom he trusted. Not long afterwards the Dutch came
again, they also took the town, drove away the chief who had been
put up by the Portuguese, and raised to the throne the son of the
former chief. After this time they fought every year, and many
people were killed, till the Chinese who lived there talked to both
sides, advising them to stop fighting, and rather to divide the
country ; on this, the high mountain of Ban da J was taken as
f We have seen this story somewhere else, where it was clear that cloves
were meant.
t K IK Hi
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA.
boundary, the north of this mountain going to the Dutch, and the
south to the Portuguese ; it became a little more quiet now, and
the Moluccos remained divided between the two countries."
TUNG Hsi YANG K'AU (1618). Book V.
"The Moluccos* are a rich and fertile country in the eastern
ocean. When their chief goes out, he has a great state and his
people kneel down on both sides of the road with folded hands.
The men shave their hair and the women wear it in a knot behind
the head.
"When a girl marries, they buy large quantities of Chinese
cups, which they paint outside ; rich people buy many hundreds
to show their wealth.
" When they have a feast, they put down two large bowls
with wine, and every two men have a cup, which they dip
into it and so drink ; the full-grown men rise up and perform
a native dance, whilst the young men stand around looking at
it, but do not venture to enter the circle."
In the above accounts the Moluccos are taken as a whole,
and it is not stated in what special part the king or chief
lived ; we may take it for granted, however, that the king of
Ternate was meant, whom we know to have been the most
powerful chief in those parts when the Europeans first arrived
there, and whose capital has been the theatre where many
fights between Spaniards, Portuguese, and Dutch have been
fought.
THE MALAY PENINSULA.
TUN-SUN.f
HISTORY OF THE LIANG DYNASTY (502 556). Book 54.
"More than 3000 //to the south of Fu-nan J (Siam), there is
the country of Tun-sun ; it is situated on a peninsula, more than
a thousand // in extent, and the capital is ten // (about three
miles) away from the sea. There are five kings, who all acknow-
ledge the supremacy of Siam.
" The eastern frontier of Tun-sun, extends as far as Kiau-chou,
and on the west it borders on India.|| The different countries
beyond the Ganges 1" all come to trade here, the reason of this
being that if from Tun-sun you put out to sea for more than 1000
//, you still have a vast ocean before you, which no ship has ever
2 4 o NOTES ON THE
been able to cross.* To its market, people come from east and
west, and it is visited daily by more than 10,000 men. All kinds
of valuable goods are found here.
" In this country a wine-tree is found ; the people collect the
juice of its flowers and let it stand in a jar, when it becomes wine
in a few days."
In the Dynastic Histories we find no later account of this
country, but we meet again with the same name in book 276 of
the T'ai-p'ing Hoan-yii Chi, a universal geography published
between the years 976 and 983, in which the notices on foreign
countries generally are inaccurate repetitions of the articles on
the same subject in the histories of the preceding dynasties ; in
this case, however, some new material is added and we think there-
fore we may translate this part of its account.
" Tun-sun f was first heard of in the Liang dynasty ; it is also
called Tien-sun. " J
(Here follows a repetition of the preceding account, which is
accordingly omitted.)
" It produces the Hwo-hsiang ; if you take a branch of this
plant and put it into the ground, it lives again. The leaves serve
to make clothes.
" In this country there are more than ten different kinds of
fragrant flowers, which come during the whole year, and every
day many waggon-loads are collected in order to sell them.
When dried they are still more fragrant, and their ofial is made
into powder for rubbing the body.
" According to their custom the dead are generally devoured
by birds. When one is on the point of dying, his relatives,
singing and dancing, bring him out of the town, when birds like
geese, with bills like parrots and of a red colour, arrive in large
quantities ; the relatives then retire, and when the body has been
devoured entirely, they take the bones, burn them, and sink the
ashes into the sea ; the deceased is then considered to have been a
virtuous man, who will certainly be reborn in heaven. When the
birds fly away without eating him, the dying man is much afflicted
that he is so impure, and is buried by voluntarily throwing him-
* This passage is not very clear, and seems to have become corrupted. We
shall try to explain it at the end of this account. [The passage as quoted by
Ma-tuan-lin has been tentatively translated by I\l. d'llervey de Saint-Denys
as follows : "The reason of this is that Tun-Sun extends more than a thou-
sand // out to sea, and as this sea offers no available landing-place, it is not
possible for vessels to pass the port of Tun-Sun without casting anchor there"
(I. I., p. 445)-]
* '$L w ) Lophanthus rugosus, or lictonica officinalis. Vid. W. Williams'
Diet. p. 257.
MALA Y ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 241
self into the fire ; this is considered to be the next class of men.
Those who cannot have themselves burned alive and neither are
devoured by the birds, are considered the lowest class."
From internal evidence contained in the above accounts, as
well as from the universal testimony of Chinese geographers, we
have no hesitation in taking Tun-sun for a part of the Malay
peninsula, but we have not been able to identify its site with any
degree of certainty. We venture, however, to offer the following
suggestion. Taking into consideration the difficulties and
dangers of navigation in those times, it is quite natural that
the intercourse between India and China was partly carried on
by a route on which these sea-voyages were reduced considerably,
across the narrower part of the Malay peninsula, say between 8
and 10 northern latitude, where we shall presently see that not
long afterwards another emporium for this trade was established.
We think that the market-place of Tun-sun was situated some-
where in this locality. The obscure passage on the preceding
page would then find an explanation also. It says that the
peninsula was more than a thousand // long, and the author, with
very defective notions of geography, and seeing this overland
route followed by so many, probably concluded from the great
length of this country, that it was not possible for ships to find
their way to the other side.
KORA OR KALA.*
NEW HISTORY OF THE T'ANG DYNASTY (618 906).
Book 222b.
"This country is situated at the south-east of P'an-p'an,f and
is also called Kora Fu-sa-ra.J The king's family-name is Sri
Pora, and his personal name is Mi-si Po-ra.|| The walls of
his city are built with stones piled upon each other, whilst the
watch-towers, the palace and other buildings are thatched with
straw. The country is divided into 24 districts.
" The soldiers use bows, arrows, swords, lances, and armour of
Rp jp[| ) Kora is most likely the correct reading, but we also give Kala,
because, as we shall presently see, it has been mentioned by others under this
name.
$ ffir > the southern part of Siam, probably the present P'un-pin
(Bandon).
* IF H 8 & t> probably Kora Besar or Great Kora.
i. ft. HIM*.
" sk JZ x$ $fc We are unable to guess what may have been the native
form of the last two names.
SECOND SERIES. VOL. I. R
242 NOTES ON THE
leather ; their banners are adorned with peacock feathers, and
they fight mounted on elephants ; one division of the army
consists of a hundred of these, and each elephant is surrounded
by a hundred men. On the elephant's back is a cage containing
four men, armed with bows, arrows, and lances.
" As taxes the people pay a little silver. There are no silk-
worms, nor hemp or flax, nothing else but cotton. For domestic
animals they have numerous cows and a few ponies.
" It is their custom that only functionaries are allowed to tie
up their hair and to wrap a handkerchief round their heads.
When they marry, they give no other presents than areca-nuts,
sometimes as many as two hundred trays. The wife enters the
family of her husband.
" Their musical instruments are a kind of guitar,* a transversal
flute, copper cymbals, and iron drums. Their dead are burned,
the ashes put into a golden jar and sunk into the sea.
" On the south-east the country of Ku-ru-mi is situated at a
distance of one month travelling across the sea. To the south lies
Po-li at a distance of ten days. On the east is Pu-shu five days
away, and Wan-tanf lies to the north-west at a distance of six
days. The customs of the people are about the same as in
Ch'ih-t'u I (Siam).
"Between the years 650 and 656 this country has come to
court and brought as tribute coloured parrots."
The Chinese characters, used in the transcription of the name
of this country, certainly point to one original sound of Kora or
Kara, as the second character, in the geographical literature, is
used nearly exclusively for transcribing the syllable ra. In our
modern maps we find' the name Kora on the western coast of
Malacca, in about 8 N. L., and as this would suit its position as
given with respect to Sumatra and P'un-p'in, it is quite probable
that this small place preserves us the name of the great emporium
of former days.
We must also draw attention to a passage in the " Relation des
Voyages faits par les Arabes et les Persans dans 1'Inde et a la
Chine dans le IX me siecle, e'dits par M. Reinaud. Paris, 1845,"
where, on page 93, the author, after having spoken of Java and
Sumatra, continues as follows : " L'ile de Kalah est le centre du
commerce de 1'aloes, du camphre, du sandal, de 1'ivoire, du plomb
alcaly, etc. etc. C'est la que se rendent les expeditions qui se
f #J $ ffi , St: % U > ^ & * 3 15 . With the exception of Poll,
which we have seen to be the north coast of Sumatra, we cannot identify these
names.
MALA Y ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 243
font de 1'Oman." It seems probable that the Kora or Kara of
our text is meant here, but that the author of this narrative, whose
names are generally not very correct, has got this one from Chinese
traders, who, having no r in their language, must have pronounced
it Kola or Kala. 1
MALACCA.*
YING-YAI SHNG-LAN (1416).
" Going due south from Champa with a fair wind, a ship comes
to the strait of Lingga ; entering this strait and going westward for
two days, this place may be reached.
" Formerly it was not called a kingdom, but as there were five
islands on the coast, it was called the five islands. There also
was no king, but only a chief, the country belonging to Siam, to
which they had to pay a tribute of 40 taels of gold, and if they
failed to do this, they were attacked for it.
"In the year 1409 the imperial envoy, Cheng Ho, brought an
order from the emperor, and gave to the chief of this country two
silver seals, a cap, a girdle, and a long robe ; he erected a stone,
and raised the place to a city, after which the land was called the
kingdom of Malacca. From this time the Siamese did not venture
to molest it any more, and the chief of the country, having become
king by the imperial favour, went with his wife to the court (of
China) to present his thanks, and to bring a tribute of products of
his country. The emperor sent him home again in a Chinese ship
in order to take care of his land.
" The country is bordered on the west by the ocean, and on the
east and the north by high mountains ; the soil along the moun-
tains is sandy and brackish ; the temperature is hot during daytime
and cool at night ; the fields are not fertile and produce little rice,
for which reason the people do not occupy themselves much with
agriculture.
" There is a large brook passing before the residence of the
king on its way to the sea ; the king has made a bridge over it,
on which he has constructed about twenty pavilions, in which the
sale of all kinds of articles is conducted.
" The king and the people are Mahomedans, and they carefully
observe the tenets of this religion.
"Thf king wears round his head a fine white cloth of native
1 [Professor van der Lith, in his dissertation on Kalah (1. 1., p. 255 63, see
also Kern's Note ib. p. 308), has clearly established what \Valckenaer and Yule
had conjectured, viz. that Kahili is identical with Kadah (Keclah, Oucddah).]
iW *'J 3D Man-la-ka, or, according to the Amoy pronunciation,
Moa-la-ka.
244 NOTES ON THE
cotton, and on his body a long robe of fine, flowered, green calico.
His shoes are of leather, and he always goes out in a sedan-chair.
" The men of the people wrap up their head in a square piece
of cotton, and the women wear their hair in a knot behind their
head. They arc rather dark. The lower part of their body is
surrounded with a white piece of cotton, and on their back they
wear a short jacket of flowered cotton.
"Their manners and customs are pure and simple. Their
houses are built rather high and have no flooring of boards, but
at a height of about four feet they make a floor of split up cocoa-
nut-trees, which are fastened with rattan, just as if it were a
sheep-sty ; on this floor they spread their beds and mats, on which
they sit cross-legged, whilst they also eat, sleep, and cook here.
" Many of the people live from fishing, for which purpose they
go out to sea in canoes made out of a single tree.
" The country produces lignum aloes, ebony, damar,* (a kind
of resin), tin, etc. Damar is the sap of a tree, from which it flows
out into the ground and is obtained by digging; it comes out of
the tree in drops, just as the resin of pine-trees ; it burns with a
flame, and the natives use it for light. When they have made a
boat, they use this substance to smear it over the seams and then
the water cannot get through them ; much of it is collected for
foreign countries. There is also a better sort, which is clear and
transparent and resembles amber ; this is called sun-tu-lu-s ;t the
natives make cap-buttons from it, which are sold by them, and are
those which we call water-amber.
" Tin is found in two places of the mountains, and the king has
a] (pointed officers to control the mines. People are sent to wash
it. and after it has been melted, it is cast into small blocks weighing
one catti eight taels, or one catti four taels official weight ; ten
pieces are bound together with rattan and form a small bundle,
whilst forty pieces make a large bundle. In all their trading
transactions they use these pieces of tin instead of money.
" Their language, their books, and their marriage-ceremonies
are nearly the same as those in Java.
"In the forest is a tree called sago, which is soaked and pounded,
and the flour got in this way is made into small globes as large as
green peas ; these are dried in the sun and sold for food.
"On the low grounds along the sea grows a tree, of which the
are as long as kajang-leaves ; when first shooting out they
are like long knives and very flexible. The fruit have the ap-
pearance of lif/ii, and are of the si/e of an egg ; the natives make
3T flwfc IJL > the Malay name for resin. This same resin is still obtained
ami used in tin- same way.
t ft tt ffi .
MALA Y ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 245
wine of them. which is called kajang-wine and has the power of
intoxicating. The natives also take these leaves and with bamboo
make fine mats of them, only two feet broad and more than ten
feet long, which they offer for sale.*
"They have sugar-cane, plantains, nangka (jack-fruit), wild
//<r///x, etc. Their vegetables are onions, ginger, leek, mustard,
gourds, and melons. Cattle, goats, fowls, and ducks are found,
but in small numbers, and their price is therefore very dear, one
buffalo costing a catty of silver ; they have no donkeys or horses.
" In the sea along the coast are found turtles and dragons,
which attack men (alligators). The dragon is three or four feet
high, has four legs and its whole body covered with scales, a crest
of points on its back, a head like a dragon and protruding teeth.
When it meets with men it devours them.
" In the mountains is a yellow tiger, a little smaller than the
yellow tiger in China ; there is also a black tiger and a yellow one
with dark spots.
" Sometimes there is a kind of tiger which assumes a human
shape, comes to the town, and goes among the people ; when it is
recognized it is caught and killed.
" The place is visited by Chinese merchant-vessels ; whenever
these come a barrier is made (for the purpose of collecting tolls).
" In the city-wall are four gates, provided with watch and drum-
towers ; at night they patrol, ringing a kind of small bell. Inside
their wails they have a second fortress of palissades, where godowns
have been made, and all the money and provisions are stowed
away here.
"When the government ships (of the mission to which the
author belonged) were on their home voyage, they visited this
place, as well to repair as to load native products ; they waited
here for a favourable south wind, and in the middle of the fifth
month they put to sea on their voyage home. The king, with his
wife, his son, and a number of his chiefs, prepared products of the
country and followed the fleet to China, where they went to court
and presented tribute."
About a hundred years later than the preceding article, another
account of Malacca was written in the
HAI-YU (1537).
" Malaccaf is situated in the south ; originally it was a depend-
ency of Siam, but afterwards the chief, who was in charge of the
country revolted against his master and made himself independent;
at what time this happened cannot be ascertained.
* It is evident that the nipa-palm is meant here.
t m m HP
24 6 \OTES ON Till*.
" Going to sea from Ting-men in the district Tung-kwan* (near
Canton), one has to steer the same course as for Siain as far as
Tula Condore, from here the course is due south, until one gets
to the strait of Lingga, and then, in two days more, one may arrive
there. It is a place where all the barbarians come together, and
it may be called a centre in those parts.
"The king lives in a house of which the forepart is covered
with tiles, which have been left here by the eunuch Cheng Ho in
the time of Yung-lo (1403 1424) ; the other buildings all
arrogate the form of imperial halls and are adorned with tinfoil.
" \Vhen foreign envoys arrive there during the time the trade
between the different countries is going on, the king makes a great
display of soldiers as a matter of precaution.
" The people live in houses of mud ; the highest functionaries
are called ku-lang ka-ya,-|- and wealthy men are called nac]ioda.\
The people are numerous and thriving. A nachoda has many
thousand measures of pepper, and the ivory, rhinoceros-horns,
western calico, pearls, shells, and different kinds of incense, which
are stored up in their houses, cannot be counted.
" It is not their custom to worship spirits, but the men get up
when the cock crows, and turning their face towards heaven, they
mutter the name Allah, which is the general denomination of the
father and the mother of the universe.
" They write with Indian letters, and in trading they use tin as
their currency; three caties of this metal are about equal to one
mace of silver. || When brokers^ make any transactions, they
take hold of each other's fingers in order to state numbers; though
they make bargains for thousands, they make no written contract,
but they bind themselves by pointing towards heaven, and this
engagement they dare not break.
" The country produces no rice, which they buy therefore from
Siam, K'u-lung, and P'o-ti-li.**
* X 52
^ $fi &fo lifl <P > tne nrst character must be wrong, as the author certainly
means orang kaya, a common title among the Malays.
^ f?J %I ?il a - master of a vessel, b. a trader who travels about with his
hip,
"ft *'J '
|| About 0.16 Mexican doll
^J" fu > ge-kuci, seems lo be a foreign word, but we do not know from
what language it is borrowed. In Amoy the word ge-lang, sf* J{ , is still
i iker.
$$. ) TO fill > WL K It we are unable to identify the two latter
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 247
" According to their customs it is forbidden to eat pork ; when
the Chinese who live here eat it, the others are indignant and say
it is filthy. They have much milk, which the rich people eat
together with their rice.
" For their fowls, dogs, geese, and ducks they also depend on
other countries, therefore the prices of these are five times dearer
than in China.
" The temper of the people is fierce, but they are true to their
word. They are never without a dagger ;* as soon as a boy is
two years old, they give him a small sword and allow him to carry
it. When a word is used which does not please them, they at
once take to their sword, and, if a man is killed in this way, the
murderer runs away to the mountains and hides himself there for
some time ; when he comes back again, the relatives of the
deceased do not try to seek revenge, and the orang kaya does not
look into the matter any more.
" When people meet each other, they put their hands on each
other's heart as a sign of politeness, but if, by mistake, the hand
is put on the other's head, he becomes very angry.
" The poorer people often make themselves guilty of robbery ;
when they meet a single stranger, they kill him and rob his
effects.
" The merchants of the ships live in a hotel, the chief of which
always gives female slaves to serve them, and sends them food and
drink morning and evening; but if one uses too freely of this,
he may be sure that all his money will pass into the hands of the
other.
"In contracting a marriage they attach much importance to
the marriage presents. The bridegroom has to provide a certain
amount, but in his turn expects that the dowry of the bride will
be many times as much, and moreover the bride brings five or
six slaves with her.
" When people quarrel in the market and abuse each other,
they may revile each other personally ever so strongly, without
much notice being taken of it ; but if in abusing a man one
reviles his father or grandfather, or in abusing a slave one reviles
his master, they at once begin a deadly fight ; therefore they say
that it is better to have slaves than to have land, because slaves are
a protection to their masters.
" Women hold a market at night, but must finish at the second
drum ; when they stay over this term and are caught by the
patrolling orang kaya, they are killed, and the king does not look
further into the affair.
" For slight offences they use whipping. Their capital punish-
ment is as follows : they take a piece of wood like a post, of
* IE 1 BS pa-lah-thou. Vide p. 172.
248 NOTES ON THE
which one end is sharpened and the other planted in the ground
about two feet deep ; the sharp point is introduced into the anus
of the criminal, who cries out for a moment, but immediately
afterwards the point penetrates into his body and kills him.
"The poorer people put the body of their dead on a pile of
wood and burn it ; the richer fill the coffin with camphor and
burn it likewise ; the next morning all the bones are reduced
to dust.
" In this country there are many high mountains and deep
valleys. One can go to Siam overland.
" They have much intercourse with Java, but the Javanese are
known to be very fierce, and if they take them into their service,
eight or nine out of ten kill or wound their masters. These
Javanese are very skilled in the use of the blow-pipe with poisoned
arrows ; if a man is wounded by these he dies instantly.
"In the period Cheng-ie (1506 1522) a ship of the Franks
(Portuguese) came to trade here ; a quarrel arose about money
matters, on which the king put the captain into prison. The
Franks went away and made a report to their lord, who deter-
mined to rescue him. For this reason he equipped eight large
ships, with a number of picked troops, who appeared at once before
the place. At that time a year had passed away already, and the
people of Malacca were not at all prepared ; a great slaughter was
therefore made amongst them, and the chief of the Franks took
possession of the palace. The king fled to P'o-ti-li, and large
numbers of the people dispersed also.
" The Franks wanted to sell the country to Siam, but their offer
was refused. They therefore collected their troops, filled their
ships and went away, on which the king came back to his old
place."
lllVl-ORY OF THE MlNG DYNASTY (1368 1643). Book 325.
" Malacca* is situated at the south of Champa ; with a fail-
wind one may arrive in eight days at the strait of Lingga, and
then it is two days more to the west. It is supposed to be the
old country Tun-sun, and the Kora Fu-sa (see above) of the Tang
dynasty.
"In the loth month of the year 1403, the emperor sent the
eunuch Yin Ch'ingf as envoy to this country, to bring presents of
silk woven witli golden flowers, curtains adorned with gold, and
other things. There was no king in the country, and it was not
called a kingdom, but it belonged to Siam, to which it paid an
annual tribute of forty taels of gold. When Yin Ch'ing arrived
there, he spoke of the power and rank of China, and of his
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 249
intention to take the chief with him. The chief, called Pai-li-su-
ra,* was very glad and sent envoys to go to the court along with
the imperial envoy, and presented as tribute products of the
country.
'* In the Qth month of the year 1405 these envoys arrived at the
capital; the emperor spoke in laudatory terms of their master,
appointed him king of the country of Malacca, and gave him a
commission, a seal, a suit of silk clothes, and a yellow umbrella,
whilst Yin Ch'ing was ordered to go there again and bring all
these presents. The envoys said that their king was aware of his
duty and wished his country to be a district of the empire,
bringing tribute every year, and that he had therefore requested
that his mountains might be made guardians of the country. The
emperor gave his assent ; he prepared an inscription with a piece
of verse at the end, and ordered a tablet to be erected on those
mountains.
" When Yin Ch'ing arrived to carry out all these orders, the
king was still more pleased, and treated him with even more
honours than before. In the 9th month of the year 1407 he sent
envoys to bring tribute, and in the next year, when Cheng Ho
came to his country, he again sent envoys with tribute to go with
him to China.
" In 141 1 the king came with his wife, his son, and his ministers,
altogether five hundred and forty persons ; when he had arrived
at the suburbs of the capital, the emperor ordered two officers to
go and receive him ; he was lodged in the building of the Board
of Rites, and received in audience by the emperor, who entertained
him in person, whilst his wife and the others were entertained in
another place. Every day, bullocks, goats, and wine were sent to
him from the imperial buttery. The emperor gave the king two
suits of clothes embroidered with golden dragons, and one suit
with kilins ; further golden and silver articles, curtains, coverlets,
mattresses, etc., everything complete, whilst his wife and the rest
also got presents.
" When they were going away, the king was presented with a
girdle adorned with precious stones, insignia of his dignity, horses
and saddles, and his wife got a cap and dresses.
" On the moment of starting he was entertained by the emperor,
and got again a girdle with precious stones, horses with saddles, a
hundred ounces of gold, five hundred ounces of silver, four hundred
thousand kwan\ of paper money, and 2600 strings of copper cash ;
further 300 pieces of silk gauze, a thousand pieces of plain silk,
# m *t
i ^ A kwan of paper-money was equal to a string of a thousand cash.
From the liberal amount of paper-money given, we would think that it was at
a considerable discount.
2 5 o NOTES ON THE
and two pieces of silk with golden flowers. His wife, his son, his
nephew, and his suite were entertained separately, and got presents
ling to their rank. Afterwards the officers of the Board of
Rites entertained them twice at two different post-stations on their
road.
' In the year 1412 his nephew came to present thanks; when
;t away the emperor sent an eunuch with him, who came
back with new tribute-bearers.
" In the year 1414 the king's son, called Mu-kan-sa-u-ti-r-sha,*
came to court and said that his father had died; he was appointed
eed him, and presented with gold and silks. After this
tiiiic they brought tribute every year or every two years.
"In the year 1419 the king came to court with his wife, his son,
and his ministers, in order to present thanks for the imperial
favours ; on going away he stated that Siam seemed inclined to
attack his country, and the emperor accordingly sent an order to
Siam, which that country obeyed.
" In 1424 Sri Ma-ha-laf succeeded after the death of his
father, and came to court with his wife, his son, and his ministers.
"In the year 1431 three envoys arrived, who said that Siam
was planning an attack on their country, that the king wanted to
himself, but was afraid of being detained by them ; that he
wished to send a report, but had nobody who could write it ; and
that he had ordered them therefore to avail themselves of a
tribute-vessel from Sumatra, to go and bring this communication.
The. emperor sent them back to their country in the ships of
Cheng Ho, to whom a decree was given for the king of Siam,
ordering him to live in good harmony with his neighbours, and
not to act against the orders of the court. When these three
envoys arrived they brought nothing as tribute, and the officers of
/ard of Rites submitted that, according to the rule, they
should not get any presents ; but the emperor replied: 'These
men have come many thousands of miles to complain of an
injustice; it would not do to give them nothing.' Accordingly
^ and silks were given to them, just as to other tribute-
bearers.
"In the year 1433 the king came to court with his wife, his
son, and his ministers. When he arrived at Nanking, the weather
was already cold ; the emperor ordered him to wait till spring before
mining ii]) to the capital, and moreover sent a letter in praise of
ng and his wife. \Vhen they came to the capital, the
emperor entertained them, and gave them presents as customary,
and when they returned an officer was charged to provide a vessel
for them.
rwards the king again sent his younger brother to bring as
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 251
tribute camels, horses, and products of the country ; at that time
the emperor Ying-tsung had already ascended the throne (1435),
and as the king was still in Canton, he sent him a laudatory letter
and ordered the Governor to let him go back to his country. As
this officer was just sending back the envoys of Champa, Kalikut,
and nine other countries, the king returned along with these.
" In the year 1445 envoys arrived, who asked that the king Sri
Pa-mi-si-wa-r-tiu-pa-sha* might obtain a commission for ruling the
country, a dress embroidered with snakes, and an umbrella, in
order that he might govern the people of his land. They also
said that the king intended to come himself, but that his suite was
very numerous, and therefore he asked for a large vessel, in order
to be able to make the sea-voyage. The emperor granted all their
requests.
"In the year 1456 Sulthan Wu-ta-fu-na-shaf sent as tribute,
horses, and products of his country, and asked to be invested as
king. The emperor issued a decree by which an officer was sent
there for the purpose, but some time afterwards the same king
sent tribute again, and reported that the cap and the girdle, which
had been bestowed upon him, were burned ; the emperor then
ordered that a cap of leather, a dress, a daily dress of red silk
gauze, a girdle adorned with rhinoceros-horn, and a cap of gauze
should be given to him.
"In the year 1459 this king's son, Su-tan Wang-su-sha,J sent
envoys to bring tribute, on which the emperor ordered some
officers to go and invest him as king. After two years the
officers of the Board of Rites reported that these imperial envoys,
on the second day of their voyage, had met with a storm which
disabled the ship ; they had been tossed about for six days, and
were then rescued by people of the coastguard. The imperial
letter was saved, but the goods had all been damaged by water,
for which reason they requested that new ones should be given.
The emperor granted what was asked, and ordered the envoys to
go again.
"In the year 1474 the censor Ch'en Chiin went to Champa
with an imperial commission to invest the king there, but on his
arrival, he found the country occupied by Annamese soldiers, so
that he could not enter it ; he then went to Malacca, with the
goods he had brought, and ordered its king to send tribute ; when,
subsequently, his envoys arrived at the capital, the emperor was
much pleased, and issued a decree in which they were praised.
"In the 9th month of the year 1481 envoys arrived with the
252 NOTES ON THE
report that the envoys of their country, who had returned from
China in 1469, had been driven by a storm on the coast of
Annam, where many of their people were killed ; the rest had
been made slaves, and the younger ones had further undergone
castration. They also told that the Annamese now occupied
Champa, and that they wanted to conquer their country too, but
that Malacca, remembering that they all were subjects of the
emperor, hitherto had abstained from reciprocating these hostilities.
"At the same time the envoys \vith the tribute of Annam
arrived also, and the envoys of Malacca requested permission to
argue the question with them before the court, but the Board of
War submitted that the affair was already old, and that it was of
no use to investigate it any more. When therefore the envoys of
Annam returned, the emperor gave them a letter in which their
king was reproved, and Malacca received instructions to raise
soldiers and resist by force, whenever it was attacked by Annam.
"Some time afterwards the emperor sent two officers with a
commission to invest the son of the late king, Ma-ha-mu-sa,* as
king of the country. These two officers were lost at sea, on which
the emperor appointed officers to sacrifice to them, and took care
of their families ; for their suite sacrifices were performed by the
officials on the sea-coast, and their families were also provided for.
Two other envoys were then sent in their place, of whom one
again died at Canton, on which the emperor ordered the governor
of Canton to select one of his officers to succeed the deceased, in
order to finish this investiture.
"In the year 1508 an envoy, called Tuan Haji,f came to
present tribute. His interpreter was a Chinese from the province
of Kiang-si, who had run away from China in order to escape
punishment for a crime, and fled to their country. This man,
along with other Chinese, made a plan to kill and rob the envoy,
and then to run away to the west coast of Borneo in order to seek
for treasures ; accordingly he made a quarrel with his people,
when they had returned to Canton, and with the assistance of his
fellow-conspirators he killed all of them, taking away everything
they had. When this event became known, the guilty parties were
soon arrested and brought to the capital, where the interpreter
.1 to pieces, others were decapitated, one fined three hundred
picols of ri<e, and the rest banished, whilst the officials of the
Hoard of Rites, who had allowed themselves to be bribed, wuv
all punished. The prime ministers at that time, considering that
ime hr.d been committed by a man from Kiang-si, diminished
the annual number of graduates for this province with fifty, and
an from this province got an appointment in the capital.
" Afterward* the Franks (Portuguese) came with soldiers and
! -'i "& # & t }g i|g $n .
MALA Y ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 253
conquered the country ; the king, Sultan Mamat,* ran away, and
sent envoys to inform the imperial government of this disaster.
At that time the emperor Shih-tsung sat on the throne ; he issued
a decree upbraiding the Franks, told them to go back to their own
country, and ordered the kings of Siam and other countries to
assist their neighbour in his need; none of these obeyed, however,
and so the kingdom of Malacca was destroyed.
" Shortly afterwards the Franks also sent envoys to the court in
order to bring tribute and ask for investiture. When they arrived
at Canton the governor imprisoned the envoys, as their country
had not been reckoned before among the tributary kingdoms, and
asked orders from the government. The emperor ordered to
give them the price of the goods they had brought, and to send
them away.f
" Among the goods which Malacca was accustomed to bring as
tribute, the following were the principal articles : agate, pearls,
tortoise-shell, coral-trees, crane-crests, quilts made of feathers, J
white pi-cloth, western-cloth, sa-ha-la,|| rhinoceros-horns, ivory,
black bears, black monkeys, babirusahs, cassowaries, parrots,
camphor-bares, rose-oil, fragrant balm, chitseh flowers,^ terra
japonica, lignum-aloes, benzoin, assa-fcetida, and such more.
" There is a mountain from which a brook runs down ; the
natives wash its sand in order to obtain tin, which is melted by
them and cast into little blocks ; a workman may collect one of
these blocks in one day.
" The soil is poor, and rice is not abundant ; the people chiefly
occupy themselves with washing tin and fishing. The weather is
warm during daytime and cool at night.
" Men and women wear their hair in a knot ; their body is very
dark, but some are of a lighter colour, being descendants of
Chinese.
" Their customs are good and their way of trading is pretty fair,
but since the Franks have taken the country, things have become
worse, and merchant-vessels seldom go there any more, mostly
i We have here a striking example of the way in which Chinese ascendency
in these parts was destroyed by the arrival of the Europeans, and of the reasons
which caused the latter to be received with bad grace by the Chinese, from the
first time they made their appearance.
& 1& tfl ? [See above, p. 68, and M. d'Hervey de Saint-Denys, 1. L,
P- 539- ]
'I f& B& f ! J ? [This is the Malay cJLfe-, also written cX,.]
^ -til "f ? i according to Williams, " Syllabic Dictionary," p. 55, the
Gardenia floribunda, used to dye yellow.
254 JTES ON THE
proceeding direct to Sumatra ; when, however, ships have to go
near this country, they are generally plundered, so that the pa
there is nearly closed.
"Those of the Franks who come themselves to China for
trading purposes, go directly to Macao, in the district Hsiang-shan,
province of Canton, where some of them are always found."
JOHORE.*
HISTORY OK THF. Mixo DYNASTY (1368 1643). Book 325.
"Johore is situated near Pahang, and is also called U-tang-ta-
lim.f In the beginning of the i5th century, when Cheng H<>
visited the different countries of the west, the name Johore did
not exist, but it is said that he passed the island Tong-si-tiok,J
and as this island is situated exactly where Johore is, it may be
supposed to be the same country.
"Between the years 1573 and 1619 their chief was very warlike,
and his neighbours Indragiri and Pahang had much to suffer from
him.
" Chinese who trade to foreign countries often visit this place,
and are even invited to do so.
"In this country they cover their houses with grass, and make
fortifications of palissades, which they surround with a ditch ; in
times of peace the people go trading to other countries, but when
there is war all are called to be soldiers, and their country is
considered to be very strong.
" The land produces no rice, which they always buy from other
countries.
"The men shave their heads, go barefooted, and have a sword
at their side; the women wear their hair in a knot. Their chief
< arries two swords.
"They write on kajang-leaves, tracing the letters with a knife.
When they marry they always take a wife of their own rank
" The king uses golden and silver eating utensils, and the other
people use earthenware; they have no spoons or chopsticks.
They are much given to fasting, and on those occasions they do
not eat before they see the stars. The fourth month is the begin
ning of their year.
' When they are in mourning the women cut their hair, and the
men shave their heads repeatedly; the dead are all turned.
Products of this country are rhinoceros-horns, ivory, tort
shell, camphor-boras, myrrh, dragonsblood, tin, wax, line mats,
cotton, are* a -nuts, agar-agar, birds'-nests, sago, mangostines, etc.
i'j ) Jiu-luu, i Amoy proiuinn.
"i T fi ft . : * W ^ OJ -
MALA Y ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 255
" Formerly a man called Ki-ling-jin* was treasurer in this
country, and faithfully served the king, who showed great confi-
dence in him ; as the king's younger brother saw himself kept at
a distance, he became jealous and secretly killed him ; some time
afterwards he went out on horseback and was thrown so that he
died ; his attendants saw the spirit of the treasurer on the spot,
and since this time every house has sacrificed to him."
TUNG Hsi YANG K'AU (1616). Book 4.
" Johore does not produce any rice, and the inhabitants are
accustomed to go in small ships to other countries, exchanging
the products of their own for rice. When they meet merchant-
vessels bound for other places, they invite them to come to their
country also. When our ships go there, they have to pay fixed
duties ; the trade is done on board the ships, and they have no
shops on shore."
PAHANG.f
HSING-CH'A SHENG-LAN (1436).
"This country is situated at the west of Siam;J it is surrounded
by rocky ridges of mountains, which, seen from a distance, have
the appearance of a table-land. The ground is fertile, and they
have abundance of rice. The weather is often very warm.
" Their customs cannot be much praised ; they make human
images of fragrant wood, and kill people in order to make a
sacrifice of the blood, when they pray for luck or try to ward off
evil.
" Men and women have their hair in a knot, and are clad with
a single piece of cloth. Girls of rich families wear four or five
* &s J/L > these two characters are properly pronounced p'ang-k'ang, but
the first, which has the sound /V 1 or p'a n in Fukien, is often used for rendering
the sound pa or p'a, whilst the second character is taken for hang on account
of its primitive, which often has this sound in other combinations.
J This is of course erroneous, but we must remember that everything west
of Borneo was called the Western ocean, W fl^ > and people who went there
were said to go to the west, even if this was not really the direction in which
they travelled.
The author of this account visited this place in 1412, as one of the fol-
lowers of the celebrated envoy Cheng Ho. We must therefore believe what
he says, and it would seem then that the worship of 9iva or Kali, in its worst
form, still existed there at the time. Altogether we have reason to think that
Mohammedanism was not completely prevalent yet in those parts at the begin-
ning of the I5th century, for of Malacca and Johore, too, we read that they still
burned their dead, though they were called Mohammedans, and it is probable
that only the superior classes were converted to the Islam as yet.
256 NOTES ON THE
golden circles on their foreheads, and the daughters of the common
people use strings of coloured glass beads instead.
"They boil salt out of seawater, and make wine by fermenting
rice-gruel.
" Products of the country are lignum-aloes, camphor, tin, and
a kind of wood used in dyeing. Articles of import are gold,
silver, coloured silks, Java-cloth, copper and ironware, gongs,
boards, etc."
HISTORY OF THE MING DYNASTY (13681643). Book 325.
"Pahang* is situated at the west of Siam. In the year 1378
the king, Maharaja Tajau,f sent envoys with a letter, written on
a golden leaf, and bringing as tribute six foreign slaves, and
products of the country. They were received according to the
established rules.
"In the year 1411 the king, Pa-la-mi-so-la-ta-lo-si-niJ sent
envoys carrying tribute. In 1412 Cheng Ho went as an envoy to
their country, and in the year 1414 they sent tribute again.
"In the year 1416 they sent tribute together with Kalikut and
Java, and Cheng Ho was again ordered to go there.
" The soil of this country is fertile ; the climate is always warm,
and rice is abundant there ; they make salt by boiling seawater,
and wine by fermenting the sap of the cocoanut-tree.
"The higher and lower classes are on a very intimate footing,
and there are no thieves ; they are very superstitious regarding
demons and spirits, making their images of fragrant wood, and
sacrificing men to them, in order to avert calamities or to pray for
happiness.
"Amongst the articles which they brought as tribute were
elephant-teeth, camphor-baros, olibanum, lignum aloes, sandal-
wood, pepper, sapan-wood, and such more.
"In the period Wan-li (1573 1619) the son of the viceroy of
Johore was to marry the daughter of the king of Pahang. When
the marriage was about to take place, the viceroy brought his son
to Pahang, and the king of this country gave a feast, where all his
relatives were present. The son of the king of Polo (Bruni) was
the son-in-law of the king of Pahang ; he offered a cup of wine to
the viceroy, who then saw that he had on his finger a large pearl
of great beauty, and wanting to have it, he offered a very high
price. The prince would not part with it, on which the viceroy
became angry, went home, and came back with soldiers to attack
the country. The people of Pahang were taken unprepared ;
they dispersed without fighting, and the king fled to the gold-
* E. #'1 % S'i m '& m & Hi * HA I
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 257
mountains, along with the prince of Bruni. The king of Pu-ni
(western coast of Borneo) was the elder brother of the king's
wife ; when he heard of all this, he came with his people to assist
those of Pahang, and then the viceroy of Johore was compelled
to retire, after having burnt and plundered very much.
"At that time the spirits in the country wailed for three days,
and half of the people had been killed ; the king of Puni took his
sister home with him, and the king of Pahang followed him also,
ordering his eldest son to govern the country.
"Some time afterwards the king resumed the government, but
his second son, who was of a bad disposition, poisoned his father,
killed his brother, and ascended the throne himself."
The Tung Hsi Yang K'au (1618) gives about the same account,
with the following addition :
" This king, who killed his father and his brother, is reigning
still. He is in the habit of buying from the Mau-su * pirates the
men they have caught, and all the countries thereabout suffer
severely from this. These Mau-su pirates are natives belonging
to Bruni (Polo); they roam over the sea for the purpose of stealing
men, whom they bring to Pahang and sell as slaves^ there. When
one of them does not obey his master, he is killed and used for the
sacrifices. The price of a slave is about three pieces of gold.
" When a ship arrives there, it has to send fixed presents to
the king. The latter has erected a number of shops, and the
merchants can occupy in these as much as they want, paying
accordingly. The people of the country come there to trade with
them and the merchants live there also. These shops are not far
from the ships ; when the watchmen on board cry out at night, it
can be heard by those who sleep on shore."
KELANTAN4
HISTORY OF THE MING DYNASTY (1368 1643). Book 326.
"In the year 1411 the king Maharaja K'u-ma-r sent envoys
to bring tribute, and in 1412 Cheng Ho received orders to bring
him an imperial letter praising his conduct, and to present him
with different kinds of silk."
The Tung Hsi Yang K'au gives an account of Kelantan and of
> comp. p. 224.
JJ.J |fj tfTf
f The name used for slaves here is M. W J$C or slaves of K'un-lun, the
latter being, amongst others, the Chinese name lor Pulu Condore. We do not
know how to explain this name, which is here, as in many other places, used
for slaves in general, without any reference to the land they come from.
Compare p. 188, note *, and Bretschneider's "Arabs," p. 14.
saw**- fftftii'xftitft'
SECOND SERIES. VOL. I. S
258 .VOTES ON THE
the neighbouring Patani, but makes the unfortunate mistake of
confounding the latter, which is called Ta-ni* by the Chinese,
with Pu-nit or the west coast of Borneo. In consequence of this
mistake, it has mixed up these three countries in a hopeless mass,
from which we do not venture to make any extract.
Our sources give no further information about the Malay
peninsula, but we find that the often quoted travellers of the first
decades of the i5th century, visited some of the smaller islands on
its coast, and give the following account of two of them :
PULU SEMBILAN OR THE NINE ISLANDS. J
HSING-CH'A SHENG-LAN (1436).
"These islands are situated near Malacca. They chiefly
produce lignum aloes in its different qualities, and are covered
with a luxuriant vegetation.
"In the year 1409 Cheng Ho and his party sent soldiers into
the forest to collect this incense, and they got six pieces 8 or 9
feet in diameter, and 60 to 70 feet long ; the smell of it was very
strong, and it had fine black marks.
"The people were much astonished, and said that the imperial
soldiers were imposing and strong as the gods."
The author says these islands are near Malacca, probably
because he did not know any other place on the coast ; they lie,
however, at a certain distance, being situated before the river of
Perak.
TONG-SI-TIOK.
HSING-CH'A SHENG-LAN (1436).
"This island is situated in the sea opposite to the Strait of
Lingga ; high mountains face each other from both sides.
''The ground is barren and not fit for agriculture; they always
get their rice from the coast of Sumatra and other countries. The
climate is variable.
"They boil salt out of seawater, and make wine from the
cocoanut-palm.
" Men and women cut their hair and wear a striped sarong.
"The country produces areca-nuts, cotton-cloth, and mats of
plantain-fibres.
"Articles of import are tin, pepper, ironware, etc."
We are not able to identify this island with absolute security,
* ^ 'Ul - Comp. p. 236. t f | $J2 .
MALA Y ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 259
hut from the indications given above, combined with those in the
Tung Hsi Yang K'au, which says that it was quite near or identical
with Johore, we have no hesitation in taking it as the present
island of Singapore.
The peculiar name given to it, must remain unexplained. We
must only draw the attention to the two first syllables, tong-si,
which we have taken as the transcription of the native sound, but
which may also mean east and west.
Chinese geographers speak of two other countries on the Malay
peninsula, called P'an-p'an and Tan-tan ;* the former probably is
P'un-p'in on the east-coast, as we observed already on p. 241, and
the latter we have not been able to identify. From what is told
about them, it appears that they rather belong to southern Siam
and should find their place there.
{Additional Note to p. 191, 1. 13: According to Ma-tuan-lin,
as translated by M. d'Hervey de St.-Denys, 1. 1. p. 580, sa-tien
was a ceremony of respect which consisted in the placing of
pearls and camphor, in a silver dish, on the steps leading to the
Emperor's throne. See also p. 565, Note 21.]
APPENDIX.
IN the preceding pages different products of foreign
countries have been mentioned without further comment,
though the Chinese terms by which they are designated in
the original text have been, and some of them still remain,
subject to much uncertainty. It may therefore not be
superfluous to give the grounds on which our translations
of these names have been based.
COTTON. Before this plant was introduced into China,
it was called JJ. Ke-pa or JJ, Ku-pa, a native name
which we find back in the Malay kapas or kapeh. In the
" History of the Liang dynasty," Book 54, p. I, we find the
following notice : " Ku-pa is the name of a tree,, of which
the flowers, when ripe, are like goose-down ; the natives
take out the fibres and spin them, after which they use
them for weaving a kind of cloth as white as linen. They
also dye the thread in different colours and weave cloth
with patterns."
* g g and # # .
S 2
260 NOTES ON THE
SARONGS, the native name of a piece of cotton or silk,
which is fastened round the middle and hangs down to the
feet. The " History of the Liang dynasty/ 5 Book 54, p. 3,
says : " Men and women (in Siam) all use a broad and long
piece of cotton, which they wrap round their body below
the loins and call kan-man =f $| or tu-man ^5 } ." \Yc
are unable to say from what language these names have
been taken.
BROADCLOTH, now called to-lo-ni and written flj> $| Pj or
^ H ?$> was formerly rendered by the characters *j lf| |$.
Vide "Tung Hsi Yang K'au," Book 4, p. 10, r.
So-FU 31 j]{< , also written ^ ]]{ , seems to have been a
kind of dress or quilt made of feathers. Vide " Tung Hsi
Yang K'au," Book 4, p. 10, r.
LlGNUM-ALOES is the wood of the Aquilaria agallocha,.
and is chiefly known to the Chinese as JJ 1SS sinking
incense. The Pen-ts'au Kang-mu describes it as follows :
" 8fc H sinking incense, }% )]<. x id*> ^ so called 3g @ honey
incense. It comes from the heart and the knots of a tree
and sinks in water, from which peculiarity the name sinking
incense is derived. That which half sinks and half floats is
called ^ , and that which does not sink is ^ ^ .
In the Description of Annam we find it called H; honey-
inccnse, because it smells like honey." The same work, as
well as the Nan-fang Ts'au-mu Chuang, further inform us,
that this incense was obtained in all countries south of
China by felling the old trees and leaving them to decay,
when after some time only the heart, the knots, and some
other hard parts remained. The product was known under
different names, according to its quality or shape, and in
addition to the names given above, we find $| ^ ^fowl-
bones, }gj Jg ff horse-hoofs and ^} % green cinnamon ; these
latter names, however, are seldom used. ^ is also
written ffi , and Jf fjj ff is interchanged with ^ jj
or even ^ ^ ; . The Ta Ming Yi-t'ung Chi says that this
incense, when taken from a living tree, is called j|C ,
whilst it becomes #ft =f?f when the tree is decayed and only
the fragrant parts remain.
CAMHIOK-HAKOS. This substance is generally called
ffi! W\ & dragon' s-brain-perfninc, or yjc Yr icicles. The
former name has probably been invented by the first
dealers in the article, who wanted to impress their country-
men with a great idea of its value and rarity.
In the trade three different qualities are distinguished :
the first is called tf$ ? gg or $$ Jjg prune-blossoms, being
MALA Y ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA. 261
the larger pieces ; the second is ^ J$ or ^ fjg Jjjg , rice-
camphor, so called because the particles arc not larger than
a rice-kernel, and the last quality is & J]$ EJ > golden dregs,
in the shape of powder. These names are still used by the
Chinese traders on the west-coast of Sumatra.
The Pen-ts'au Kang-mu further informs us that the
Camphor-Baros is found in the trunk of a tree in a solid
shape, whilst from the roots an oil is obtained called
Jg f$ @ Po-lut (Pa-lut) incense, or fjg ff: ^ /W* fo/w.
The name of Polut is said to be derived from the country
where it is found (Baros). We have translated it by
camphor-oil.
ATTAR OF ROSES, fj g| >X rose-water, or |f fjg H rar*-
dew. The Ta Ming Yi-t'ung Chi has the following notice :
" This is the dew found on roses, which flowers, however, are
different from those of the same name in China. The
natives often take these flowers and soak them in water,
in order to imitate this dew, for which reason the article is
frequently spurious ; it may be tried by shaking it in a
glass bottle : when the froth is equally divided through the
whole bottle, it is genuine."
STORAX LIQUIDA. According to Dr. Bretschneider
(Arabs, p. 20) this is probably the correct translation of the
Chinese ^ & fjff The Chinese descriptions of it are very
obscure and conflicting ; many authors, however, agree in
saying that it is not an original product, but a balm com-
posed of different other essences.
MYRRH is generally called *j^ Hf , and sometimes ^ |H
OLIBANUM. According to the Pen-ts'au Kang-mu,
?L H: an d H (If . are the same substance, but its descrip-
tion does not enable us to identify it. Dr. Bretschneider
(Arabs, p. 19) says he analyzed a specimen passing under
this name, which proved to be olibanum, mixed with other
substances.
HSIANG-CHEN HSIANG, P$ J| : fr , is the name of a
fragrant wood, much used as incense, but which we have
not been able to determine. Dr. Williams says it comes
from Sumatra, where it is called laka-wood, and is the pro-
duct of a tree to which the name of Tanarius major is given
by him. For different reasons we think this identification
subject to doubt.
BENZOIN, ^ $jj| @ gold and silver incense. It is
described, as follows, in the "Tung Hsi Yang K'au," Book 3,
p. 23, r : " Inside this incense are white spots as clods of
white wax ; the best sort has much of this white, and the
262 NOTES ON THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO.
inferior sorts but little. When burnt it is very fragrant." We
think this description cannot but apply to the gum benzoin.
DRAGON'S-BLOOD, ordinarily called JJL j}|| dried blood, is
sometimes written jjjt $jfc JJI the blood of t fie kilin, a fabulous
animal in Chinese mythology.
AMBERGRIS, f | giE : ff dragon-spittle perfume. From the
description on page 100, there is not the slightest doubt
that this translation must be correct.
CLOVES, "f nail-incense, are sometimes called 3|| ^ ^
f on* I -tongue incense, not to be confounded with $H ^ .
fowl-bone incense, a kind of lignum aloes, q. v.
COWRIES are mostly designated by JJ, , sometimes also
by^Jlor JI1B.
SANDALWOOD. The full name is f jjjf , a transcription
of the native sound, but this is generally abbreviated
CASSOWARY, >^ $| the fire-fowl. The "Tung Hsi Yang
K'au " describes it as follows : " This bird is found in
Sumatra ; its body is round and of the size of a goose ; it
has a long neck with two excrescences, soft and red, which
form a kind of cap. Its bill is pointed, and its feathers like
goat's-hair ; it has long legs with sharp claws, and it likes to
eat burning coals, from which it has got its name."
The other articles, animals, etc., mentioned in the course
of these pages, are sufficiently known to be identified with-
out any further explanation.
A small map has been added to these notes, giving a
sketch of the Archipelago, and containing the principal
names mentioned in the preceding pages. The modern
names are in running hand, the old names in printing
letters, whilst the numbers added to these names, refer to
the time when they are first spoken of in history.
In this map it was necessary to fix doubtful localities
with more precision than has been done in the text ; we
beg our readers to remember this when looking at it, as in
such cases the uncertainty fully remains, and as the map
is not intended to give more than a general indication of
the probable or possible situation.
1'u- ni, on the western-coast of Borneo, has been placed
near Sambas, as the latter town formerly was the principal
Malay settlement on or near the sea-coast.
26 3
VI.
OUTLINES OF A GRAMMAR OF THE
MALAGASY LANGUAGE.
By H. N. VAN DER TUUK.
["Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society," N.S., vol. i. (1865), pp. 419-46.]
INTRODUCTION.
I. The Malagasy belongs unquestionably to the stock of
languages which have been denominated Malay o- Polynesian,
and more particularly to the great Western Branch, which
comprehends the languages of the lank-haired races of the
Indian Archipelago and the Philippines, and which we shall
call Malayan (from the most predominating language in that
part of the globe), to distinguish it from the Eastern Branch,
which may be called Maorian (from the Maori of New Zea-
land), the geographical term Polynesian having the disad-
vantage of not excluding the languages of the crisp-haired
races. The Malagasy bears the greatest analogy to the Toba
dialect of the Batak in pronunciation (III.), and many salient
points * in its grammatical structure may be pointed out (IV.)
to prove its affinity to Javanese, Batak, Malay, Dayak,f and
other Malayan tongues. The words, common to many of
these, have not been derived from the languages of the two
most civilized and formerly enterprising nations of the Indian
Archipelago (the Malays and Javanese), as the following small
list of words, not existing either in Javanese or Malay, and
taken at random, will suffice to prove : %
1. Bee, uwdni (Batak), bdni (Mangkasar), awdni (Bugis), fdni
(Timor and Rotti), dni (Bima).
2. Black, wiiring (Harafura of Menado), Wiring (Dayak, char-
coal).
3. Forest-leech, limdtok or limdtek (Batak), limdtik (Tagal).
4. Satiated, bbsur or besur (Batak), wesu (Menado Harafura
and Sangar).
5. Ghost, nitu (Batak and Timor), anito (Tagal and Bisaya),
lito (Favorlang on Formosa), (si-^nitu (Mantdwey).
* Against Crawfurd's " Dissertation," p. iv.
t Of which only the Ngaju is sufficiently known.
Against Crawfurd, 1. 1 p. vii., below.
264 OUTLINES OF A GRAMMAR OF
6. Bananas, bntsi* (Malagasy), nnchim (Batak, wild bananas),
iinti (Mangkasar), punti (Sumbawa and Sangar). The
cultivated banana is called gaol in Toba, on account of the
vibration of the /, properly the same as galo, as in the lan-
guage of Bima, and gdluh in the Dairi dialect of the Batak.
7. To steal, tdkko ottangko (Batak), tdkow (Dayak).
8. Rat, Toaldro or valdvo f (Malagasy), bldwow (Dayak),
baldu'o (Mangkasar).
9. Salt, sir a (Malagasy and Batak), siya (Sasak, on the island
of Lombok, Sangar, and Bima).
10. Mouth, baba or babah (Batak), bawa (Nias), vava (Malagasy).
11. Foot, nkhe (Dairi), ne (Sumbawa).
12. Footjgdc (Nias), Me (Dairi, thigh), Me (Toba, the lower part
of a land towards the sea, hde-hde, thigh).
13. Nine, siwah or siya (Batak), sky (Malagasy), hiwa, iwa, &c.
(Maorian).
Observation. Many words, besides, which might be con-
sidered Javanese or Malay, have more complete forms in the
other Malayan languages ; which puts it beyond all doubt that
they have not passed through those channels. A striking example
is the word for earthquake, which in Javanese is lindu (in the
Malay of Batavia //#, and in the Balinese limih\ whereas Sangar
has yet lindur^ Tagal lindol, Bisaya lindog, and Dairi rcnur.\
Other words have the changed form of another language than
Javanese e.g., sbfihd (ear) siiping (Batak), kuping (Javanese).
II. The words which appear to Crawfurd "most fit to test
the unity of languages are those indispensable to their struc-
ture; which constitute, as it were, their framework, and with-
out which they cannot be spoken or written ; as, for instance,
the prepositions representing the cases of more complex lan-
guages, and the auxiliaries to express tenses and moods."
Not finding similarity in them, he is led to suppose that the
Malayan languages are no sister tongues, but distinct lan-
guages. Here Crawfurd has overlooked the fact that such
words in kindred languages seem very often to be different to
a person who neglects the grammar, and satisfies himself with
looking over vocabularies. Would not a man, not well
acquainted with the Teutonic languages, infer from but, niaar,
sou dent, and fo, naar, zu, &c., that English, Dutch, and
German are no kindred languages? Such words seem dif-
ferent, because they are very liable to different applications ;
thus, for instance, the preposition ka in Malay (to a place)
does not exist as a preposition either in Batak or Malagasy,
but only as a prefix ; v.g. ha-darat (Batak), to step to the wall
of a bathing place, to go on shore, said of a person bathing,
* o as u in German and Italian. f v as. in Dutch.
$ nd often = 11 as medial (compare the last word in III. i).
THE MALAGASY LANGUAGE. 265
ha-lrdtra (Malagasy), up to the breast (ha = ka, see III. i).
We need not examine all these words to come to the result
that they are originally the same, and only differently applied,
some of them being still used in the same way; thus, for
instance, the preposition at, in, is in Malay and Batak (Toba
and Mandating) di, in Mangkasar and Bugis ri, in Dai'ri
Batak / (in Javanese closed with a nasal ing) ; of is in Tagal,
Bisaya, Malagasy, and Batak still ni ; to is in Toba, Man-
dailing, and Favorlang tit (Dayak intit) ; si is in Dai'ri the
relative pronoun, and takes sometimes a closing nasal before
the following word (simper a : what is dry), whereas in Javanese
it is sing; si is both in Mangkasar and Dairi the particle of
unity (sikarang, one moment, &c.).
III. Striking peculiarities of the Toba and Malagasy in pronun-
ciation are :
1. An h, as initial or medial, where another Malayan language
has k; v.g. hblatra* (Malagasy) fungus = kulat (Malay); hdla
(Malagasy and Toba) scorpion = kdla (Malay from the Sanskrit);
hdzo (Malagasy) tree, wood = hdyu (sub-Toba and Mandailing) hdu
(Toba), kdyu (Malay, Javanese, Dairi, &c.) ; tdhotrd (Malagasy)
dread = tdhut (Toba ma-tahut, to be afraid), tdkut (Malay) ; hdvitrd
(Malagasy) a pointed iron, a spit = kdwit (Basaya) a crook, a hook,
kdit (Malay), kdut (Dai'ri), hdit (Toba and Mandailing); handrina\
(Malagasy) forehead = kdning (Malay, in Menangkabow it means
eyebrow). 1
2. A k as medial in Malagasy = kk in Toba, where Malay,
Javanese, or any other kindred language has ngk; v.g. toko (Mala-
gasy) trivet = tiingku (Menangkabow) ; vakband (Malagasy) a
screw pine, pandanus = bakkuwang (Toba pronunciation of the
Dai'ri bengkmuang\ bangkuwang (Menangkabow), mdngkuwang
(Malay).
3. A final k in Malagasy and Toba becomes h before the vowel
of a suffix ; v.g. ulbhon (Toba) eaten by the worm, from ulok and
on; irdhind (Malagasy) being sent as a messenger, from irakd
and ind.
4. A final n in Malagasy causes an initial h to be changed into
k, and sometimes into tr ; v.g. olon-kafa or olon-trafa (stranger),
from blond (man), and hafa (strange). In the same way we find
in Toba tiak-kuta (from the fortified village), from tian (from) and
* The vowel of the final syllables tra, na, and ka, is but slightly sounded,
and in some dialects of the Malagasy dumb.
*t" n as ng in singer, ng being pronounced as ng in longer (in Malay, &c.,
words represented by ngg) ; see also I. Observation.
1 [Compare also Malay and Toba hara, mother-of-pearl, Malay karah;
helatra, Toba hilap, Malay, kilat, lightning ; kadi Ira, Toba Jmling, Malay
kulit, skin ; hady, haly, ditch, Toba had, Malay gali, trenched ; hoho, nails,
Malay kuku ; hamory, rudder, Toba hatundi, Malay kamudi ; vohitra, hill,
Malay bukit ; hadoka, the nape of the neck, kodok.~\
266 OUTLINES OF A GRAMMAR OF
huta (the Sanskrit kuta, see i), and tittittu (my ring) from tittin
(ring), and hu (suffix, mine). In the Mandailing an initial h is
changed always into a k by a preceding final consonant; v.g.
tingon kuta ( = iiak-knta} from tingon = tian, and huta (in South
Mandailing pronounced uta).
5. In Malagasy is is put instead of initial s by the influence of
a final consonant ; v.g. Idland sdrotra becomes lalantsdrotra. In
Toba we have tiatsaba (from the rice field) out of tiau + saba (rice
field). In the South Mandailing and Dairi an s is pronounced
nearly as ch in English (child) after a final n; v.g. rdnchang
(written ran sang).
Observation. Although every Malagasy word terminates with
a vowel, a great many words derived by the aid of a suffix, as, for
instance, ina and ana (corresponding respectively with the Toba
suffixes on* and an\ show an inserted consonant (v, z, or s), which
is sometimes only to be explained by comparison with a language
wherein words terminating with a consonant are frequent. Thus,
for instance, the Malagasy root nify (uia-nify, thin) is precisely the
same word as the Malay nipis, as is evident from the derived
hanifisina (what is made thin). The Malagasy, like the Toba,
not having the semi-vowel 7, represents it very often by z (see
hazo in i, and i a). From this we see words wherein an inserted
z corresponds with a jy in Malay ; v.g. saldzand (a gridiron), from
sdly (roasted). Now saly in Malay is sdley (mandley, to cure or
dry by smoke or the heat of fire), and this sdley ^ with the suffix ati,
becomes saldyan (which would signify where the curing takes
place). Compare the Observation in VI.
IV. The salient points in grammatical structure which the Mala-
gasy has in common with the other Malayan languages, are :
1. The use of the prefix ;/, mostly to form intransitive verbs
(mi-dla t to go out), and occasionally to form transitive verbs (;;//-
t'idy, to buy). The same obtains in Batak, with the prefix mar
(Dairi mcr) ; v.g. marhbda (Dairi mcrkuda] to be on horseback,
margadis (Toba) to se\\ = mcrdeya (Dairi). The prefix mi (Batak
mar or mcr)^ is in Tagal and Bisaya mag, in Malay bar, in
Dayak bara t in I loco ag y in Mangkasar aq,\ (q not fully sounded),
in Kawi ma t and in Javanese a (see Note at the end, I. i).
2. The prefix ma closed with a nasal forms mostly transitive
verbs, as in Malay, Batak, Kawi, &c. The nasal, in some cases,
to be stated below, causes the initial consonant of the root to
disappear ; v.g. manbratra (to write) = manurat (Malay), manurat
(Toba), from sbratra (Malay and Batak siirat).
3. The substantives with an active sense are derived from the
verbs by the change of the initial m into its sharp mute (/ in
Kawi and Javanese CH, Tagal in.
r See " Opmerkingen naar aanleiding van eene taalkundige bijdrage van den
Hooglceraar Roorda," p. 35. [J. L. A.
Brandes, 1. 1. p. 130-4].
THE MALAGASY LANGUAGE. 267
Batak, Kawi, &c., and / in Malagasy) ; v.g.pambuwat (Batak) r,
the taking of anything in a certain way ; 2, taker, who takes some-
thing; from mambuivat (to take) \fandla (Malagasy) =pambuwat,
(i) mpanala=pambiiwaf, (2) from manala^-mambuwat.
4. The passive is made in Malagasy as in the other Malayan
languages, by the omission of the nasal ; the initial consonant of the
root, if lost by its influence (2) reappearing; as, for instance, the
passive verbal noun of mandpakd (to break) is tapdhind (III. 3).
In the other languages the same takes place ; v.g. timbdngon
(passive verbal noun), from ittanitrtbang (to weigh), from timbang.
5. A peculiarity of the Malagasy worth noticing is the use of a
preposition before a substantive, not with the sense of an adverb,
as might be supposed, and is really also the case (andanitrd, in
heaven), but very often to designate the proper name of a place
as a real substantive ; as, for instance, we have Ankova (the
country of the Hova tribe) although it is composed of any (at, in,
c.) and Hova (name of a now predominating lank-haired tribe of
the island), and should signify in the Hova, or at Hova. 1 The
same is to be seen in Javanese, v.g. ngaybdya, from ing Aybdya
(lit. at Ayodya), the ancient name of the Indian Oude ; the Sanskrit
Langkd (Ceylon) is mostly in Javanese ngalengkd (instead of ing-
Icngka (on Ceylon). In Batak a few remnants of this are to be
traced ; v.g.juma (Dairi, a dry field for cultivation), although it
is melted down from di-uma (in the field) ; haiima (Toba) means
the same, although it is visibly composed of ha (see II.), and urna
(field for cultivation, either dry or watered), and should signify, to
the field.*
6. In Malagasy faha is a prefix, which also forms ordinals from
cardinals; v.g.fahatelo, the third. In Toba we find paha as a
prefix for the names of the Batak months ; v.g si-pahatolu, the
third month (si being a prefix for substantives that are used for
proper names).
V. The Malagasy has the same idiosyncrasy as its kindred
languages :
1. Tear is expressed by water of the eyes (rdno-mdso) as in
Malay (dyar mdta), and Sundanese (chi-mdta\ &c.
2. Sun is eye of the day (mdso-dndro) as in Malay (mata-hdrt)
and other languages.
3. To be congealed is expressed by to sleep (mdndry), as in
Batak (modom).
4. Prince implies, what is to be waited upon (andriana, root
dndry\ just as in Javanese, where pangcran (Kawi pangheran) is
derived from mangher (to wait upon).
1 [Further examples are : an-kavanana, to the right ; an-kav/a, to the left ;
an-dafy, beyond (from Infy, side), and thus an-daji-nd-ranonidsina^ beyond the
seas i.e., foreign countries.]
* For other examples see " Tobasche Spraakkunst,"
268 OUTLINES OF A GRAMMAR OF
5. Backbone is tree of the back (hazondambsina^ i.e., hazo 4-
n + lawi>swa) } * justasinToba (Jidu-tanggnrung ; han, see III. i).
6. Vowels are children of writing (zana-tsbratra). In Batak
the same idea, anak ni surat meaning the signs, which are added
to the characters, which are mostly consonants, and have the
inherent a (ha, get, ta, &c.), to express either other vowels (as z, e,
i, or the sign of a final ;/, h, &c. In the same way reni-
landy (mother of silk) is silkworm, as in Malay indnng sutdra is
cocoon ; reni-tantely (mother of honey) is bee (in Malay indnng
mddii means a honeycomb). In Malay, when bow is opposed to
arrow, it is called ibu panah (mother of the bow), arrow being
expressed by anak panah (child of the bow) ; the same in Malagasy,
rtnin-antsaky (mother of the bow, bow), and zanatt antsaky (child
of the bow, arrow).
7. Leg is expressed by a composition with vba (fruit), viz.,
Toa-ritsi ; as in Batak, calf of the leg (buwah bitis}.
8. Calf of the leg is in Malagasy belly of the leg (kibon-drdnjo,
i.e., kibo belly, ;/, and rdnjo* leg), just as in Malay (parnt kaki).
9. Ten thousand is expressed by dlind (night), as in Batak,
millions, or any very great number, by gelap (dark).
10. OU-panjehy, name of a kind of worm like a caterpillar, the
spanning worm (blilra worm, and fanjehy\ spanning, from z'ehy, a
span), which is the Batak jongkal jbngkal, what looks like a span.
iiomjongkal (Malay jangkal}, a span, the worm creeping with a
bent back and having the appearance of a spanning hand.
VI. To detect similarity of words in kindred languages the
phonetic changes are to be fixed by rules, a mere comparison by
homophonous words being dangerous, and often leading the
scholar astray; as has happened to Mr. Crawfurd, who, just as
Mr. T. Roorda, in his edition of Gericke's " Javanese Diction-
ary," has been deceived by the sound.J So, for instance, Mr.
Crawfurd compares rolombava (moustaches) with Malay buhih
bawah,^ which has to signify, according to him, hair below, but
is an unheard-of expression. The Malagasy word, however, is
Tola (hair) + n (instead of /, of) + vava || (see I. 10), and is
accordingly the Nias bumbawa (bu, hair + w, joint of words +
baiua ; see I. 10). He further compares sivy (I. 13) with the
Javanese sdnga (nine), which has nothing to do with it. I subjoin
here a few rules by which to detect identity of seemingly different
words.
i. TV in Malagasy, save in the final syllable (III. i, in the
note), is d in Malay and other sister tongues ; v.g. trbzona (a
whale) = duyiing (halicorc dityung, a kind of sea cow); trdtra
(breast) - ddda ; traho (house) = ddngow (field house, shed in the
* See 15. f See n.
H See the fourth part of the "Bataksch Leesboek," p. in.
L. 1. p. 156 ; buhih is bamboo, and buhi hair. || See below, 15.
THE MALAGASY LANGUAGE. 269
field) ; trbsa (debt) = tffofl (sin in Malay, from the Sanskrit), guilt
to be redeemed by money in Batak, c.
2. Ndr is nd in Malay, &c., nr in Mangkasar or Bugis; v.g.
tdndroka (horn) = tdnduk (Malay) ; rindrind (wall of a house) =
dinding (Malay), rinring (Mangkasar); dndro (day) = dndoiv
(Dayak); mdndro (to bathe) = niandi (Malay, see 3), mdndity
(Dayak) ; trdndrakd (hedgehog) = Idndak (Malay), &c.
3. A final o () represents very often a final z in a sister
tongue ; which is to be explained from a final diphthong uy, still
existing in some languages; v.g. dfu (ftre) = api (Malay), dpuy
(Kawi and Madurese) ; Idno (swimming) = Idngi (Javanese), Idnguy
(Kawi), tdnguy (Dayak, see Addenda at the end of this article);
mdndro (see 2 ) = mdndi and mdndity , &c.
4. Where a d in Javanese and Batak is represented by / in
Malay and Balinese, the Malagasy has r ; v.g. brand (rain) = udan
(Javanese and Batak), hujan (Malay and Balinese) , rdhand (to
cook) ddAan (Toba), dakan (Dairi), jdkan (Balinese). But
when the word has already an /, the r is assimilated, perhaps
because the Malagasy disliked formerly the company of / and r
in one word, just as the Batak does now ; * v.g. Idland (road, path)
= da/an (Javanese and Batak), jalan (Malay and Balinese); lela
(tongue) = dila (Batak), lidah (Malay) ; lelakd (to lick, to lap) =
dilat (Javanese and Batak), jilat (Malay).
Observation. The final k of lelakd is changed into / before
the suffix ind : leldfina (what is licked or lapped) ; from which it
appears that it is the same word as the Dayak jelap.
5. Di in the Hova dialect is in the other Malagasy dialects,
as also in Batak, Malay, &c., /// hdd% (to dig) = hdli (Toba), kali
(Menangkabow), -gdli (Malay); dinta (leech) = linta (Toba and
Mandailing), lintah (Malay, &c.) ; sbdina (fife, flute) = sit ling
(Malay), &C. 1
VII. Sanskrit words there are in Malagasy (see VI. i, and
III. i), but they have undergone the changes of native words,
from which we may safely infer that the Malagasy branched off
from the languages of the Indian Archipelago after the influence
of the civilization of continental India had taken place. The
Arabic words" have passed into Malagasy directly, v.g. adimizand
* See " Tobasche Spraakkunst," 24.
1 [Compare also ditny, limy, five, Malay, lima ; tady, laly, rope, Malay, &c.,
tali ; todika, tolika, turned round, Malay tulih, look askance ; vadika, valika,
overturned, Malay balik ; fitly, faly, tabooed, Malay paniali ; fily, fily, to
choose, Malay pilih ; vily, viby, price, Malay bi-li, to buy; diditra, lilitra y
coiled, Malay, ////// Jioditra, holitra, skin, Malay //?/.] Other rules of the
transmutation of sound will be found in the course of the grammar.
2 [See the following contribution to the Antananarivo Annual, No. II.
pp. 75-91 (Reprint, p. 203-218), L. Dahle, "The Influence of the Arabs on
the Malagasy Language " (cf. No. V. p. 44, and No. VII. p. 21), and the same
author's "Madagaskar og dets Beboere," Christiania, 1876, vol. i. 93-05.]
270 OUTLINES OF A GRAMMAR OF
(the tenth month, Arabic ^I^^Jl),* fa/a fa (Tuesday) is the
Arabic \$$$, pronounced in Malay and Javanese salasa.
VIII. A deeper plunge into the grammar of the language is
necessary to convince the reader that the conquering lank-haired
tribes came from the west coast of Sumatra after having mixed
with a tribe resembling the Nias people, of whose language we
know next to nothing. 1
IX. The island of Madagascar may be said to possess one
language. Varieties of dialect exist, of course, but are not so
numerous that people residing in different parts cannot under-
stand each other, some practice enabling them to sustain a
conversation. The principal varieties consist more in a different
pronunciation, as will be stated hereafter ( 17), than in an entire
change in the words themselves, or in the structure of the sen-
tences. 2 The Malagasy chiefs like to use in their legislative
discussions an ornamental language, consisting of rather high-
sounding words that paraphrase the idea, and are easily under-
stood by the context. The Sakalava say, for instance, ny
mahalcna (what is moist) instead of brana (rain), ny mahetsakd
(quencher of thirst) instead of rdno (water), fambnty (lenitive,
emollient) instead of sblika (Hova, sblikya) oil, &c. Such
periphrastic words are also used to speak without offence, or out
of delicacy ; so the Sakalava say instead of amboa (dog),
fandrbaka (the driver away), because this animal is considered
dirty with them as with the Batak (even those that are not con-
verted to Islam, who call a dog in conversation pangdyak
(pursuer) or a shame-giver (pananggdi),\ because the words for dog
(dsitj biyang) and dnjing] are frequently used as terms of abuse.
Instead of vehivdhy (woman), the Sakalava commonly use
ampisdfy, who possesses a sdfy (which signifies : the hole wherein
a hammer is hefted or helved, and figuratively, the pudendum
muUcbre) ; which reminds me of the Batak bujing, which in some
parts of the country means pudendum muliebre, in others a virgin
(commonly repeated bujiftg-bujing). The Betsimisaraka say
instead o&maso-dndro (s\in) fanjdva-be (great illuminator, lighter).
A word is offensive or otherwise according to the different
* In Malay and Javanese adopted without the / of the article (see also VI. 5),
and with a different meaning.
1 [A I )utch-Nias Vocabulary is contained in pp. 61-84 of M. J. T. Nieuwen-
" Yerslag omtrent het eiland Nias" (" Verhandelingen van het
Bataviaasch Genootschap," vol. xxx., and a grammatical sketch by N. Sunder-
mann in vol. xxviii. of the " Tijdschrift " of the same Society.]
Antananarivo Annual No. VII. pp. 16-19, and other parts of
the Annual, fassini ; also |. Richardson's "Lights and Shadows," Antanana-
rivo, 1877, Appendix II. ;~J. S. Sewell, " The Sakalava," ib. 1875, p. 22 f.]
t In the Batak Dictionary this word is by mistake put under tang^a I. and
should be put under II. ; to give shame in Batak is the term for scolding, abuse
-'<* in the Batak Dictionary).
THE MALA GASY LANG UA GE. 271
parts of the country; so, for instance, ampela (girl) is almost
an abusive term (strumpet) in the north.
I. PHONETIC SYSTEM.
Of the Letters.
i. The alphabet (abidy), introduced by missionaries, con-
sists of twenty letters, and is recited a, ba, da, e,fa, ga, ha, i,ja,
ka, la, nia, na, o, pa, ra, sa, ta, va, y, za.
a. According to French authorities,* the Malagasy was written
formerly with Arabic letters, the power of which, however, was
changed, the Malagasy z, for instance, being represented by the
Arabic_y0 (Intr. iii. 5, Observ.). It would be very useful to consult
Malagasy compositions in the Arabic character,! in order to
correct some blunders that have evidently been committed by the
European ear.
Observation. Instead of abidy the alphabet should have been
called abada ; but the English missionaries forgot that they had
given most of the vowels the power they have in French.
The Vowels.
2. The a is sounded as in French. The e is the French
e ferme (as a in slate). The o is sounded as ou in French, or oo
in book, whereas the French o ouvert as in apotre (nearly as a w
in law) is written o. The i is sounded as in French, and when
occurring as the final of a word is written y.
The Diphthongs.
3. The only diphthongs are ai (as final written ay, 2), which
is also written ei (as final ey), and ao. The ai or d is sounded as
ey in they, and the ao as ow in row.
a. The ai is often contracted into t, principally when losing the
accent by the influence of a suffix ; v.g. kek'erina (kaikitrd + suffix
ina), bengy = baingy, beko = baiko (Hova, baikio). In an accented
syllable it sometimes loses either its first (a) or its last element (/),
v.g. boraiky - boriky, bingio = baingio, sdky = saiky. If it is repeated,
the first one is reduced to a mere vowel ; v.g., irai-iray (some)
from iray (one) is sounded ircray, whereas iray-rdy signifies of the
same father, from iray and rdy (father). The pronouns izay and
izao- are commonly sounded ize (e as the French e ouvert, or nearly
as ea in head), and izo ( 2).
* See Flacourt, " Histoire de la grande ile Madagascar," p. 195.
+ Flacourt, 1. 1. p. 1 88, gives a list of thirteen astrological books, of which
the titles are evidently Arabic ; and (p. 177) he gives the title of an Arabic-
Malagasy Dictionary, and twenty-seven titles of books on medicine.
272 OUTLINES OF A GRAMMAR OF
b. The vowel belonging to a prefix or suffix should never be
pronounced as a diphthong with the following or preceding vowel
of a word ; maitso is ma-itso (ma prefix), maozatra is ma-6zatra t
fakdind (fdka + suffix />/<?), *S:c.
Observation.- Johns' " Malagasy-English Dictionary," Griffiths's
" Grammar/' and that of the French Jesuit * speak of a great many
diphthongs evidently by mistake.t Griffiths calls ai in maina and
taitra a diphthong, but the French Jesuits accent maina ( 5 a)
and tditrd. It is evident that the French grammarians mean by
diphthong two vowels following each other, and forming two
separate syllables, as may be seen from the following passage in
their grammar (p. 15) : " If the accent of the root is on a diph-
thong, as tdo, rdo, Jioatrd, zditra, sdotrd, it passes then (when a
suffix is added) from the first vowel to the second without leaving
the syllable " v.g. zairina for zditra and ina ( 10, II.). I think
both the French and English grammarians 1 have fallen into the
mistake of the Dutch in their Malay grammars, where two consecu-
tive vowels (in separate syllables) are stated to form a diphthong.^
The two diphthongs mentioned above are peculiar to the Hova
dialect, the provincial having instead of them e and o. Perhaps
these diphthongs have originated in a former orthography
according to the Arabic system, wherein e and o are represented
by an a followed by a final y and w (compare Observation^ 4).
The Consonants.
4. The j is sounded as dz in adze. The g is always hard (as
in give), and the h aspirated (as in hunt). The v is sounded as w
in Dutch and German.
a. The Hova dialect, which has become the literary language,
has but two nasals viz., the dental () and the labial (/;/), while the
guttural nasal (wg, as in singer) is not represented by a separate
character, and only occurs there as a final before the guttural
consonants k and g. The combination ng should therefore be
sounded as ng in longer. In the provincial dialects, however, the
guttural nasal (the c of the Malay) is used also as a medial, and
is represented by the French Jesuits by n with the grave accent;
v.g. ahdrana (name = Kawi and Sunda ngdraii). The Dutch, in
their transliteration of the Malayan words, represent it by ng,
* [Generally attributed to Fere Webber.] "He Bourbon," 1855.
t As, fur instance, in and to, which are syllables commencing with con-
sonantal y (ya a; 1 6).
1 [The grammars l>y W. V.. Cousins (1872 and 1885), J. Richardson (1884),
and (i. W. Parker (1883), are free from this error.)
See, for instance, the third edition of I)e Hollander's " Handleiding bij
de beo'.-fening der Mak-ische Taal en Letterkunde," p. 31, where daun is
stated to be a monosyllable. The pronounciation down belongs to the lingo of
ialay.
g Tor want of the pn per type, we express this guttural nasal by .
THE MALA GASY LANG UA GE. 273
whereas ;/<,>, as in longer, is written by them ngg. Even the French
weak guttural nasal sound, as in son, sein, is unutterable to the
Hova : du TUI has become divay (wine), gaiit is ga (glove), &c.
The word for soap (sarony) is not taken from the French, but is
Arabic ( .oLo). The ;/ gives the advantage of distinguishing
words that are homophonous in the Hova ; v.g. brand (crayfish)
= tirang (Javanese), but brand (rain) = Man (Javanese and
Batak).'
b. In the provincial dialects too there is a palatal nasal (the n
of the French Jesuits) to be sounded as gn in French (regne) or
nearly as ni in onion. It is the . of the Malay.
Observation. That the literary language does not express these
two nasals is perhaps owing to the Arabic character,* which has
no separate letters for ;/ and /7, nasals which are unutterable to the
Arabs as initials, medials, or finals of a word (the proper name
Palctnbang) on the east coast of Sumatra, is sounded by the
Arab falimbaii).
Of Dumb Sounds.
5. The vowel of the final syllables ka (sometimes /'/</, 16),
tra and na is but very slightly sounded, or, according to the
dialects, left out altogether ; v.g. rdvind (leaf = Malay ddun,
Kawi ron instead of rduii), blitrd (worm = Malay ulat, Javanese
iilcr\ kbhaka (cough, compare Batak hbhak, expectorated spittle).
These syllables will henceforth be called dumb syllables.
a. If the dumb syllables follow immediately the accented
syllable, their vowel is sounded as an echo of that of the pre-
ceding syllable ; v.g. ritrd is nearly ritri, maina is almost maini.
b. Every final syllable, if immediately following the accented
one, has an almost imperceptible sound, which may be changed
into any other vowel (compare 12, 14, a) t and very often is but
an echo of that of the preceding syllable ; v.g. tbro (provincial, as
in Javanese) = tbry (ma-tory, to sleep), vildiiy (cooking vessel) is
almost vildhd ( = Malay bdldngd).
c. The a of ka is often clearly sounded when followed by the
syllable ha of a following word ; v.g. mandpaka hdzo.
d. The y is nearly dumb
1. in the pronoun ny (of him, of her, its) ; v.g. ny dda-ny (his
father) is sounded nearly ny ddan ;
2. in the final syllable ny, when taking the place of na ( 8) ;
v.g. ny rdviny ny hdzo (the leaf of the tree) is sounded nearly as
ny ravin ny hdzo.
The Accent.
6. The accent is on the penultimate, save when the word
having more than two syllables, although not derived, terminates
* Compare Observation, 3.
SECOND SERIES. VOL. I. T
274 OUTLINES OF A GRAMMAR OF
with a dumb syllable ( 5), in which case it is always on the ante-
penultimate ; v.g. vildhy ( 5/>), faldfa (the mid rib of the banana
leaf; compare Malay paldpah}, hblatrd (mushroom, Malay kii/at\
rdrind ( 5), Id/and (road, path, Javanese and Batak ddlan}, laldna
(law), tdhand (hand, Hova tana mi, 4^; Malay tdngan), taudna
(village), kbhakd ( 5). The vowel of the syllable immediately
following the accented one must never be sounded so as to
become an e (as in English better, Dutch beter), and 5$ must be
attended to. The accent is not influenced by a prefix ; v.g. habe
(prefix ha, root be].
^ 7. The accent passes on to a following syllable by the
influence of a suffix ; v.g. vonoind (I'bno + ind}, fakdind (fdka
+ ind), &c. The monosyllabic roots, and those that have the
accent immediately before the dumb syllables, are excepted ;
v.g la-rind (la, inserted v, and ina}, bezind (be, inserted z, and ina},
ankafhind (what is tasted), from mankafy homfy ( 6).
a. In compound words the last word has always the accent ;
v.g. tokory (iron trivet), from toko (trivet), and vy (iron) ;
salazamby (gridiron) from saldzana (see p. 266, above) and vy.
Change of Vowels.
8. The dumb a ( 5) is assimilated to the vowel of the
preposition ny (of) following; v.g. ny rdviny ny hdzo ( $d\
instead of ny rdvind ny, &c., soratry ny blond (writing of men),
instead of sbratrd nv, &c., inpamdpaky ny blond (ruler of men),
instead of nipanidpakd ny, &c.
9. An / is changed into e by the influence of a suffix
i st. Mostly when the preceding syllable has another vowel
than /; v.g. kekcrind (kekitrd + ina, 10, II.), otirind (blitrd
-f- ind, 10, II.), matesa (maty, inserted s and suffix a], atrchind
(dtrikd + ind, 10, I.), &c.
."nd. When it occurs in the first syllable of a bisyllabic word
terminating with the dumb syllable trd ; v.g. retina (ritra + ind,
I0 , II-)-
a. Often a final / ( 2) is changed into a before an inserted z
( 14), when the suffix and is added; v.g. saldzana (sdly -f and}
topdzand (tbpy + and}, tainbdzand (tdniby + and), dinibdzand
(diniby + and},fafdzana (fdjy + ami) ; comp. p. 266, above.
b. The final / of bisyllabic words sometimes coalesces with
the initial vowel of the suffix ind, and receives the accent without
becoming long ; v.g. ahina (dhy + ind}, ir'ina (iry -f ind}, taJnna
(tdhy + ind}. It becomes accented e with the initial vowel of
the suffix, if the first syllable of the word has no a or i ; v.g.
jcrcna (jcry}, terena (tcry}, vonjcna (r<>njy}, ckcna (cky\ ro/cna
(r/'/r), rcsena (rcsy}, &c. In the same way the final a of a
bisyllabic root coalesces with the suffix a; v.g. nwinbd (inbmba + a},
migadrd (prefix ;;// + gddra + a}.
THE MALA GASY LANG UA GE. ?. 7 5
c. The a resembles often the French e ouvert in the suffix ana,
when it is preceded by an accented i ; v.g.fehiana 2xv\fainakuuui
are sounded nearly as/f//P/M and famakiend.
d. Before a syllable, which has the accent by the influence of a
suffix, an e or o of the root may be sounded as c ( 6) ; v.g. rcrcto
(reretrd + 0, 10, II.), croand (bro + ami).
e. In the provincial dialects the o of a last syllable is often
changed into o ( 2) in receiving the accent before the suffix and
or a ] v.g. fanadvand (fatido + ami), famordnand (famorond
+ and), veld ma (velond + a), &c.
Change of Consonants.
10. The dumb syllables ( 3) undergo before suffixes the
following changes :
I. Ka becomes commonly h ; v.g. irdhind (irakd + ind),
robdkind (rbbakd + ind\ &c.
a. Rarely it becomes / (robdtind = robdhina).
b. When it becomes/, the only cause of this must be a former
form of the word, such as may be inferred from the corresponding
word in a cognate language (see leldfind, Intr. p. 269). Another
example is atrefind, next to atrehind, what is fronted, or faced,
from dtrikd (Hova : dtrikid, 16) and the suffix i/nj, from which
a former form dtrif ( 19, b) = Javanese adcp, Batak ddop,
Malay hddap, &c., may be supposed to have existed. In hirifind
hirihind (what is bored), and hirifand = hirihand, from hirikd
(Hova, hirikia, 16), the similarity of the aspiration with the
spirancy of the /may be the reason, as the corresponding Malay
word is girik.
Observation. The final syllable ip of the Malay is pronounced
iq* in the Menangkabow ; v.g. kdtiq = katib (Arabic <__^Jac a ,).
II. Tra becomes r, if the word does not contain in another
syllable an r, in which case it becomes /; v.g. hodrind (fibatrd\
zairind (zditrd\ olerind (olitrd), kekerind (kekitra), &c., but retina
( 9, 2), soritand (sbritra^ sordtand (soratra), roritind (rbritra),
rifdtind (rifatra), rombbtand (rbmbotrd), &c.
a. Rarely it becomes // v.g. saofand ( 9, e) next to sabrand
(sdotra). In sokdfand (what is opened), from sbkatrd, a former
sbkaf may be supposed to have existed from the corresponding
Toba ukkap, Menangkabow singkap (Intr. p. 266, ?.). Another
example is tsentsefind (what is sucked), from tsentsitrd (compare
Malay sdsap, Batak sosop or scsep).
III. Na becomes , and where it becomes ;;/, a cognate
language must be resorted to ; so, for instance, veloma ( 9, e),
from velond, and suffix a is explicable by the Dayak bilom (to
live), and indrdmind (what is borrowed, from indrand\ by the
* By q is meant a final k swallowed up, being a kind of click.
T 2
276 OUTLINES OF A GRAMMAR OF
Batak injam. Another example is ampinbtmnd (what is caused to-
be drunk) from minonti (to drink) = Malay miniiin.
a. Tcnbniind (what is woven, from tenond\ and taomind (what
is gathered, from tdona) do not seem to be explainable by the
corresponding words of the cognate languages (Malay tamiu,
Batak tonun or tcmtn ; Malay tahun year, Dairi harvest time), but
remind us of the constant interchanges of in and un with im
and 11 m as final syllables ( 19, b) in Batak and Menangkabow.*
From this is also to be explained arcmhia (what is rectified), from
drind.
n. In compound words the dumb syllables tra and ka of
the first are left out, in the meantime either changing the initial
consonant of the second, or requiring an inserted consonant.
The change affects ft,f, ?', and /, which become respectively ,/,
b, and d ; tapakdzo (tdpaha + hdzo\ misipdry (inisika and fdry),
manotnbobolo (inanombotrd + volo\ mitariddkand (mitdrikd 4-
Idkand). The inserted consonants required are d before r and z t
and / before s ; v.g. efajdto ( 4) (cfatrd + zdto], manjaidrdry
(manjditrd + rdry\ uianondrotsikina (inanondrotrd + sikind).
a. If the second word commences with a vowel only the final a
is left out ; v.g. eritreritra (critrd repeated), lavakbrond (Idvakd
+ orona).
b. If a word commencing with h and terminating with tra or ka
is repeated the final a and initial // are left out ; v.g. hovotrbvotra
(Jwvotrd repeated), hotikbtikd (hbtikd repeated), horakbrakd (Jwrakd
repeated).
12. The dumb syllable na occasions the same changes ( n)
in composition,! losing, however, only its vowel, the remaining n
following the class of the initial consonant (becoming m before
labials, and ;/ before gutturals) ; v.g. viiJiinainpdry (mihinana
+ fdry\ manainbbla (tndnand + void), inauarankclokd (inan-
drana + h'eloka], mancitonddpa (maudtond + lapa), ininoudrdno
(minojia + rdno], manantsdind (indnand + sdi/ui), nianakonjdrafra
(mandkona 4- zdi'atra).
a. On the east coast initial h in this case is often changed
into tr ; v.g. olontrdfa olonkdfa (Hova) from blond and hdfa
(compare b).
b. When a word commencing with h and terminating with nd
is repeated, ;/// sometimes becomes ng (4 a), and sometimes tr
(compare a) ; v.g. hozougbzond (hbzona repeated), Iwrotigorona
(hbrond repeated), hilontrilonci (Jiilond repeated), hclontrclomi
(hclo)id repeated). This dissimilarity is owing to the final, where
it blends with initial // into ng, being properly a guttural nasal (;/),
which requires a consonant of its own class, and where it passes
* See " Tobasche Spraakkunst," p. 63 c
t According to rules, which will be specified below, the pronominal suffixes
differ, when taking place after the dumb syllable.
THE MALA GAS Y LANG UA GE. 2 7 7
with initial h into ntr, being a real dental (;/), which requires in
the same way a consonant of its own class. In Toba ;/// changes
into double f, and ng/i (;///) into double k ; v.g. daldttu (da/an +
////), bidkku (biartg + hit}.
13. If the second word comences with ;//, all the dumb
syllables are left out ; v.g. oiomdsina (blond + mdsina)^ maini-
jndso (inanritrd + i/idso), toraindso (tbrakd + mdso).
Observation. The n being left out here is against the rule
( 12), but perhaps the natives sound a double m instead of ;////,
as in the Toba, where, for instance, napiirdmmu is the pronuncia-
tion of napuran 4- /////.
Inserted Consonants,
14. Before the suffixes a v ( 4) is often inserted after final o
or a, and s or z after final e or / (y) ; v.g. Idrind (la + ind\
antsavind (dntso + in a), nofisind {nbfy + ind\ bezind (be + ind),
velezind ( 9, vely + ind\ &c.
a. When one of the syllables of the word commences with
a labial (/, /, or v) an s or z are also inserted after final o, to
avoid the succession of syllables with similar sounds; v.g.
nofbsand (iibfo + a?id], tovozind (tbro + ind\fivalozand (from rato,
mivdlo}.
Observation. The inserted consonant is sometimes to be ex-
plained from the final of the corresponding word in a cognate
language (Introd. p. 266, Obs.). Other examples are ainpalesind
from ampdly (a tree, the coriaceous leaves of which are used
for smoothing earthenware ; compare Malay ampdlas\ fidzand
(what is squeezed) from fia (Javanese pcrcs\ hihisand (what is
scraped) from hihy (Malay kikis, 17, 3) hehezind (what is
scratched) from /ic/iy (Malay kakas), herezind (what is fortified)
from hery (Malay kdras\ &c. Sometimes the inserted z is aj in
the corresponding word of a cognate language, as the Malagasy
has no consonantal y as medial (compare i a and Introd. p. 266,
above); v.g. saldzand (Introd. p. 266), tetezand (bridge) = titiyan
(Malay) from tety (Malay //'//, Menangkabow ////// and titis).
15. Between two substantives, of which the second quali-
fies the first, a nasal is inserted, which corresponds in class with
the initial consonant, and occasions the above ( n) stated
changes ; v.g. akondronjdza (akbndro and zdza\ dintainburund
(dmta + viiruua}, roaiikena (voa + hena}, voandrawidry (voa +
raniidry], trahonkala (spider's web, trdno, house, and /id/a,
spider), &c. Sometimes the nasal is not sounded, although the
initial has suffered the change ; v.g. vatokardiiand next to rato-
hardnand (vato + hardnand\ atidbha (brains), from dty (liver,
inside), and loha (head). From the materials at my disposal I can
give no rules as yet by which to know either when the nasal
must be inserted or not, and when it is to be sounded and when
278 OUTLINES OF A GRAMMAR OF
not. So, for instance, or id la (wild yam), from ovi (yam), and a la
(forest) without an inserted nasal, but dintandla (forest leech),
from dinta (leech) and a/a, and ovimbazaha (European yam,
potatoes). Again we find voatavombazaha (voatdvo,* pumpkin,
razdJia, European), notwithstanding roatarohora (native or
Hova pumpkin), instead of which one would expect roataron-kbra.
a. To account for this irregularity I think that some of these
compounds (ori-d!a) are only made by juxtaposition, and others
by means of the preposition ny (as in Batak /, of). In the Toba
the vowel of ;// is left out before initial j (nearly as/ in judge),
/, //, /, r, and s (v.g. oppunjbmba instead of bppu ni jbtnba). In
the Dairi we have ;/ sometimes inserted between the vowels of two
words in composition ; v.g. arinbnan (market day) = aribnan
(Toba dn\ day, and 6nan, market, held in the field). As to an
initial // being changed into /, although the nasal is not sounded,
as in vato-kardnana, it is just according to the Toba pronunciation
( 12, //). Another example of this peculiar pronunciation we
shall find below (pronominal suffixes).
16. The Hova likes to insert a y (written i) after the gutturals
(/', |, ;//, ;/-and h\ when the preceding syllable has an /; v.g.
hovidi-kio (pronounced hovidi-kyo\ what I have to buy, instead of
Jwridy 4- ko (pronominal suffix, of me, mine), hifikia (pronounce
Idfikya) = Idfikd (provincial, Batak ldpik\ bingio (bingyo] = bingo
(provincial), mikidsa (niikydsa) = mikdsa (provincial, ;;// prefix and
kdsa\ &c. This is a rule whenever the gutturals have a, and almost
so if they have an o. The inserted y, however, is commonly
left out in derivatives ; v.g. kihbind^ from kihio (kilio, elbow, corner).
o. In the provincial dialects a y is often inserted before the
suffix end (see 9, />) ; v.g. ronjycnd (written ronjicna}. In the
same way a w is inserted before the suffix ana, when the preceding
syllable has o ; v.g. fombwdna (written fom bodiia) instead of
fonibdua (fo/ulta + ana^ see 9 b}.
b. The French Jesuits speak of an / added before bisyllabic
words commencing with <?, when they are augmented by a suffix,
and also of an o before monosyllables in the same case : v.g.
ibvana, instead of brand (from ora), ibrind instead of orina (from
btra, see 10, II.), ozbina\ instead of zbina from zo.
* Two is the name (voa meaning fruit). This tdvo (Batak taint, 17, 6)
is in .Malay -Mbit (with the first syllable dropped, the Sanskrit alalnt). This
word is an interesting proof that the Sanskrit words came into Malagasy from
the Indian Archipelago. In the Malayan languages / and n interchange very
often (" Tobasche Spraakkunst," p. 64, iv.) so that a former ndbu is probable.
-i Is having a verbal sense are often changed into the sharp mute of
their cla.-v, (lit I era tennis], whenever the word is current as substantive (see
Taco Roorda's " Beoefeniug van 'tjavaansch bekeken,"p. 8, annotation), and
so we get fdtw(xc Addenda at the end of this article).
t Johns's Dictionary has ozoiny without an accent (see under manjo from zo).
This work lias neglected the accent to such an extent that it is sometimes im-
THE MALA GASY LANG UA GE. 2 7 9
Dialectical Peculiarities.
17. According to the several dialects the following sounds
are in some words identical :
1. Ti (Sakalava) = tsi (Hova and East coast); v.g. rdty =
rdtsy (bad), //>/>> = fbtsy (white, Malay piitih, NisLsfi/cfa) ; com-
pare tsinjo \mi-tsinjO) to gaze) with Malay tinjow, Batak Undo,
tsindri (roa-tsindri, pressed) with Malay tindih. The Dairi and
Malay have often chi, where Toba has ti \* v.g. kbching (Malay
kuchin^) = hitting (Toba, see 3), a cat.
2. Li (Sakalava and Betsimisaraka) = di (Hova and East
coast) ; v.g. linta (also Batak, Malay Hntah) = dinta (leech),
lily = didy, &c. Compare sbdina (fife, flute ) = suling (Malay),
tadiny ( 5, /;, foramen of the ear) = talinga (Malay, ear),
hodidind = knitting (Malay), hadi (mi-hadi, to dig) = hali (Toba),
kdli (Dairi, and Menangkabow), gdli (Malay), &c.
3. K = h; v.g. kely (small) = hely, kdland = hdland (compare
Toba hdlang, Menangkabow kalang, &c.) c. The Dairi has
regularly k as medial and initial, where Toba has //, and even the
character representing h in Toba is sounded k in Dairi.
4. R = // v.g. roso loso (departed), Idha (Sakalava) = rdha.
This change is not frequent in the Batak, and commonly takes
place by phonetic attraction, by which an / or r of a preceding
word is mostly changed into r or /, whenever the following has r
or /; v.g. marampis bibirna (thin are his lips), instead of malampis
bibirna, silumimpang dalan (a road branching off fingerlike />.,
with many side-ways), instead of sirumimpang ddlan. As I have
not been in a position to consult many Malagasy works written by
natives, I am unable to decide whether this change is to be
accounted for in the same way.
5. P f ; v.g. fdokd = pdokd, fblraka = pbtrakd. The Nias
cannot sound/, and the Batak not/.
6. B or mb = v ; v.g. ambily (Sakalava) = avidy (see 2, Hova
and East coast), dbo or dmbo (Sakalava) = avo (Hova and East
coast), ambela = avela, behabeha vehav'eha. The Javanese has
regularly w as Malagasy, where Malay and Batak have b
(uwi bvi ubi Malay and Batak.)
7. J ( 4) = z ; v.g. jdmba = zdmba, jchy = zhy. The z in
Malagasy is often j in Malay (zbro=juru, corner). In the Bugis/
often represents y of the Malay and z of the Malagasy ; v.g. dju
(tree, wood, instead oihdju) = kayu (Malay and Dairi, &c.), hdzo
(Malagasy), hdyu (Mandailing and sub-Toba).
8. S=ts ; v.g.potsaka=pbsaka. The ch of Malay and Dairi
possible to see the derivation of a word ; so for instance, it has ombe^ whereas
the grammar of the French Jesuits has ombe (chief, magnate), from which it
appears that it is to be derived from be (great).
* See "Tobasche Spraakkunst," p. 35, D. III.
23o OUTLINES OF A GRAMMAR OF
is pronounced s in Toba if not provided with an * * (bdcha, San-
skrit wacha = bdsa).
9. The Hova has often ai or el ( 3) where the provincial
dialects have *.
10. Instead of the dumb syllable /ra of the Hova, the Western
dialects have regularly tsa, and the Eastern and Southern cha
(c/i nearly as in English child} ; v.g. cfatsa = efatra (four, Batak
Spat ot cmpaf). Flacourt f has t&mits*=tbitwtra\ (heel, Malay
tumif).
11. Several words have indifferently either of the dumb
syllables. The dumb syllable trd, when the preceding syllable
has an /, is often ka (kia, 16); v.g. tna-fditrd (bitter) --m a -fdika,
pbtsitrd =pbtsihd (pbtsikia in Hova, 16), smashed. The
Menangkabow pronounces the final syllable // of the Malay as />/;
v.g. pdiq (bitter =pdit [**teUV It is strange that some words
have a final nd = ka ; v.g. fdsind (sand) =fdsikd (or fdsikia)
malna = maika (dried out). In Malagasy a final nd represents
sometimes an r of the Malay; v.g. fdsin a =pdsir, lambsind
(back) = launisir (the flesh of an animal's back which extends
along each side of the spinal bone) ; kdmbana (twins) = kdmbar
(Malay).
a. Sometimes this change of nd and kd is only explicable by
supposing nd to be properly nd (40); so, for instance, we have
brond (nose), Javanese irung y Dayak itrong, Hova brand, and
brokd (inaiwroka), to smell, to kiss in the native way by smelling
or touching noses ; compare the two significations of the Malay
chiyum$ &c. Both words are originally the same, as is proved
by the rule of Batak, where the Dairi dialect has as final n when
the Toba has k ; v.g. honing (the curcuma root conspicuous for its
yellowness) = /////# || (Toba), knnin* (Malay, yellow).
12. In the Hova and in the South-east coast the s is nearly
palatal, and sounded as ch in French (or sh in English), prin-
cipally by the influence of a preceding or following / (misy is
nearly wis/ii).
13. In the North an i is sounded as c when the preceding
accented syllable has a, and sometimes also when it has an e or
o ; v.g.ftite =fdty (corpse), fere =fery (wound), tdne = tdny (earth),
* Sec i.
i court's Vocabulary I have not been able to consult, the alleged word
having been taken from Von Humboldt's great work on the Kawi.
t The " Dictionnaire Franrais-Malgache " (He Bourbon, 1855) has
t6mitr& as the provincial word (see under talon], [Chapelier's Vocabulary
("Voyage de 1'Astrolabe," Philology, vol. i.) gives toutnitz and toumoutcn
J)'Ahnond, in his " Vocabulaire Sakalava et Betsimitsara,"/ww/^.]
- "Opmerkingen naar aanleiding van eene taalkundige verhandeling
van den Iloogleeraar Roorda," p. 48.
11 See " Batak Dictionary" and "Tobasche Spraakkunst," p. 65, vi.
THE MALA GASY LANG UA GE. 28 r
= dhltra (grass). The Batak has very often c in the last
syllable where a cognate language has /, when one of the pre-
ceding syllables has a ; v.g. pdte =pdti (Javanese), baume (earth)
bit mi (Malay, Sanskrit bhumi). As e and o as finals are often
interchanged in Batak (pd%o =pdge? rice in the husk), so we see
the Batak tdno to be = the Malagasy tany.
14. Some words commence either with a vowel or an h; v.g.
bzatra = hozatra (muscle).
a. The French Jesuits mention as faulty the pronunciation of
dndra instead of dndro (day), imba instead of imbo, cna instead of
cno. The word dndra, however, is explicable from 5 b, whereas
the others may be accounted for if we consider that an accented
syllable easily obscures the vowel of a following or preceding
syllable ( 9 d) to such an extent that it becomes colourless, and
thus interchangeable with any other vowel. In the same way we
have to explain fbntra instead of fbnitra, fan'entra instead of
fancnitra (wasp ; compare Menangkabow/a;7aog7V, Batak piybngot).
The expression vidi-kio (or vidi-ko) is sometimes sounded vidi-ky.
A current abbreviation is hdy-ky instead of hdy-ko izy (I know it).
Use has consecrated also the abbreviation of ataovo (atdo + o,
14) into atdvo t of atabvy (atdo+y) into atdvy, and Qianabvana
into andvand.
Transposition of Sounds.
1 8. Transposition of sounds often takes place in words con-
taining either hissing (z,j, s, ts) or vibrating sounds (/ or r) ; v.g.
makdly = maldky (quick), azahband' 1 = ahazbana (azo], andrahbind
-ahandrbind (hdndro], sakaviro = sakarivo (ginger), zodrina
ozdrind (ozatra + ina), akitsa = atsika (atsikia, Hova).
a. In this way rezatra (belching) is evidently the Batak terap
(see further on, Note I. 7).
b. The language of the woods (polaritandla) makes a rule of it,
according to the French Jesuits.
Form of Primitive Words.
19. Primitive words are mostly bisyllabic (or trisyllabic with
a dumb syllable, see below, b). They are seldom monosyllabic
(be, lo), and when they have more than three syllables they are
either foreign words, or have the appearance of being derived
either by repetition or composition. Even these words are often
found to have lost one of the first syllables ; v.g. valdvo (provincial,
see Introd. L} = voaldvo (having the appearance of being a com-
1 [As the Batak igong, nose, corresponds to the Malay hidung(ssz 1 1, a), so
Batak page corresponds to Jav. fari, Malay padi, Malagasy -vary, and Tagala
palay.~\
~ [Probably a contraction of ahazahoana. See Richardson's " Malagasy
Dictionary," s.v. dzo.]
282 OUTLINES OF A GRAMMAR OF
position of voa and Idro) a rat, latcra (tobacco box) = tabatcra
(French tabatiere\ la/do = faoldo, kaitso = kamaitso, lambsina
lakambsina.
a. The vowel of one of the first syllables of polysyllabic words
is often uncertain ( 17, 14 a] even in derived words when the
accent is on a following syllable ; v.g. tetezana = tatczana (bridge
consisting of a narrow board, from tkty\ laferand leferana (the
hock, from Icfitra, accordingly what is folded, where a fold is),
kobbbo = kibbho, kofdfa = kifdfa (broom, from fafa, inamdfa^ to
sweep, &c.\fanjoz6ro next tofonjozoro (pith of bulrushes, from/0,
pith, and zozoro). Hence perhaps also angddi =fangddi (from
hadi\
b. Trisyllabic words terminating with a dumb syllable must be
considered bisyllabic, as is evident from the form they take before
suffixes (plcrina, worm-eaten, for instance is at first sight bler + ina,
although derived from olitra, worm, and ina).
NOTE ON THE RELATION OF THE KAWI TO THE JAVANESE.
The relation of the Kawi to the Javanese, as of a mother to her
daughter, has been contested of late by Professor Taco Roorda,
who is of opinion that the Kawi is not the ancient Javanese, but,
on the contrary, a different, although cognate, language, which
existed formerly somewhere in Java as an independent language,
in the same way as does now the Sunda.* I beg leave to call the
reader's attention to the great improbability of this opinion, since
such eminent men, as Sir Stamford Raffles,' although not having at
their command the materials which have now-a-days become acces-
sible to the Dutch, have long ago asserted the contrary. I repeat
here, with a few additions, what I have elsewhere t said, to combat
Roorda's opinion. It was Sir Stamford Raffles who, the first
of all, took an interest in the language and literature of Java, and
gave in his celebrated work specimens of the Kawi text of the
"Bratayiida" (Bharatayuddha), which, considering the time of its
publication, when Javanese was not yet studied, may claim our
admiration.
^ As the grammar of the Kawi, and a great many words in the
Kawi poems, are not yet sufficiently known, I am compelled to
confine myself to its phonetic system in order to show its relation
to the Javanese as to its degenerated offspring. The Kawi
resembles in this respect the Javanese to such an extent that a
* " liijuragen tot de Taal-Land-en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch Indie"
(nieuwe volgreeks, vol. viii.) p. 88.
t Taco Roorda's "Beoefening van 't Javaansch bekeken," and "Opmerkingen
naar aanleiding van cene taalkundige bijdrage van den Hoogleeraar T. Roorda. 1 *
THE MALAGASY LANGUAGE. 283
great many Kawi words may be identified with Javanese only by
resorting to a few phonetic laws, whereas some have only under-
gone a small alteration. 1
I. When the Malay and Batak equivalent word has r, and the
Tagal or Bisaya has g (hard as in give), both the Kawi and
Javanese have no consonant. Examples :
1. To sleep,* is in Javanese tnrii, in Kawi turlt, in Malay tidur,
in Bisaya tn/ug (see II.).
2. The Javanese dus (root of ddus, to bathe, as intransitive, and
light if s, to bathe, as transitive) is in Kawi dyus (in a dy us = a dus,
mangdyus = ng%fus) t in Malay and Batak dints (inandirus, to
sprinkle), in Bisaya digits (banar a otro).
3. Renur (Batak), linditg (Bisaya), earthquake, is, both in
Javanese and Kawi, liijdn.
4. O'rang (Malay), if rang (Menangkabow), is wwang in Kawi,
and wong\ in Javanese.
5. U'rat (Malay), root, is in Bisaya ugat, whereas Javanese has
wod and Kawi wwad.
6. Par ah (Malay, root of mamarah, to squeeze) is pbro QI peroh
in Batak, pigd in Tagal, pogd in Bisaya, whereas Javanese has/0//,
and TJwn.pwah*
7. Terap or torap (root of terapcn or tordpan, to suffer from
belching or eructation) in Batak is tigdb in Tagal, J togdb in Bisaya,
whereas Javanese has tob (a fob, a is a prefix), and Kawi twab
(inatwab, to belch ; ma is a prefix).
8. Ddngar (Malay to hear, manddngar] is in Bisaya dungug, in
Javanese rungu, and in Kawi rengc (see II.).
II. When the Malay and Balinese d of equivalent words is
represented by / in Bisaya or Tagal, both the Javanese and Kawi
have r. Examples :
1. Hidung (Malay) nose, is in Tagal Hong, whereas Javanese
has irung, and Kawi hirung.
2. Tidur ( Malay ) = turu (Kawi, see I. i).
3. Ddngar (Malay) = renge (Kawi, see I. 8).
1 [A full account of the linguistical position which ancient and modern
Javanese hold to one another and to the remaining languages of the group, has
been given from Van der Tuuk's, Kern's, and his own researches, by Dr. J. L.
A. Brandes, in his work, " Bijdrage tot de vergelijkende Klankleer dtr
Westcrsche Afdeeling van de Maleisch-Polynesische Taalfamilie " (Utrecht,
1884), pp. 72-106.]
* Of course all the languages have not an equivalent in sound ; so, for
instance, the Batak word for " to sleep " is modom or mcdcin (compare Kawi
m&rfm).
f The o in the Javanese in these cases may be explained by the broad pro-
nunciation in English of water, whereas in the Scotch and Dutch word the
clear French a is heard.
$ In the Batak Dictionary, under torap, these words are, by mistake,
wrongly spelt.
Save when initial (see ditngug, I. 8).
284 OUTLINES OF A GRAMMAR OF
4. Ddini (Malay) leaf, is in Balinese don, in Javanese and Ka\v
ron (in Malagasy rdvind).*
III. When ay' of Balinese and Malay is d in Batak, the Javanese
and Kawi both have also d. Examples :
i. Jdlan (Malay and Balinese) road, \vzy = ddlan (Kawi, Java-
nese, and Batak).
?.. Jduh (Malay) far, is in Balinese joh ) in Kawi and Javanese
di>h (inadoh and adoJi\ and in Batak dab or nddoh.
3. Hnjaji (Malay and Bali) rain, is in Javanese and Batak -iidan,
in Kawi hndctn.
4. Dilat (root of Kawi and Batak mandilat, to lick, to lap,
Javanese andilat) is in Malay jilat (inanjilat), jelap (Dayak, see
Introduction, VI. 4, Observation).
A. Besides, a great many Javanese words can only be explained
by means of their form in Kawi. Examples :
1. Elder brother is in Kawi and Dairi kdka, but in Javanese
kiikaiig. The final jig can only be explained from a rule in Kawi,
which still holds in Batak (partly also in Mangkasar and Java-
nese),! that words terminating with a vowel, when followed by a
pronominal suffix, require a corresponding nasal ; v.g. wckangku
(my son) from weka (son), and ku (pronominal suffix), my. Of
this rule, which has become almost obliterated in modern Java-
nese, the ng is a remnant, being mistaken for the final of the
word.
2. The prefix ma (forming the active of verbs) in Kawi, Batak,
and other cognate languages, has almost become disused in Java-
nese, where it has dwindled down into a, J and is often left out
when the word has, or increases to, more than two syllables ;
v.g. madyus = adus (see I. 2), and mangdyus ngcdus (instead of
atttftus, the e being necessary, as the final nasal does not corre-
spond with the class of the initial of the root). Hence foreign
words commencing with an ;//, and not being verbs, have often
either lost the prefix, or have changed the ;// into// v.g. nastdpa,
is the Kawi and Sanskrit manastapa^ suwur from the Arabic
_ C -
ju^-iu^ prakata from the Sanskrit and Kawi markata, pesigit is
C C _v
in use next to wcsigit (Arabic J^-~*;, predangga next to
mrcdangga (as in Kawi from the Sanskrit), panddpa next to
maifdapa (Sanskrit and Kawi). In the passive the verb may also
take the form of a substantive, by leaving out the initial nasal,
and hence we find in the passive imbar (active ngimbar, to make
* See " Tobasche Spraakkunst," 17, IV. a.
t In this language the pronominal suffix ta used in poetry requires after
vowels a corresponding nasal.
^ The prefix mag of the Tagal and Bisaya has dwindled down into a? in
I loco.
. Also Malay.
THE MALAGASY LANGUAGE. 285
somebody swear by the pulpit) from the Arabic mimbar
pulpit. The same is the case with angsa (in the passive of
Hgiitigsa, to devour) from mdngsa* (Sanskrit, flesh, meat), next to
which we find mdngsa as verb (to devour, said of monsters and
animals of prey). In the Batak, the Sanskrit mdsa (month,
season) is used as verb,t meaning to be current, as a word or
an expression (properly to take place in the time), and is used
next to mi'tsiii or musim (with the same verbal signification)
although this word is a substantive, taken from the Malay (being
c
the Arabic
3. Srengcnge (the sun), also scrngenge>\ and in the east of the
island, as also in Bali, sengenge) is contracted from the Kawi Sang
Hyang Ngwe (the God day), sang, prefix, hyang, Deity, and ngwe,
day ; tengdnge (the time about noon), from the Kawi tcngah ngwe
(half-day), i.e., tengah (half) and ngwe.
B. The Javanese being fond of dissyllabic words has abbreviated
a great many words, and even compounds, by leaving out either a
syllable or one of its component parts. To trace them back to their
original form we must often resort to the Kawi, as the greatest
sagacity is sometimes unavailing, and very often apt to lead us astray.
Examples :
1. Jdmdni (hell) bom jamaniloka (Kawi, the residence of Yama).
2. Besmi (to burn, to be reduced to ashes), from bhasmlbhuta or
bhasmikreta (both words occur as often in Kawi as in Sanskrit).
3. Dite (the first day of the ancient Javanese week, and still used
in astrological tables), is the Kawi and Sanskrit dditya (sun, dies
solis; in Batak adittiya or adintiya).
4. Paris (a shield), in the dialect of Bantam still parise, from
the Malay parisey (from the Tamil; in Batak paritse m parinche).
5. 'Angkus (the hook to drive an elephant), from the Kawi and
Sanskrit angkusa.
6. Sindur (stark red, very red) from the Sanskrit sindura (red
lead, as in Batak still, where it signifies vermilion).
This, I think, will suffice to prove that Roorda's opinion is ground-
less, and that his neglecting the Kawi has made him overlook many
words in Javanese which are either corrupted Sanskrit or iden-
tical with the corresponding Malay, although seemingly different in
sound. ||
* In Malay still a substantive (food of animals of prey).
t In Javanese it is mangsa, and is still a substantive (season).
The r is often put as a final of the first syllable of words of more than two
syllables, v.g. marmdta = Sanskrit manmatha, (iirgantara = digantara, c.
With the natives Banten.
|| Hence in his edition of Gericke's Javanese Dictionary and the Supplement
which he edited with Meinsma.we find a great many mistakes unconnected, whilst
many Malay words have not been compared at the proper places.
286 AN ACCOUNT OF THE MANTRAS
ADDENDA.
The Dayak tdnguy (Intr. vi. 3) received its / from a former ndnguy,
as n and /are very often interchanged under the influence of another
nasal in the same word. In the same way we find in Javanese
lindih next to tindih, which may lead us to the verbal form of this
word (nit.ntih) being the cause of the collateral form lindih (compare
15, in the note). By the influence of some passive form, which,
according to the genius of these languages, does not differ from that
of a substantive, tdngiiy must have become = Idnguy (Kawi) through
nan^iiy, as / and / are but rarely interchanged. The identity of
Batak tonggi or tcnggi (sweet) with the Javanese Kgi is to me yet
a puzzle. Roorda gets rid of the difficulty by supposing the last
syllable to be the root, and then by declaring the initial to be a for-
mative consonant, although / is not known to have this power.
VII.
AN ACCOUNT OF THE MANTRAS, A SAVAGE
TRIBE IN THE MALAY PENINSULA.
By THE REV. FATHER H. BORIE.
[Translated from the Tijdschrift voor Indische taal-, land- en volkenknnde.
Vol. x. (1861) pp. 4I3-43- 1 ]
THE Mantras are connected with one of those native tribes,
remains of primitive races, who, in the peninsula as well as in the
whole of Malaisia, were gradually driven back into the interior
since the twelfth century, as fast as the Malays founded settlements
on the coast.
Since that period, these tribes have wandered about in the
valleys, on the mountain sides, and everywhere where solitude
reigns. They are known by different names. The Karians inhabit
the north of the peninsula, Burmah and the province of Ligor ;
1 | A translation of the greater part of this paper, without reference to its
source, appeared in vol. iii. of the " Transactions of the Ethnological Society
i'lii," NL-W Series, pp. 72-83, under the title, "On the Wild Tribes of
the Interior of the Malay "Peninsula. By the Pore Bourien." The present
translation has been made from a copy revised by the author. A few pages
have been omitted.]
IN THE MALAY PENINSULA. 287
those of Kedah, Perak and Salangor, are the Semangs; from
Salangor to Mount Ophir, live the Mantras ; the Jakons are
stationed between Mount Ophir and the southern part of the
peninsula ; while the Sabimbangs, Muka Kunings and Biduandas,
have settled near Cape Romania, at the mouth of the Johor river.
The following are the most general terms under which the Malays
designate these savages : Orang-benua, or country people ; Orang-
utan, men of the forest ; Orang-bukit, men of the mountains.
The different people of this peninsula appear to be connected
with the yellow race of Oceania. The Mantras and Jokons are
characterized by their crisp although not woolly hair, thick lips,
very dark complexion, large mouth, wide nose, round and some-
what flat face, and slender limbs ; they are generally smaller than
the Malays, and their features express gentleness, simplicity, and
timidity, which at once prepossesses one in their favour. Like the
negroes of Oceania, they emit a very strong odour.
The indigenous population of this peninsula could not be esti-
mated even on an average, considering that one cannot trust the
accounts of the Malays or even the wild tribes themselves ; never-
theless in my opinion that part of the population of this peninsula
might be estimated at most from 8,000 to 10,000. I do not think
the Mantras number more than 2,000 ; still I believe they are one
of the largest tribes. This number, restricted as it is, must diminish,
if favourable circumstances do not come to the rescue of these
fallen races. The true element of mankind is society. Savage
life, to which morbid speculators would wish to see man brought
back the golden age so extolled by poets is in reality nothing
but a life of misery, helplessness and unreason.
I may perhaps be pardoned for speaking exclusively of the
Mantras the first of those tribes to whom the Gospel has been
preached, the only one that I have carefully studied, and almost
the only one whose superstitions and traditions I have inquired
into. In the first place I will treat of the origin of these savages,
and see what they tell us about this themselves. In this respect
we have nothing to guide us, neither monument, nor history or
continuous tradition. The only facts of any value which aid us
in tracing the origin of this tribe, which doubtless was once
numerous, are the inter-comparison of the different dialects
which are spoken by these rude tribes, the examination of their
religious notions, and the study of their customs.
It is an accepted fact, that the wandering tribes of this penin-
sula look upon themselves as the first inhabitants of the country,
and on the Malays as strangers and invaders.
I remember hearing several savages relate seriously that they
all descended from two white monkeys, unka puteh. The two
iinkn puteh, after giving birth to their little ones, betook themselves
to the plains. Here they improved themselves and their descen-
2 8S AN ACCOUNT OF THE MANTRAS
dants so much that they became men ;* on the other hand, those
who returned to the mountains remained monkeys. Monsieur de
Maillet, French Consul in Egypt, imagines man to have descended
from a fish is it so wonderful after this that the Mantras imagine
man to have descended from two white monkeys, itnka puteh, the
most beautiful species known, and the one most like mankind?
But I have also heard other savages contradict this statement, and
say that monkeys are no other than fallen men. Wise men
among these tribes say that God, having created in heaven a
Batin - as their first king and father, gave him a consort ; that
from this king and queen all the tribes of the peninsula descended,
and that, struck with the beauty of the banks of the river Johor
(near Singapore), they came down into this place and took up
their abode there.
The Mantras, who in reality admit to have had a similar origin,
without mentioning the locality in which their forefathers dwelt,
relate in the following way the history of their establishment in
the peninsula :
At a very early period they cannot even tell the century one
of their chiefs, the Batin-alam, King of the Universe, having built
a beautiful and large ship, set sail for Rum.* This ship, which
sailed rapidly, possessed the wonderful privilege of sailing by
itself. After several days' journey it anchored in a small port,
since then called Malaka. In this ship were found all the things
necessary for founding a colony. The emigrants were divided
into five companies; one company was to travel beyond the
mountains of Johol and Rumbau ; another was to follow the
river Lingui to its source, and established itself there. Two
other companies, penetrating farther into the interior of the
country, settled down one at Klam, and the other at Jelubu.
The Batin-alam established himself on the sea-coast and exer-
cised supremacy, while those chiefs who had established them-
selves in the above-mentioned provinces were only his vassals.
It must be mentioned that the Great Batin, whom I visited some
years ago, still claims the same rights as sovereign.
The Batin-alam's ship was not destroyed; it still exists, they
say, buried under a mountain in the peninsula.f As long as this
1 [See Newbold'a "Account of the British Settlements in the Straits of
Malacca," vol. ii. p. 376 ; and (',. A. "Wilken's " Ilct Animisme bij clc volken
van den Inclischen Archipel " (Amsterdam, 1884), p. 73, note 3.]
- \/: t 'i/iu is, according to If. vonde Wall's "Dictionary," the title of the chief
of a district in the former kingdom of Johor (no\v Lingga and Singapore),
below the orang kdya and superior to the panghulu t several of whom were
generally subject to them. See also " Tjakap-2 rampai-2 bahasa malfijoe
I)|ohor" (Batavia, 1868-72), vol. i. p. 252, i~f.]
* The Malays call the town of Constantinople Rum or Stambul.
t Evidently these are traditions, which have their source in the history of
the Deluge.
IN THE MALAY PENINSULA. 289
chief lived the Mantras remained sole possessors of the country.
It was only long after this that several tribes, even now con-
sidered cannibals by some historians, came over from Sumatra,
took possession of the country, and extended their conquests
even into the interior. The Bataks killed and devoured a great
number of them. There was, however, a chief among the natives,
a brave man, who was fortunate enough to gather up his scattered
brethren. After consulting with them, in all haste he built a
ship, in which he embarked with the remainder of his tribe.
They set sail for Rum, where they arrived in a few days. The
Batin Meragalang (this was the name of the chief), having seen
his people safely on shore, set sail again for Malaka alone, and
became the avenger of his tribe and the deliverer of his country.
The rumour of his return to Malaka spread like lightning. The
Bataks gathered in great numbers with the object (so they said)
of roasting the old man ; but the old chief had become invulner-
able, and the day of retaliation was at hand.
Meragalang gave himself up to them, but never once could
they succeed in wounding him. Then, turning to his enemies, he
said :
"As you see, even your arms respect my flesh. Tie your
arrows together, shoot them into space, and if they can fly, you
may do what you like with me; if, on the other hand, according
to the law of Nature, your arrows fall to the ground, attracted by
their own weight, while mine have the privilege of flying, you
must submit to the law of your conqueror."
This challenge was accepted ; but, as Meragalang had predicted,
his arrows alone could fly ; of their own accord they knocked down
the trees in the neighbouring forest ; then, turning back towards
the frightened Bataks, he cut them all in pieces. All perished,
with the exception of one who, praying for mercy, obtained his
life. Being the free possessor of the country through the defeat
of the Bataks, the Batin Meragalang went back to Rum, and some
time after brought home his people, whom he divided into five
companies, just as the Batin-alam had done. At the head of each
he appointed chiefs, who all became his vassals. Long after the
death of Meragalang the Bataks came again to take possession of
the peninsula, and Batin-changei-besi, or " iron nails," who then
ruled it, was, with his tribe, driven back into the interior. 1
This second invasion, which was the last, must correspond, I
think, with the period I spoke of at the commencement of this
account. The Mantras, who till then had practised the religion
of Rajah Brahil, knew how to read and write, as I shall mention
when speaking of their religion.
Modesty, although feebly practised among the savage tribes of
1 ["Journal of the Indian Archipelago," vol. i. p. 326.*]
SECOND SERIES. VOL. I. U
2 9 o AN ACCOUNT OF THE MANTRAS
this peninsula, and particularly among the Mantras and Jakons,
wears, nevertheless, a different complexion to what it does among
the Australian aborigines, who, it is said, in the midst of civilization
growing around them from day to day, do not even see the necessity
of covering what modesty particularly demands. The costume of
the Mantras is not fixed or determined by custom ; the only rule,
1 believe, is to cover one's self as best one can. In the forests,
the only covering of the men is a band of cloth or cork ; children
of both sexes, up to the ages of from four to five years, are
nearly always naked ; the little boys still go sometimes so at the
ages of seven and eight years. The women always cover themselves
with a sarong, or a piece of stuff which takes its place. The sarong
is a Malay article of clothing, covering the whole of the body from
the chest down to the feet. The men's festival costume consists
of the Malay trousers, which go below the knee, and the baju, or
outer garment, which is a kind of vest with long sleeves ; generally
a coloured handkerchief on the head completes their attire. For
women it is the sarong, as I said before, then the baju-panjang, or
chief garment, which the Portuguese vulgarly call kabahia ; it is a
long dress, quite open in front, the two corners being joined at
the chest by means of a pin.
Some men wear their hair long without any order, but oftener it is
cut short ; others again shave their heads after the fashion of the
Musulmans. The children generally train a lock of hair several
inches long on their forehead, as is the custom with the little
Malays. As to the women, they take tolerable care of their hair,
which they bring up on the top of the head, like the Malays, and
form in a crown ; round this crown they stick silver pins, or more
generally tin ones ; on festival days several even add a crown of
flowers, or young and tender shoots of trees. Parents bore large
holes in the ears of their little girls, which are meant to hold silver
earrings ; if they cannot get these they fill them up by means of
tender banana leaves rolled into a spiral form, or even with pieces
of wood cut into a cylindrical shape. Young Christian women,
however, have found out that their earrings, far from being an
ornament, are a disfigurement. The women possess another orna-
ment, which they think a great deal of, this is the Malay finding,
a large silver plate, oval-shaped, which with them takes the place
of waistband buckles. Large leaves of very thin silver, bent to
form bracelets, complete their toilet ; that is what the Malays
call glan*. Necklaces are placed round the children's necks, con-
sisting of a collection of funny little bones of monkeys, boars and
tigers' teeth, small coins, shells, &c. ; this collar is not merely an
ornament, it serves also as a talisman, and a preservative against
sickness. 1
Wandering tribes, as they are, living nearly always from hand to
1 ["Journal of the Indian Archipelago," vol. i. p. 252].
IN THE MALAY PENINSULA. 291
mouth, the aborigines neither give themselves time nor trouble to
build large, agreeable, comfortable, and solid houses. Their habita-
tions hardly give them shelter from the rain in ordinary weather ;
they are open to all the winds of heaven, and very often have
neither doors nor windows. To form an idea of these huts I am
speaking of the better class imagine nine posts, of which six are
shorter and the three others a third longer than the other six,
planted firmly in the ground in three rows, the three highest in
the middle row. These posts are joined together at the top by
means of transverse side pieces tied together with rattan-cane ; on
those pieces which join the columns in the middle, they put laths
to keep up the roof, and cover them with leaves. For the floor-
ing, which is generally some feet from the ground, they put, by
way of beams, on the side and transverse pieces of wood which
join the posts, some laths more or less widely apart, which they
cover with the bark of trees ; this constitutes their flooring. The
sides are pretty well covered with leaves or bark. Poor as the
huts of the Mantras may be, after all I have said, those of the
Jakons are even more primitive. There are some who have a
fancy for perching their dwellings up in trees twenty-five or thirty
feet high. The commonest of this kind are built nineteen to twenty
feet above the ground ; they get up by means of a ladder. Even
their dogs get accustomed to living up in these airy houses. Those
of the tribe who have no taste for these dwellings, build huts three
or four feet from the ground. Just as with the Mantras, the first
floor serves domestic purposes, here they sleep and eat by the fire,
which is always lighted to drive away the gnats, with which the
forests abound. In the second story the arms are kept for safety,
as well as the provisions and kitchen utensils.
The aborigines eat anything they can get : boars, monkeys,
squirrels, stags, rats, birds, roots, and tubercles, which grow in
abundance, such as the kladis, kledes or sweet potatoes, ubis or
yams, and fruits, such as bananas, c., the sugar-cane, which
quenches their thirst at the same time that it nourishes them. The
maize and rice which they cultivate, can only serve as nutriment
four or five months in the year. To cultivate mountain rice, they
have to make a clearing in the forest by burning, and sow it, and
this requires a good deal of trouble ; but to their mind, hunting
and seeking their fortune in the forest is far better ; l who knows if
one might not come upon some game, some fruit, or anything else ?
All savages are particularly fond of hunting monkeys and squirrels,
and they throw heart and soul into this sport; they think nothing
of the trouble and fatigue, if they can be sure of the capture of
their prey. If it is worth while they divide it among their relations,
neighbours, and friends ; if not, they quickly cut it up, after burning
1 ["Journal of the Indian Archipelago," vol. v. p. 487.]
U 2
2Q2 AN ACCOUNT OF THE MANTRAS
the skin, and throw the pieces into a pot to boil ; as soon as it
is done, each eats up silently in the dark the portion he has got
hold of. This is the way in which these people manage to live. 1
The principal weapons of the Mantras are the lance, the parang
(a kind of sword), the kris (dagger), and the sumpitan. This last
instrument of destruction, the sumpitan, or sarbacane, called
tumiaug by the aborigines, is a hollow tube five or six feet in
length, composed of two bamboos, of which the exterior or sheath
is called tagur, and the interior anak-tumiang, or " son of the
sarbacane" The tagur is decorated with diagrams ; it is generally
painted yellow at the top and white at the bottom. At the tabu,
or mouth of the tumtang, the Mantra inserts a light arrow,* a few
inches long, its pointed extremity being dipped into a poisonous-
gum ; then, bringing the tnmiang to his mouth, with a mighty
blow sends the arrow flying fifty or sixty feet ; and it generally
hits the mark. The poison, which is procured from the milky
juice of a full-grown tree, called hipo-batang, and is mixed with
certain roots, is very deadly; in a few minutes the monkey,
squirrel, birds, and cats die. On man its effect is doubtful, and
on fowls it has hardly any effect at all. The savage does not take
the trouble to cut out the piece of flesh which is pierced by the
arrow, and is generally of a bluish tint."
In their general character the Mantras are good-natured and
artless ; they are gentle in their habits, and inoffensive ; and their
features at once inspire in the heart of the European a feeling of
confidence, which is always refused to the Malays. The European,
on his side, is sure to gain their goodwill in a very short time, if
he proves himself good, gentle, easy of access, and interested in
them. Timid, diffident, and conceited in the extreme, they are
not naturally very communicative ; they seem to have no idea of
the delights of friendship. With them, each one lives merely as
if he were alone in the world, and troubles himself very little
about his neighbour, who is often a relation. Like most Asiatics,
the Mantras are indifferent, indolent, lazy, loving rest better
than anything else ; thus hardly bold, hardly enterprising enough
to procure themselves a life of luxury; even if they see the advan-
tages of it, they have not energy enough to set about striving for
it ; hence the misery which devours them on a rich soil, that calls
for nothing but a little labour to be fertilized. But if it is the
question to go to the forest, they are at once as if transformed.
Alone, without any other weapon than the sarbacane, a pike,
and a dagger suspended from the girdle, they penetrate into
1 ["Journal of the Indian Archipelago," vol. i. p. 254],
* After having inserted the arrow in the taint, a little touchwood must be
]>ut in; without this precaution the arrow will not travel far.
- [F.ivrc, "Account of the Wild Tribes inhabiting the Malayan Peninsula,"
p. 62, ff.]
IN THE MALA Y PENINSULA. 293
the forests, and wander about for days and nights ; while at other
times, a man, woman, or child, with a lighted torch, will not mind
going through the jungle to a neighbouring village to get tobacco,
betel, &c.
The Mantras are of a peaceful nature, very seldom do they
quarrel obstinately ; the least dispute amongst them induces one
party to emigrate. They are not attached to their habitations; the
very smallest reason is enough to cause a new emigration. Hence
that inconstant, fickle and erratic humour, which, together with fear,
timidity and diffidence, constitutes the basis of their character; one
might say they consider themselves anywhere more at home than
where they are. As with children, common sense seldom presides
over their acts ; caprice nearly always carries them away. Liberty
seems to them the thing they care most for, so jealous are they of
their independence. Utterly free in their forests, they seldom
take advice ; as soon as they have made up their minds, they act
always, or nearly always, according to their humour.
The Mantras, as I mentioned above, are timid, diffident and
suspicious, therefore hardly frank even among themselves ; they
are very sensitive to reproach, irascible, and easily offended.
Lying is with them, as among those Asiatics who lie, one might say,
almost without knowing it, nothing but a little frailty; on the least
occasion they conceal or mangle the truth.
The Mantras possess a merry disposition. There are two
periods in the year, when they, free from all toil, give themselves
up to enjoyment and their favourite games in August, when the
rice has been sown, and in January, after the harvest. During
these two months they make merry. Every family, having got in
its harvest, gives a feast, at which not only the men, women and
children take part, but even the monkeys and dogs they rear.
The greatest happiness they aspire to is to do nothing, and to eat
well and sleep much. On such days of rejoicing, two men, armed
with long wooden swords, will challenge each other to a fight, get
into position, deal blows at each other, ward them off, retreat,
advance, scream and make the most laughable grimaces and
gesticulations, while at other times they imitate the chase after
monkeys : it is indeed a pretty sight. Their other principal games
are the whirligig and the raga, a kind of tennis ball woven with
rattan, which they kick into the air with their toes.
These two games they have in common with the Malays.
January, which is the time for boisterousness and gaiety, is also
the time when they give themselves most up to music. At
this period of the year strong gales set in, and the Mantras
utilize them by perching up in the highest trees of the forest long-
bamboo stalks, making holes between the different knots ; if the
wind is strong, it gets into the bamboo and thus produces very
shrill and varied sounds, which get louder according to the wind
294 AN ACCOUNT OF THE MANTRAS
and the length of the bamboo ; this is what they call bamboo ribut r
or bamboo of the storm ; at other times they make balings of little
bamboo tubes, a kind of weathercock, which they also fix at the
top of trees. To the traveller there is something sombre about the
sounds produced by these two instruments, as he hears them far
away from any habitation, while at the same time they have the
effect of making him hope to come upon a house soon, where he can
quench his thirst and rest from his fatigue. There are others who, by
means of young bamboos, make flutes hardly different from our
own, from which they elicit sounds, now gay and joyous, now tender
and plaintive. The favourite instrument of the women is a kind
of guitar called kranti, which, handled by an experienced hand,
has sweet and varied notes. The violin, which the Mantras call
biolon or biola, in their hands plays airs which are not without
certain charms.
The Mantras, like other savage tribes, are given to drinking
strong liquors ; if once the opportunity offers itself some drink
even more than they can stand. A good many of them have learnt,
either from the Malays or Chinese, to srnoke opium, but very few
are professional smokers, and nearly all break themselves of it,
when they marry. Although poor, the Mantras are gamblers ;
even the women are passionately fond of gambling; several
Mantras have thus contracted debts considerably larger than their
means.
Some writers, from not having sufficiently studied these rude
tribes whose customs they wished to portray, have pictured them
to us as having nearly preserved their primitive innocence ; there
are some even who have asserted never to have noticed signs of
grave faults among the tribes they have visited. I may say that
if they had examined the customs of these people more thoroughly
and known their language, it would have proved to them how
necessary it was, even for the reformation of their customs, to
introduce Christianity. If I had written hurriedly about the
Mantras I should have passed judgment on them in all cases
equal to that passed by those writers with respect to other
aboriginal tribes. A longer sojourn among these wandering tribes
has taught me that, amongst the carnal sins, they include one
viz., rape. Divorce has become law among them ; often they
marry without knowing each other, and live together without loving
each other. Is it surprising after this that they separate without
compunction ? That is why divorce is so constant among them.
It is nothing scarce to find people who have married a fourth and
fifth time. According to their customs, divorce, to be legitimate,
can only be effected with the consent of both parties. If the
divorce is instigated by the husband, he must, according to custom,,
give his wife back to her family, nnd pay a fine to her nearest
relations, then he goes away for a time, and comes back to meet
IN THE MALA Y PENINSULA. 295
her, talks to her as if nothing had happened, and then leaves her,
telling her she is free to marry again. Polygamy is forbidden ;
very few do not conform to this custom.
We now proceed to say a word about the ceremonies used at
births, marrages and deaths. A new-born babe is treated and
cared for in the ordinary way ; several days after birth its head is
shaved ; it does not become the object of any superstition until
it is old enough to distinguish its father from its mother; if it is
ill it is rubbed with lime mixed with kuniet, a kind of turmeric.
As to the mother, she keeps to herself the first few days after her
confinement ; when she is strong enough to take up her ordinary
household duties again, she must first of all purify herself by bathing.
After which she is allowed to appear again in public. 1
The only event of consequence in a man's life is his marriage,
which can only be contracted after the fourth degree of relation-
ship. On the wedding day, the guests invited to the feast collect
at the place of assembly ; as soon as all are there and everything
is ready, the young couple are led by one of the eldest of the
tribe near a larger or smaller circle, according to the presumed
strength of the affianced pair. The young girl runs off first, and
the young man runs after her a few paces, if he succeeds in reach-
ing her so as to get hold of her, she becomes his wife ; if he fails,
he loses her. Another time a larger course is given them : they
chase each other into the forest. Tradition says, the course is
neither very long nor very tiring for either of them, provided the
young man is fortunate enough to please his bride.*
During my travels across the peninsula I was by chance present
at several Mantra marriages. I will therefore give an exact and
faithful description of one. The bride, having been attired in
her best clothes by her companions, was led into the middle of
a circle ; here she took a seat near her future husband, who,
bowing, saluted each person in the assembly by putting his
folded hands on those of the person thus honoured. Then,
according to custom, the three chiefs delivered endless speeches
on the marriage and the good match ; they did not forget to
mention that, in recompense for the submission which the wife
had to show towards her husband, he must not omit giving her
betel to chew and tobacco to smoke every day. The Juru-
krah (one of the three chiefs) who married them asked for the
token of the union which was to be made between them. The
young couple, not being able to satisfy this demand, addressed
themselves to me, when, with a good grace, I gave them two
handkerchiefs, which were accepted. A plate containing portions
1 ["Journal of the Indian Archipelago." vol. i. pp. 270, 323*.]
* This custom, reported by Captain Newbold, was toid me by a French-
man, who has lived a long time at Tringano. It is not known among the
people with whom I have been connected.
296 AN ACCOUNT OF THE MANTRAS
of rice, wrapped up in banana leaves, having been served, the
bridegroom presented a portion to his future wife, who quickly
took it and eat it; that done, she returned his politeness by
offering him some too. Then together they distributed the re-
mainder among the different members of the assembly. The
Juru-krafi having received a ring from the bridegroom, gave it
back to him, who then put it on a finger of the left hand of his
bride. The bride also, having received another from the Juru-
krah, in her turn put it on a finger of the left hand of her future
husband; this terminated the ceremony. "They are married,"
each tells the other. Large plates of rice are now served up
with vegetables, and all set about satisfying their hunger. I
remarked that the young couple ate off the same plate.
When one of the tribe dies, the corpse is wrapped in a white
shroud, and washed a first time, the body remaining in this state
to allow the relations of the deceased time enough to arrive,
when it is washed again ; then two men carry him to his last
resting-place, the others either follow or precede the body.
Arrived at the place of burial, the deceased is placed in a grave
dug in a solitary spot, either in a lying, standing, or sitting posi-
tion ; if a child, it is placed in one of the two last positions,
facing the east; if a grown-up person, facing the west. If the
deceased has been a man of bad habits, or guilty of some crime
or other, his face is placed to the east, doubtless to signify that,
like a traveller in the desert without a guide, he had strayed
and lost himself in false by-paths, and that, in the matter of
good works, he had, like a young child, remained at the
commencement of life. Care is taken to put by his side,
together with a lance, a parang, but more generally rice, cups
and old clothes; some plant flowers and fruit-trees near the
grave. If asked why they do this, their only answer is, that
such was the custom of their forefathers. At the foot of the
grave a fire is lighted for three days, after which time the visits
to the grave cease. The Mantras do not wear any mourning,
and seldom lament over their dead. The deceased's house is
abandoned by his survivors, and generally the little village
even migrates. 1 The day of a person's death is kept a day of
mourning; all work ceases immediately.
Misled by some person?, and by the Mantras themselves, I
had thought this tribe might well be one of those of whom
several modern travellers have affirmed that they are without
any idea whatever of God; still I found it difficult to believe.
And, indeed, a greater familarity with their language, and a
residence of a few months more in the forest, proved to me that I
had guessed rightly. I was agreeably surprised to discover that,
! [<i. A. \Vilken, 1. 1. pp. 97-100.]
IN THE MALA Y PENINSULA. 297
not only did they have an idea of the Divinity, but also that at
the last moment, when man passes from this life to eternity, they
cried to God ; and, what surprised me more, to our Saviour Jesus
Christ. It is the custom among those Mantras most versed in ancient
traditions to address God and Jesus when a person is seriously
ill. A near relation of the sick person then generally says : " Lord
God, Lord Jesus, if it is Thy will that he should live, have pity
on him, give him back his health." From this moment all super-
'stitions are at an end; then.when the sick person's last hour has
come, the same person, addressing an angel, says, " O Thou, who
art the angel of my grandfather and great-grandfather, protect
him from the evil spirit, and lead him up to heaven."
The Mantras have no temples, altars, priests, or idols, nothing
about them which has the semblance of outward worship ; but it
seems that at a far distant time they knew how to pray, as I
said before, in speaking of their establishment in the peninsula ;
at least this is always asserted by those I have asked about this
subject. The religious books they have lost, agreed in every
respect with the religion of Rajah Brahil, whom, like the Malays,
they still call Nabi Isa, Tuhan Isa, the Prophet Jesus, the
Lord Jesus. According to some, it was during the reign of Batin-
alam, according to others, during that of Batin Meragalang that
they lost their religious books; but nearly all agree in saying,
that during the reign of Changei-besi, some fragments of their
sacred books still remained, but that they only served as a
remembrance, as at this time they had forgotten how to read.
The only emblem which then remained was the skin of a biawak,
a kind of big lizard, on which were some characters nobody
could understand. It was Batin Changei-besi who destroyed
this skin, and thus succeeded in exterminating the religion of Rajah
Brahil, alleging as an excuse, that this religion had become incom-
patible with their way of living. According to others, Changei-
besi respected this emblem, which was subsequently destroyed by
a dog. This pretension of the identity of their ancient religion
with that of Jesus Christ, extraordinary as it may seem at first, is
nevertheless not devoid of some foundation, because it is proved
now that Christianity was introduced into China about the seventh
century ; it is likewise proved that, about the thirteenth century,
there was, during nearly a hundred years, an exchange of ambas-
sadors and treaties between Rome and Pekin.* After this, it
* History tells us that in A.D. 328, a Persian king called Sapor, converted
to Christianity, sent an ambassador to Constantine. The prince told the
Emperor that Persia and the land of the Seres, or China, which was a tributary
of it, boasted of many churches, and that the people came into the sheepfold
of Christ by millions. In the sixth and seventh centuries fresh efforts were
made to visit and restore these churches of the extreme East. Later on St.
Louis, together with Pope Innocent IV. sent missionaries out to Mongolia.
In 1303 Clement V. sent back Jean de Montcorvin, of the Order of St. Francis,
298 AN ACCOUNT OF THE MANTRAS
would not be impossible that wild tribes living among the moun-
tains of the peninsula, may have gained a knowledge of our
religion, either through missionaries sent at various periods from
Rome to the Mongol and Tartar princes, or through Arian priests.
Did not one of our young contemporaries, M. Crick,* quite lately
come across aborigines in Assam, who look upon the cross, which
they mark on their foreheads, as a necessary guide to heaven ?
The religion of the Mantras may be divided as follows:
religious traditions, and superstitious beliefs and practices.
According to the Mantras there is a supreme God, spiritual, good,
perfect, almighty, a Creator, who only lives in the heavens; this God
whom they call Allah, Puhan Allah, Lord God, created Raja Brahil
spirit like his creator, and the first after God ; he has authority
from God over man, that is why they call him Raja Brahil, King
Brahil. f By the express order of God, Raja Brahil created Adam
and Hava, Adam and Eve, the animals and plants in the heavens.
Adam and Eve having been blessed with an enormous offspring,
which amounted to 6666 persons, Raja Brahil represented to
God that the heavenly space he had assigned to them had now
become too small to contain all of them. God then ordered
Raja Brahil to create a world, and as there is nobody but God,
they say, who can make everything out of nothing, he gave Raja
Brahil the substance of a world of the size of an areca nut. Raja
Brahil having taken it, said: " kun lauhat hu semat semat balita
jadikan alah alah tindiri sindiri uha" and the world grew,
kumbanglah jadi. God then ordered the bird Simerani to go
and look at the universe, and with his rapid wings, Simerani
flew through etherial space, rested en the still soft earth, con-
templated it, and regained the heavens. J Raja Brahil now
went down in his turn, took a survey of his work, approved of it,
and weiit back to heaven ; then, at his order, the fishes, birds,
plants and animals came down by turns from heaven ; man
alone had been multiplied, and Raja Brahil had only created a
pair of each kind that propagates itself. One has doubtless to fix
at this period, according to other traditions, the descent of the first
batin and his consort, who, struck by the beauty of the banks of
to China, with the title of Bishop of Kambulik, now Pckin. On the oilier
hand it is proved that Arianism spread rapidly in the East, as it reached India
in the sixth and seventh centuries. It may even be supposed that these
abettors of heresy took up their abode in Further India, proceeding through
Tartary and Mongolia ; at least this is what the analogy taken from Mantia
traditions seems to prove.
* M. Crick was martyred on the frontiers of Thibet by a chief of one of the
savage tribes in the Himalaya, through which he passed.
t All endeavours to find out the signification of Raja Brahil have proved
useless. Puhaps Raja Brahil ought to stand for raja-ibrani, King of the Jews.
In Mantra, as well as in Malay, initials and finals often vary.
1 Siintiani, which the Mantras call the good God's bird, is a little red and
yellow bird ; it is a sin to kill it.
IN THE MALA Y PENINSULA. 299
the river Johore, fixed their residence there. Thus, according to
the Mantras, God, who resides only in the heavens, created the
firmament and Raja .Brahil, who is not God, although he is the
first after Him, and His spirit as well as His creature ; thereupon
Raja Brahil created the world according to the order described
above. These traditions have, as I have said before, a great
resemblance to Arianism. I will give a proof of this here. Arian,
.under the pretext of better distinguishing the three persons in the
Trinity, maintains that the Son was created, that He is not eternal,
and that He was made from nothing. He gave, as his first reason,,
that God was too great for man to understand his immediate work,
too great for him to comprehend what is infinite. Consequently
when God wanted to create the world, He gave the Word to
create all the rest for Him. According to this, we see that the
Word is only a more distinguished and more sublime creature
than others ; it is not eternal, although it is the antecedent of the
world ; it is not even God, although the Arians give this name to
it. The Mantras, as well as the Malays, believe in the existence of
good and bad angels, and say that every man possesses a good
and a bad angel. They believe in the immortality of the soul, in
the end of the earth, in the last Judgment, in Paradise, and Hell,
and even in a Purgatory, as will be shown by what I am going to-
say.
Mankind having ceased to exist, there will arise a great wind,
followed by incessant rain ; the water will rise and descend with
rapidity ; flashes of lightning will rend the air everywhere ; the
mountains will give way ; a great heat will arise; there will be no-
more night ; the earth will dry up like grass in a field. Then
God will come unexpectedly ; He will come down surrounded by
an immense whirlwind of flames ready to consume the universe ;
but first, God will gather together the souls of the sinners, burn
them a first time, weigh them after gathering the cinders by means
of a very fine cloth called kain-kasoh ; those who have been
thus refined a first time without being purified will be burned
and weighed again, up to seven times. As to the souls who
have been purified, they will go to heaven to rejoice in their
happiness with Raja Brahil and the other chosen ones ; whereas
those that have not been purified that is to say, the souls
of the greatest sinners, such as the murderers and those who are
guilty of rape will be thrown into hell, to suffer the torment of
fire with the demons. There will be tigers and serpents in hell
to torment the condemned. God, having taken some lire from
hell, will close it up, and then burn up the universe.
This is the belief of the Mantras, who are versed in the tradi-
tions of their forefathers. This illusion is mingled with many
Christian truths. From whom have they learnt all this? That
is what I cannot tell. At any rate, the Mantras, from being
300 .LV ACCOUNT OF THE MANTRAS
generally in intercourse with the Malays, have necessarily been
obliged to learn certain truths from them, which are common
with us; and I only maintain here, that they have not learnt
them only from the Malays, whose religion they have not adopted,
seeing that they do not recognize Mohammed as a prophet or
a messenger of God, and that they call him Tuhan Isa (the
Lord Jesus), whom they are in the habit of calling upon in the
hour of death, praying him to take their souls to heaven. The
Mantras place and find a demon everywhere in the air they
breathe, in the soil they till, in the forests they inhabit, in the
water they drink, in the trees they fell, and in the caves of the
rocks. Their idea is, that a demon is the cause of every unlucky-
event. If they are ill, it is a demon who is the cause of it ; if
there is an accident, it is still the bad spirit who is the cause of
it ; hence the demon is named after the evil he is supposed to
be the cause of. Consequently, as the demon is supposed to be
the author of every unlucky event, all their superstitions turn
upon enchantments and on spells to appease the evil spirit, and
to make ferocious animals gentle and tractable. If they want to
excite sensual love, hatred, and jealousy, they have recourse to
lemu or witchcraft. Persuaded that every evil is caused by a
demon, they try to pacify it or ccmpel it, by certain observances
called tankal, to quit its abode. After procuring certain herbs and
roots, they pronounce some magic words, which they do not even
understand, take the medicine to the sick person, and enjoin on
him certain foolish prohibitions ; another time they suspend little
packets of saffron and terak round his neck, over which they also
pronounce some magic words. This is what we call amulets
and talismans. The Pavans* and other magicians, who possess
the power of afflicting men by their hidden science, cannot
operate on all kinds of people ; there are several of these, who,
by a supernatural art, know how to surround themselves with
invisible armour, so to speak, which renders the charm useless,
and prevents l\\e pavan from seeing in the water the image of the
person he wants to harm. If a magician wants to harm a
person, he must be able to see his image in the water, and a
gentle breeze must blow in the direction of the dwelling of the
person he intends to operate upon. Generally the pavan, who
wants to harm his enemy by means of his diabolical art, tries to
get some of his hair or anything which belonged to him, even if it
is only the remains of what he has eaten ; he then practises his
incantation on what he has been able to lay hands on, throws it
on a fruit or anything else, which he then hides in the earth ;
* Tlie Parans are the sages and doctors of the tiibc. They are generally
: l>y the Mantras, but the Malays have a great veneration for them.
!;e some pa-cans who are only clever at discovering tin mines; these
are the tuna-pagans. [Pdu'ang and 'poyan^ are convertible terms.]
IN THE MALAY PENINSULA. 301
this charm affects the first person who treads on the hidden
object, even if the/rtzw/had no intention of hurting him person-
ally. This is the origin of the dread which the aborigines have
of the pavans.
The Mantras hold that every mountain has its good and bad
spirit, and that every mountain is a wishing place. 1 The most
celebrated place is that at the top of Mount Bermun in Songei-
ujong. This mountain is very high, a dense mist crowns its
summit, which loses itself in the clouds ; it is said, there is a lake
on its slope. When a person goes to a wishing place, he takes
with him two white chickens, and something of every kind of
common food ; he puts all this into a rattan basket, which he
hangs on a tree, or else he places it on the highest point of the
mountain ; then he kills one of the chickens, and gives the other its
freedom ; this done, in the stillness of his heart, he tells the moun-
tain spirit all the wishes he cherishes, after which he prepares his
meal, which he eats on the spot. If what he wishes is not granted,
he visits the same place up to three times, and if it is not granted
even then, he addresses the spirit of another mountain. Among
the most celebrated wishing places is the rock called Batu-tre, in
the Klam district, which, it is said, the Mantras have been in the
habit of visiting since time immemorial. A person going to this
rock may not carry fire with him, for if a spark were to fall on the
rock, it would immediately take fire and be consumed. On this
rock there grows a flower called chinkani, which is only to be
found here. A woman only possesses the privilege of picking it ;
through its magical virtue she becomes greatly famed in a very
short time, and is followed by an endless number of lovers, or, if
the possessor be a man, of sweethearts ; for, although a man may
not pick it he can steal it.
Proud as the Mantras are of their unfettered life, and fond of
their liberty, although under the yoke of the Malays by right of
conquest, they are governed, according to ancient customs, by
certain chiefs who exercise sole authority in their districts. The
power of the Malays over them is really only nominal; they
migrate, assemble together, deliberate, judge offences, and punish
delinquents without admitting any control. Just the same as in the
old days, the Mantras are still governed by a great chief called batin
or batu-kapala who, as it were, is the Sultan of the race. This batin
is a descendant of the imperial family. The batin, before dying,
chooses his successor, who is accepted and recognized by the
nation, but he may not choose one of his own children, and must
appoint a prince of royal blood. The great batin treats the Malay
Sultan as his equal. When he goes out in state, he walks in the
centre of a cortege, preceded by the white flag ; the procession is
headed by a yellow standard-bearer, and closed by a red standard-
1 [" Journal of the Indian Archipelago," vol. i. p. 319.]
302 AN ACCOUNT OF THE MANTRAS
bearer. The great latin takes part in the elections of the Malay
chiefs of Johol, Songei-ujong, Jelabu and Klam. The new latin
must be recognized by the pangulus or the Malay chiefs mentioned
above. These reciprocal rights have now gradually fallen into
disuse. There are several inferior chiefs under the great latin who
are vassals, and who also go by the name of latins. To make
these latins legitimate, they must be elected or at least approved
of by the great chief. The pangulus, who always try to encroach
upon the rights of the native chiefs, have taken upon themselves
the right of electing the inferior batins (after first summoning the
tribe). The great batin alone possesses the right of deciding on
war and peace, and on confirming in the last instance the judgments
delivered by the inferior batins. Every batin in his own district
has power over life or death, a right which he does not exercise
except in a certain way. Under the great batin, as well as under
the inferior batins, there are two other subordinate chiefs viz.,
i\\QJennang or viceroy, and the juru-krah, the magistrate, or the
one who conveys orders. The duties of these two chiefs are
expressed in the following proverb : " jcnnan<^ hiijong lida batin,
juru-krah lidajennang" that is to say, \hsjennang is the extremity
of the tongue of the batin, and fa& juru-krah the extremity of the
tongue of the jennang. The power of the great chief of the
aborigines has shared the fortune of the Malay Sultans, which is
now only imaginary; the vassals or inferior latins are, in fact,
independent. Administration is really everywhere, where there are
Mantras, even in English territory, carried on as follows. All
business, whatever it may be, is laid before the junt-krah, who
looks into it, makes inquiries about it, and decides it if it is in his
competence, if not he refers it to thejennang, who finishes it if it
is within his functions ; if not, he goes up (as they express it) to
the batin who looks into the matter and judges it without appeal.
In the same way if this batin wants to convey orders, he com-
municates them to \\-\zjennang, the jennang to \\-\QJuni-krah, and
^K juru-krah to the people. As I have said, \h& j uru-kraft s duty
is to draw up a report ; he judges small cases of stealing, quiets
small tumults, and brings together young men and women with a
view to marriage. The jen/ia/tg receives the latin's orders, takes
his place when needful, and judges cases of stealing when the value
does not exceed four or five piastres, settles disputes, and performs
the marriage ceremony of ihejum-krah. Such is the rule as to the
government of the aborigines of the peninsula, such are the old
customs, though practically now the different chiefs are separated,
and each one governs those families who attach themselves to him,
and it is only in very out-of-the-way cases that the chiefs meet
together to consult in common.
The Mantras, as well as the other wandering tribes inhabiting
the interior of the Malay Peninsula and the inhabitants of the
THE MALA Y PENINSULA.
3<>3
islands in the Indian Archipelago, have their own language, a
language simple enough in its construction, but often difficult
to pronounce, for this reason that it has not the plain full sound
of the Malays. It is not very precise or handy for expressing
abstract ideas ; the Christian Malays were also the first to ask
whether their religious language might not be the Malay, as it was
clear and better fitted for expressing religious ideas. This is why
we instruct them in Malay, a language which all the aborigines
can speak.
Every tribe has its separate dialect, and so different are they
one from another, that Malay has often to be resorted to as a
medium of communication. Thus, a Jakon will not understand a
Mantra, and a Mantra will hardly understand a Besisi, &c. The
Avords which the actual Mantra language is composed of may be
divided into four classes Sanskrit, Arabic, Malay, and Mantra.
Sanskrit words used in the Mantra language are, with very few
exceptions, the same as in Malay. Arabic words are rarer than
Sanskrit words, for this reason that the Mantras, not being
Musalmans, have not accepted their theological, metaphysical,
legal, and ceremonial terms. The third class includes Malay
words, several of which have remained without any alteration
worth mentioning, such as
orhang for orang
prompuaii
laki
jantang
betina-
bini
man
woman
husband
male
female
wife, &c. &e.
It is to be remarked that certain Mantra words, though
pronounced like the corresponding Malay words, are used in a
different sense, such as
Afantra,
issi
mamak
A great many other words are pronounced so differently that
it is difficult to recognize them at first sight, such as
English.
to be
to have
uncle
Malay.
issi
mamak
English.
to fill
to fill up
uncle or aunt from
the father's side.
Mantras.
Bapai
mo'i
enek
sedorhah
bessabat, sabat
mintai
bavai
seumbah
tingikeun
majar, maajar
A fa/a} .
Bapa
ma
anak
sudara
sobat
minta
bavak
sumbah
tinggikan
mengajar
English.
father
mother
son
brother
friend
to ask
to bring
to offer
to raise
to teach
34
AN ACCOUNT OF THE MANTRAS
Mantras*
Malay.
English.
bahoi
membaukan
to smell
hilai
hila
to draw, make follow-
bederhi
berdiri
to stand up
beubaleh
baleh
to turn, come back
bukai
buka
to open, unfasten
reuthi
arti
to understand
sapoi
sapu
to wipe, to sweep
nimbai
timbahkan
to draw, to draw water
mai
mare
to come
niap
tida
not
tab
sudah
already
lah besua
sudah bisua
to have met
loh
ada
to be, to have
loh orang tai
ada orang tadi
there were people
untai, tai
tadi
instantly, presently
peheu
jangan
do not
lebehkan
tida tau
to ignore, not know
mo'
mau
to will
moh
pergi
to go
moh chiun
pergi sana
go down there
maichian
mari sini
come here
habat
sada, tyada guna
only, unintentionally
saket, habat
saket, siket
indisposed
tumiang
sumpitan
pea-shooter
chakap habat
chakap sadya
he only says so
guma
sukah
happy
gehe
abang
elder brother
gaho
kaka
elder sister
inak
maksu
mint
mamak
paksu
uncle
tau'houe
tengoh (pendang)
to see, to consider
genoi
tauh perampuan
grandmother (in an hono-
rary sense)
tegal
sebab
cause, motive
toko
tambah
to increase
gan
tamatt
not to wish
pret
pri saket luka
sharp pain
kesit
kring
dry
resap, kussi
tiada
there is not
netain
binatang
animal
tungkon
pasang api
to liidit
aji
nya
(affix), his, her, &c.
selit
glap, malam
darkness, night
sonsoich
besiol, siol
to whistle
ango
chakap, jawab
to speak, to answer
lebes
kutep, pungut
to pick up, to pick
bejuhoh
menare
to (iance
issi
ada
to be, to have
bikai
panggel
to call
serhoiie
suroh triak
to order, to hail, to cry
at somebodv
The second half in the above list are pure Mantra words.
AVhcre do they come from ? Do they belong to the Polynesian
language that language which is supposed to have been formerly
spoken in the Indian Archipelago, and of which striking examples
IN THE MALAY PENINSULA. 305
of similarity are found throughout Polynesia? If the true Mantra
words do not belong to the Polynesian language, where do they
come from ? This I am unable to say, as I have nothing to help
me in this wholly scientific research.
Introduction of Christianity among the Mantras.
In the year 1847 I was asked by Monseigneur Boucho, Bishop
of'Atalie and Apostolic Vicar of the Malay Peninsula, to establish
a Catholic mission among the aborigines of the interior, which the
Reverend Mr. Favre had lately visited, and I arrived at Malacca
in the same year. Mr. Favre, during a recent excursion, had
touched at several points in the southern part of the peninsula,
and had met with several Jakons, and obtained information about
a great many more.
Several days after my arrival at Malacca, Mr. Favre and myself,
accompanied by two Chinese and two Malays, set out on a first
journey to Mount Ophir. We pushed on to Segamat without any
result, considering that we did not meet with a single native. On
our return to Malacca, we started again on a second expedition,
which lasted longer, and was more arduous, but also more fruitful ;
we visited Johol, Rombau, Sungei-ujong, and Jelabu. AtSungei-
ujong we found some aborigines, who had come to be present at
the wedding of the son of the Pangulu of Sungei-ujong. On our
return from this second expedition, which I have described else-
where, I settled in the company's territory, at a station three
leagues distant from Malacca, in the middle of a forest not far
from a Malay village called Rumbia. In February, 1848, 1 began
my mission, which I named Dusun Maria, or village of Marie.
On December 14, in the same year, when my worthy bishop
visited me, he baptized twenty-three persons; and on January
1 6, 1849, I myself baptized several others. In May, 1851, the
total number amounted to eighty-eight. As I was obliged to go
back to France towards the end of the year to get rid of a jungle
fever and chronic dysentery, I had to entrust to Messrs. Maistre
and Leturou, the care of finishing my church, for which I had
collected the material, as well as the instruction of the new comers.
In 1853, God having given me back my health, I saw Malacca
again, and found myself in the midst of my good flock, the number
of which had considerably increased. I made the acquaintance
of my new brother, whom Monseigneur Boucho had given me.
Several months after Mr. Constant and myself baptized some
more Mantras. A few months later my old malady returned, and
I was obliged, by my Bishop's order, to leave my beloved flock
again. In January, 1854, Mr. Bourrelier having been sent out to
take my place, was himself attacked with jungle fever, which laid
him in his grave at the end of a year and a few months. In the
SECOND SERIES. VOL. I. X
306 AN ACCO UNT OF THE MANTRAS
meantime, having myself been restored to health, I was permitted
to return to my post, to replace in my turn the worthy brother
whom death had snatched away from our fond hopes. Thank
God, my health has continued good since that time, December
2 3> I ^55. Messrs. Bourrelier and Constant were fortunate enough
to increase the number of Christians, and to found a school for
boys as well as for girls.
These schools are my sole comfort now ; the children, whom
we are obliged to feed and clothe, because of the poverty of their
parents, and the distance which separates them from us, are
very well disciplined ; every day they lose some of those erratic
habits which characterize their parents. Several read perfectly,
and can give an account of the Malay roots and the parts of
speech of that language; the more advanced begin to read and learn
to count. They can even chant a Mass and several Malay hymns,
even French ones. The little girls know pretty well how to sew.
The total number of the Mantras baptized up to this day is 370 ;
out of this number sixty-five have died. Several families have
gone away from us, some from fickleness, others for other reasons ;
but it is to be hoped that this number will be lessened in time.
The greater portion of them are faithful and attached to our
religion. Although the success we have had with the Mantras
is not very considerable in itself, nevertheless it is very consola-
tory when compared with that which several Catholic missionaries
have achieved among the Karens of Mergui, and among the Laos
of Camboja, Siam, and Cochin China.
The Christian Mantras have quite thrown aside their supersti-
tions, and heathen customs, and have adopted Christian faith and
habits ; they have also abandoned those vagrant and savage ways
which characterize them, and so they have become more civilized
and intelligent, less timid and distrustful ; several even have
exerted themselves and have been at work day by day making
themselves orchards, and some have got themselves pigs and
buffaloes. Although, up to now, we have not been able to make
them cultivate rice-fields, we still hope to succeed in this
respect, for it is certain that the greater number are good
Christians ; and indeed, as the forest diminishes every day, they
must of necessity, if they want to remain Christians, begin to culti-
vate rice-fields, without which they will be forced to separate
themselves from us, sooner or later. 1 If we succeed in this, as I
believe we shall, our cause is definitely gained. In calling the
Mantras to us our aim is not only to baptize them, we wish also
to civilize them, and make them steady and attached to their soil,
by giving them as cultivators a proprietary right in it, and thus
^"Journal of the Indian Archipelago," vol. v. p. 487.]
IN THE MALAY PENINSULA. 307
to shelter them against the most pressing wants of life, and make
them Christians steadfast and firm in their faith. 1
DUSUN MARIA, November i, 1857.
1 [The most trustworthy information concerning the rude Malayan tribes in
the interior of the peninsula of Malacca is still to be found in Mr. J. R. Logan's
various contributions to the " Journal of the Indian Archipelago," especially the
Col. Low, ib.y vol. iv. pp. 423-32 ; and Pere Favre's
first volume. See also
articles in vols. ii. and iii. of the same serial (also published separately, Paris,
1865); J. Anderson, on the Semang tribe, in "Considerations on the Malayan
Peninsula," Prince of Wales Island, 1824, Appendix; T. J. Newbold, " British
Settlements in the Straits of Malacca " (two vols., 1839), vol. ii. pp. 369-434 ;
Abdallah ben Abdelkuder Miinshf, in his autobiography, has an interesting
account of the Jakuns ; E. T. Fleury, " Sur les races sauvages de la penin-
sule Malaise ;" "Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society,"
No. i, pp. 111-13 5 No. 2, pp. 208-21 ; No. 4, pp. 46-50 ; No. 7, pp. 83-7 ;
No. 10, pp. 189-94; " Brau de Saint-Pol Lias, Perak et les Ora-ng-Sakeys "
(Paris, 1883), p. 247, ff.]
END OF VOL. I.
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