Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 3.djvu/208

 192 COMMERCE WITH tives of Java, or of any portion of the Archipelago, but Hindus, or natives of India ; and, which is the same thing, that Ptolemy's information was not ob- tained through the direct intercourse of Europeans with the country. If any names at all reached Eu- ropeans correctly, we cannot be surprised that these should be the names of the two principal tribes or countries. This is especially applicable to Java, the richest and most distinguished country of the Archipelago, and the principal seat of Hin- duism. We have seen, that it is the only name men- tioned in Chinese works ; and among the Arabs, such is its reputation, that they designate the whole Archipelago and all its inhabitants by it. Whether he obtained his information from Chinese or Arabs, Java was the most important name also which reach- ed the ears of Marco Polo. He was six months in Sumatra, without ever hearing any name for it, and, at last, following the example of other strangers, he calls it the Lesser Java, imagining it ought to be of smaller size than an ulaiid which was so much more celebrated. The Golden Chersonesus of the ancients, it would, I imagine, be unreasonable to fix upon any particular country, when we reflect upon the igno- rance which prevailed respecting all. * What • Linschoten, a man of intelligence, and an experienced pilot, writing expressly with the view of giving us all the in- 12