Part 10

[574] The large island was Timur, and Amaban and Balibo were villages located on its coast. Albo (Navarrete, iv, p. 226) says that they coasted along Timor “to the village of Manvay, first arriving at the village of Queru.”

[575] MS. 5,650 reads: “linen, silk and cotton cloth, knives, scissors, mirrors, and other things.”

[576] MS. 5,650 reads: “adorned with gold,” and the last sentence of the paragraph reads: “Some of them wear other gold ornaments in their ears.” Guillemard conjectures from Pigafetta’s description that these people were of Papuan origin (Magellan, p. 290). His translation of this passage is not exact.

[577] The white sandal wood (Santalum album) is a low tree resembling a large myrtle, although belonging to another family. It is a native of several islands in the Malay Archipelago, but more especially of Timur and Sumba (Sandal Wood Island). It is also found in the South Sea islands and in Malabar. The Malays and Javanese call it “chandana” (a Sanskrit word, written “sandana” by the Filipinos, but used there for another tree), and it was probably first made known to the natives of the archipelago by the Hindu traders. Both Varthema and Barbosa mention it as an article of commerce, and the latter gives prices. The greatest users of sandal-wood as a perfume, incense, or fancy wood are the Hindus and Chinese, especially the latter. Crawfurd’s Dictionary, p. 375.

[578] MS. 5,650 omits mention of beans.

[579] MS. 5,650 reads “steel” instead of “hatchets.”

[580] MS. 5,650 reads: “one hundred and sixty-four and one-half.”

[581] Timur is wrongly classed with the chain of islands called the Sunda, being different in location, structure, fauna, and botany. It is mountainous and rather desolate. Its inhabitants are Malayans and Negritos, and two languages are spoken there—Timourese in the west, and Teto or Manatoto in the east. The religion is a sort of demonology. An annual sacrifice of a virgin to the sharks and alligators was made until recent times, when the practice was abolished by the Dutch. It is about 370 miles long by 50 broad in its widest part and contains about 9,808 square geographical miles. The island belongs to the Dutch and Portuguese. See Crawfurd’s Dictionary, pp. 432–435, and Cust’s Modern Languages of the East Indies (London, 1878), p. 143.

[582] MS. 5,650 reads: “St. Job,” and “for franchi.” Eden (p. 260) says of this disease: “In al the Ilandes of this Archipelagus, rayneth the diſeaſe of ſaynt Iob (whiche wee caule the frenche poxe) more then in any other place in the worlde.” Evidently this passage of Pigafetta is a reference to the disease of syphilis. This disease was not first introduced in the Orient by the Portuguese as Crawfurd claims, nor first discovered in America, for Varthema found it in Calicut in 1505, and it was observed in China long before it was noticed in Europe. Littré discovered a mention of it in a work of the thirteenth century, and it is mentioned in Sanskrit medical books prior to 1500 under the name of upadamça. It is doubtless an old disease. Stanley (p. 153) following Amoretti, wrongly believes the leprosy to be meant by this passage. From the fact that the Filipinos had a name for the disease (see vol. i, p. 189), it is conjectured that its existence was well known. See Linschoten’s Voyage (Hakluyt Society edition), i, p. 239.

The following information is received from Walter G. Stern, M. D., of Cleveland, Ohio, regarding this disease: “The maladie de Job is considered by many authors to be syphilis (lues venerea). At least all of the symptoms complained of by Job can be readily explained upon the theory that Job was afflicted with this disease. That syphilis is as old as mankind, there can be no doubt, although for centuries popular belief and tradition claimed that it was introduced by Columbus who brought it from the West Indies. The coincidence of the terrible epidemic of malignant syphilis with the discovery of the New World, the ignorance of the medical profession of those times, and the silence of the popular medical writers of former ages as to the previous existence of such a complex contagion as syphilis strengthened this belief into an axiom. The finding of undoubted syphilitic bone lesions in skeletons of the most remote historic periods is undisputed evidence of the antiquity of syphilis. The sexual excesses of the ancients, the Baal and Astarte worship of the Assyrians, the Venus, Bacchus, and Priapus cult of the Romans, were at least most favorable means of spreading venereal diseases. Not taking into account references in Roman and Grecian mythology, the old Syrian cuneiform epic Izdebar and the “papyrus Ebers,” we find the first reference to syphilitic disease in Indian literature of the Brahman period (800 B. C.). There is also a reference in the Chinese work of Musi-King, which very possibly dates from 2637 B. C.; also one in a Japanese MS. Daido-rui-shim-ho of about 810 B. C. Hippocrates, Celsus, and Pliny also mention a disease with the characteristics of syphilis, while the Roman satirists describe venereal afflictions identical to it. It is specifically mentioned by the medical writers of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, when it was of a very mild type—endemic, as seen at the present day in Bosnia and Turkey. Its place of origin is unknown. It probably came from India, where it has been endemic at least from 800 B. C., and brought by the Assyrians, Phœnicians, and Carthaginians to Greece and Rome and the rest of Europe. (See Neuman’s Syphilis, Wien, 1899).” Dr. Alexander F. Chamberlain, in “The American Antiquarian and Oriental Journal” for January and February, 1905, has the following note: “American origin of syphilis. In his ‘Das erst Auftreten der Syphilis (Lustseuche) in der europäischen Kulturwelt’ (Jena, 1903, p. 35) Iwan Bloch sustains the thesis of its pre-Columbian existence in America and transference to Europe in the wake of the discovery of the new world. Bloch had previously published another work on syphilis ‘Der Ursprung der Syphilis’ (1901), in which he set forth similar views. The new work contains data concerning the first appearance of this terrible malady in Europe, and of a like sexual disease among the American Indians.”

[583] In the original Italian MS. at this point (folio 76a) follows the chart of Laut Chidol, that is, Great Sea (q.v., p. 124). This chart is given on folio 89b of MS. 5,650, without other inscription than that of the chart itself, which is the same as the above.

[584] Endé, also called Floris and Mangarai, lies between latitudes 7° and 9° south, and longitudes 120° and 123° east. It is two hundred miles long and its breadth ranges from forty-two to fifty miles. It is volcanic in origin. It is said to possess six distinct languages, and the natives are intermediate between Malayan and Papuan. See Crawfurd’s Dictionary, p. 138, and Cust, ut supra, p. 143.

[585] Tanabutun—Mani (in MS. 5,650, “Moiu,” and in Mosto “Main”) inclusive, probably refer to the islands between Endé or Floris and Sumbawa. Zumbaua is Sumbawa, which is so called from its principal people. It is the fifth island of the Sunda chain from the westward. Its length is 140 miles, greatest breadth, 50, and its area about 278 square geographical leagues. The island belongs to the Dutch, but the more civilized people are Mahometans, while some of the mountaineers are still pagans. Three languages or dialects are found there. Lomboch or Lomboc is the second island due east of Java. The name is taken from the Javanese word for capsicum. By the natives Lomboc is now called Sasak (in Malay and Javanese, “a raft” or “temporary bridge”), and sometimes Selaparang. It is volcanic and mountainous, contains numerous small and unnavigable rivers, and a number of mountain lakes. The vegetation resembles that of Java, but its fauna is considerably different. The inhabitants call themselves Sasak, who are Mahometans and subject (along the seacoast) to the Balinese who profess Hinduism (a unique example of a nation professing Mahometanism being held in permanent subjection by another professing Hinduism). The language of the Sasaks is similar to that of the western end of Sumbawa. Chorum is perhaps Bali, the island just east of Java. See Mosto, p. 107, notes 6–9; Crawfurd’s Dictionary, and Cust’s Modern Languages of East Indies.

[586] Java (a Dutch dependency), the most important island of the East Indies, is correctly called Jawa, a name derived from its principal people. It was first named among Europeans by Marco Polo. Varthema’s account of the island is almost worthless, but Barbosa, who never visited it, describes it accurately, while Pigafetta’s account is still more accurate. The botany of Java is rich and diversified, and the island is extremely fertile. The fauna is proportionally as varied as the botany. The people whether Javanese or Sundanese are Malayan. The Javanese are industrious and honest, and are only semi-Mahometan. The Sundanese who inhabit the mountainous districts of the western part are Mahometans. The language of the former is the chief language of the island, and is one of the most copious languages in the world. The Javanese are the most civilized of all Malayan peoples and could boast of civilization before the advent of Europeans in the Orient. They have cultivated certain of the arts and have many industries. They have a literature that is sufficiently abundant in both the ancient and modern languages. See Crawfurd’s Dictionary, pp. 165–192; Cust’s Modern Languages of the East Indies, pp. 137, 138; and Lucas’s Historical Geography of British Colonies (Oxford, 1888), i, p. 99.

[587] The name of the king of Megepaher seems to be given as “Patiunus Sunda” in MS. 5,650. That manuscript continues: “Considerable pepper grows there. The other cities are.” Magepaher is the ancient capital Majapait; Sunda is probably the western district of Java, occupied by the Sundanese (it must be remembered that Pigafetta’s information is derived orally from the Malay pilots); Daha is the ancient Javanese kingdom of Däa; Cipara is Japara; Sidaiu is Sidayu; Tuban is the same; Chessi is Gressik or Gârsik (the first place in Java visited by the Portuguese d’Abreu); and Cirubaia is Surabaya. See Crawfurd’s Dictionary, p. 166.

[588] Balli is not properly a city of Java, but the island of Bali, located about 1–1/2 miles east of Java. The name in Javanese and Malay signifies “to return.” Its area is about 1685 square geographical miles, and it is lofty and mountainous. Its numerous rivers are navigable for native vessels only, and as far as the reach of the tide; and its mountain lakes ensure a constant water supply. The people live in villages of from five hundred to three thousand inhabitants, surrounded by walls built of clay, without stone or brick. They are said to be more skilful agriculturists than the Javanese. The religion is Brahmanical and Buddhist, although blended with Pagan forms and beliefs. The caste idea prevails among them. Their dialect is called Balinese, and although rude and simple is above those of the Sundanese and Madurese. Writing is on the palm-leaf only. See Crawfurd’s Dictionary, pp. 28–31; and Cust’s Modern Languages, pp. 138, 139.

[589] Eden reads (p. 260): “Giaua the leſſe, is as bygge as the Ilande of Madera, and is but half a leaque diſtante from Giaua maior;” thus confusing the island of Madura with the Portuguese island of Madeira. Madura has the same formation, vegetation, and manners and character of its inhabitants, as Java. The name is derived from the Hindu legend, which represents it as the kingdom of the hero and demi-god Baladewa, and is a corruption of the Sanskrit Mathura. The greatest length of the island is about ninety miles. The language although poorer and ruder than the Javanese, resembles the latter. It has one dialect, termed Sumanap. Many of its inhabitants have emigrated to Java. See Crawfurd’s Dictionary, pp. 233, 234; and Cust’s Modern Languages, p. 138.

[590] MS. 5,650 omits the remainder of this sentence.

[591] This ceremony, as it was practiced in the island of Bali (the only one of the East Indies to preserve the custom) is described by Crawfurd (Dictionary, pp. 30, 140–142). “The ordinary funeral rites of the Balinese much resemble those of the Buddhists of Siam and Ava, and the concremation is a modification of the Hindu Suttee, and the bloody ceremony of krising, a barbarism peculiar to the people of Bali themselves.” In that island, unless the dead man were of great wealth, the woman sacrificing herself was stabbed to death with a kris, instead of being burned with her husband’s corpse, as the expense accompanying the burning was so great. Barbosa (East African and Malabar Coasts, Hakluyt Society edition, p. 93) mentions this custom of one of the countries of India. See also Linschoten (Voyage, Hakluyt Society edition, pp. 249, 250, and note).

[592] MS. 5,650 adds: “of their vagina.”

[593] MS. 5,650 adds: “and more pleasantly.” This custom is also mentioned by Barbosa (ut supra, p. 184) in connection with the people of Pegu. His account, which is left untranslated by Stanley, is as follows:

“They are very voluptuous, and have certain round hawk’s-bells sewn and fastened in the head of their penis between the flesh and the skin in order to make them larger. Some have three, some five, and others seven. Some are made of gold and silver, and others of brass, and they tinkle as the men walk. The custom is considered as quite the proper thing. The women delight greatly in the bells, and do not like men who go without them. The most honored men are those who have the most and largest ones. I will say nothing more of this custom, for it is a shameful one.” Stanley says that this custom is also mentioned by Nicolo Conti in the fifteenth century.

[594] In MS. 5,650 and in Mosto: “Ocoloro.” Yule (Book of Ser Marco Polo, ii, p. 395) conjectures that this is the modern island of Engano.

[595] In MS. 5,650 “caiu paugganghi,” and “bua paugganghi.” Stanley (p. 155, note 2) says that garuda is Sanskrit and Malay for “griffin,” and (note 1) that campong anghin means “the place of wind.” Yule (Cathay, Hakluyt Society edition, ii, p. 511, note) says: “Garuda is a term from the Hindu mythology for the great bird that carries Vishnu; its use among the Malays is a relic of their ancient religion.... To an island of the Indian Sea also Kazwini attributes a bird of such enormous size, that, if dead, the half of its beak would serve for a ship.” De Gubernatis (Memorie intorno ai viaggiatori italiani nelle Indie orientali, Firenze, 1867) says that the tree of the text is perhaps the mythical tree, whose fruit gives felicity in the Hindu paradise; and the bird is the one with the golden feathers, into which Vishnu or the sun is transformed in the Hindu mythology. Mosto, p. 108, note 5.

[596] Probably Point Romania, at the southeastern extremity of the peninsula of Malacca.

[597] Cinghapola is Singapore or Singapura, so called from the Sanskrit singa, “lion,” and pura, “city.” It is an island and town located at the extremity of the Malacca Peninsula, and is a busy mart of trade. Pahan is Pahang (called Pam by the Portuguese, and properly spelt Päang), which is a city and district or province of the eastern part of the Malacca Peninsula. Calantan (Kalantan) and Patani are districts of the eastern part of the peninsula of Malacca whose chief towns have the same names. Both states were from early times tributary to Siam. Lagon is the Siamese province of Ligor (called Lâkon by the Siamese). Phran is perhaps the same name as seen today in the Pran River. Cui figures on the maps of Ortelius and Mercatorius; and Valentyn gives an island “Couir.” Brabri is perhaps Bangri, and Bangha, Bang-kok. India (error of ancient amanuensis for Iudia) is Yuthia, which became the Siamese capital in 1350. Mosto believes that Jandibum, Sanu, and Langhonpifa are also the names of Siamese kings, but they are probably the names of cities. MS. 5,650 makes Zacabedera the name of a city, but it appears later as part of a sovereign’s name. Stanley (following Amoretti, who mistranscribed) has Bradlini, Trombon, Joran (for Phran), Laun (in MS. 5,650 “Lauu”), and Langonpifa. See Crawfurd’s Dictionary, and Mosto (p. 109, notes 1–8).

[598] MS. 5,650 reads: “the rest.”

[599] MS. 5,650 reads: “Cameggia.” This is the country of Cambodia or Camboja (Kamboja), called also Champa by the Malays. See Crawfurd’s Dictionary, pp. 80, 81.

[600] Champa, the name of an ancient Malay settlement on the eastern side of the gulf of Siam, in the country of Cambodia. Stanley makes the name of its king “Brahami Martu.” Mosto (p. 109, note 10) makes Chiempa, Binh-Thuan in Anam. See preceding note; and Crawfurd’s Dictionary, p. 93.

[601] Stanley (p. 156, note) says: “Pigafetta has confounded rhubarb with the decayed wood of a tree found in Siam, which, when burnt, gives a very sweet perfume, and which sells at a high price.”

[602] MS. 5,650 confuses this country with the cocoanut, and translates accordingly: “Cocoanuts are found there.” It is, of course, the country of Cochin. MS. 5,650 also makes the Seribumni (Scribumni, in Mosto) Pala (Seribumnipala, in MS. 5,650) the ruler of Champa, although a ruler has already been named for that country.

[603] This king is known in Chinese history as Chitsong, of the Ming dynasty, who succeeded to Woutsong in 1519 and reigned for forty-five years. See Boulger’s Short History of China (London, 1900, pp. 94–96).

[604] In Eden (p. 260) the names of these Chinese cities are “Canthan, Nauchin, and Connulaha.” The last is the city of Peking which was called Khan-palik (the city of the Khan) by the Mongols, a form which was changed into Cambalu in the accounts of those times. See Williams, Middle Kingdom, i, p. 55.

[605] MS. 5,650 reads: “great and little.” See VOL. XXXIII, p. 331, note 273.

[606] Eden (p. 261) calls the Chinese emblem a “linx;” an allusion doubtless to the Chinese emblem, the dragon, called lung. See Williams, Middle Kingdom, ii, p. 267.

[607] MS. 5,650 continues from this point: “so that he may furnish an example.” See Williams, Middle Kingdom, i, pp. 408–420, for modes of Chinese punishments (the obeisance made by criminals being mentioned on p. 315). The zonghu of the text is perhaps the simplest ceremonial form called kung shau, which consists in joining the hands and raising them before the breast (ii, p. 68).

[608] MS. 5,650 adds: “also artificially made.” Naga in Sanskrit is the name of a fabulous snake or dragon, and is found in all the cultivated languages throughout the Indian Archipelago. See Crawfurd’s Dictionary, p. 290.

[609] This passage reads as follows in MS. 5,650: “Each circle or enclosure of the wall has a gate. At the first is a porter who holds in his hand a large stout iron club called satu horan. In the second is a dog called satu hain; in the third a man with an iron mace called satu horan with pocun bessin; in the fourth a man with a bow in his hand called satu horan with anach panan; in the fifth a man with a lance called satu horan with satu tumach; in the sixth a lion called satu hurimau; and in the seventh, two white elephants called two gaggia pute.” Mosto has houman for the horiman of our text and the hurimau of MS. 5,650; while Stanley has hurimau. Mosto also prints the word con meaning “with,” as a part of the various Malayan words. The meaning of these words as given by Stanley and corroborated by Mosto are as follows: satu orang, “one man;” anjing, a “dog;” pokoh bisi, “club of iron;” panah, a “bow;” tombak, a “lance;” horiman, a “tiger.”

[610] MS. 5,650 omits the remainder of this sentence; and continuing reads: “If one stops to examine the palace thoroughly, he finds four halls, where the principal men go at times to visit and converse with the king.” Eden (p. 261) says: “In this pallaice are lxxix. haules, in the which is an infinite number of women that ſerue the kynge hauynge euer lyght torches in theyr handes for the greater magnifycence.”

[611] See description of Peking with map showing the palace in Williams, Middle Kingdom, i, pp. 55–66.

[612] Eden (p. 261) reads: “They haue the croſſe in ſum eſtimation, but knowe not the cauſe whye.”

[613] The remainder of this sentence is omitted in MS. 5,650.

[614] “Commaru” in MS. 5,650.

[615] MS. 5,650 reads: “Then it is steeped in the urine of the said cat.”

[616] MS. 5,650 adds instead of the following sentence: “But the real musk comes from the blood abovesaid, and if that be made into little round pellets, it evaporates.”

[617] Mosto (p. 110, note 5) thinks it more probable that this passage refers to the animal Moschus moschiferus, or the musk deer, which is found in the high Himalayas, Tibet, and Eastern Siberia, rather than to the civet cat, which Pigafetta names. Castor is derived from the Sanskrit kasturi, which is used by the Malays and Javanese for the perfume of the civet cat (although they also use native and Arabic names). It is very probable that Pigafetta has confused musk and civet. However, Cosmas says also that the Kasturi produces the musk (see Yule’s Cathay, Hakluyt Society edition, i, p. clxxiv). Friar Jordanus gives a very superficial account of the musk deer and the preparation of musk (Wonders of the East, pp. 47, 48). Early descriptions of preparing musk and prices are given by Varthema (Travels, Hakluyt Society edition, p. 102), Barbosa (East African and Malabar Coasts, Hakluyt Society edition, pp. 186, 187, 222), who mentions the leeches, and Linschoten (Voyage, Hakluyt Society edition, i, p. 149, ii, pp. 94, 95), who also describes civet (ii, pp. 95, 96). Wallace (Malay Archipelago, p. 41) notes that leeches are very abundant and annoying on the peninsula of Malacca.

[618] Chienchii are probably the people of Chincheo (Chinchew; the modern Chwan-Chow-Foo), a name formerly often applied to a province of China. See VOL. III, p. 41, note 6.

[619] Bellemo, basing his assertion on the fact that the Peguans proper are called Mon, says (Mosto, p. 110, note 6) that Burmah is here referred to. It would seem rather to be one of the northern districts of China, possibly about the Yellow River, and Lechii may refer to the city of Linching. Mosto and Amoretti transcribe Moni, and MS. 5,650, Mon.

[620] Cathay, at first restricted to the northern part of the country now called China, became later (in the Middle Ages) the name for the entire country. See Yule’s Cathay, i, preliminary essay.

[621] MS. 5,650 reads: “Hau.” Han was a small Chinese state which gave name to the first national Chinese dynasty, and it may be the Han referred to by Pigafetta. See Boulger’s Short History of China, p. 10.

[622] “Chetissirimiga” in MS. 5,650.

[623] “Triagomba” in MS. 5,650.

[624] These names appear before (see VOL. XXXIII, p. 321, note 177) where they are given as the name of one island.

[625] Javanese for “South Sea.”