238 CORALS 



obtained it originally from China or Japan. Rumphius, 

 however, who insists that it is not found native in Malayan 

 waters, declares that it was brought to the islands by the 

 Portuguese and other Europeans. 



There are several later references to the use of coral 

 among the natives of these islands. Valentyn, for example, 

 states that a girdle made partly of glass and partly of gold 

 set with coral was included in the dowry of the daughter of 

 the chief d'Arras of the island of Siauw off N. Celebes in 

 1677. But in this case, as in others, in which the coral is not 

 more definitely described, it may be doubtful w^hether it is 

 the red coral of the Mediterranean or some form of black 

 coral. 



All that can be said is that it is very improbable that the 

 natives of an island like Siauw, situated in a sea that abounds 

 in coral reefs, would regard black or any form of white coral 

 of such value as to be set as a jewel in a bridal girdle. 



Very little is known about the early history of the Malay 

 islands, but the undoubted fact that three centuries ago 

 there was an import of red coral by European merchants 

 lends probability to the view that there was earlier trade 

 in it carried on by the Arabs, who brought with them the 

 beliefs in the efficacy of red coral as a charm and an antidote 

 to poison. 



It would be interesting if some definite informatic.n 

 could be given as to the routes by which coral was carried in 

 early times from the Mediterranean Sea to the Far East. 

 The discovery of coral in earrings in the Crimea, supposed 

 to be of the fourth century B.C. workmanship, and of the use 

 of coral in inlaid design by the ancient Scythians, suggests 

 that there was an overland route by way of Russia, the 

 Caspian Sea, and Middle Asia. 



Pezalotte, who wrote in the early part of the fourteenth 

 century, states that " stript coral, clean and fine coral, 

 middling and small " was sold in the Constantinople market, 

 and it was evidently carried from there by the merchants, 

 who travelled along various routes to the markets of the Far 

 East.i 



^ H. Yule, Cathay and the Way tlUher, Hakluyt Soc, vol. i., p. 303. 



