S U M A T R A; Is 



s' ilrait and uniform, and refembled a worm drawn over a knit- 

 « ting needle; when dry it is a coral." 



That Sumatra was known to the antients is mofl probable, 

 but that only partially. This, and two others which Ptolemy 

 unites, feem in the opinion of Mr. Caverhill to have been the 

 SabaddibiB of the old geographer. The Mahometan travellers of 

 the year 1173 called it Ramni. They fpeak of its gold mines, 

 and excellent camphor, and of the inhabitants being cannibals., 

 Marco Polo is very diffufe in his account of this ifland, which he 

 calls the little Java\ he adlually travelled over fix of its eight 

 kingdoms, and gives various particulars, long fince confirmed by 

 the later travellers. He mentions the cuftom of eating human, 

 fiefh; he defcribes the Rhinoceros under the name of Licorne, 

 camphor, fago, the cocoa palms, and the tapping them for the 

 acquifition of the liquor Toddy, fo neceffary a drink to the inha- 

 bitants. 



After a very long interval the Portuguefe again difcovered Portugusse^ 

 Sumatra. Lopez Sequeira, in 1508, by the command of his 

 great mafter, failed on a voyage of difcovery, and arrived at the 

 port of Pedeery to the eaft of Jcheen, at the northern end of the 

 ifland * ; there he found Ihips from PegUy Bengal, and feveral 

 other countries. The king, a Mahometan, treated him with 

 much civility. The great Albuquerque vifited the ifland in per- 

 fon, and entered into a treaty with the king of Pedeer. The 

 Portuguefe afterwards engaged deeply in the wars between the 

 petty monarchs of the country ; but I do not find that they ever 

 made any fettlement, 



• Oforio, vol. p. 368. 



TH£ 



