14 PAGAN TRIBES OF BORNEO chap. 



was an emperor, but I had no means of communica- 

 tion. Recently there was a merchant called Pu Lu, 

 whose ship arrived at the mouth of my river ; I 

 sent a man to invite him to my place, and 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 to Champa, 

 and I therefore hope Your Majesty will send an 

 edict to that country with orders that, if a ship of 

 Hianzta arrives there, it must not be detained. 

 My country has no other articles,^ and I pray Your 

 Majesty not to be angry with me." The envoys 

 were entertained and sent home with presents. In 

 1082 A.D., a hundred years later, Sri Maja, king of 

 Puni, sent tribute again, but the promise of yearly 

 homage was not kept. Gradually the Sung dynasty 

 declined in power, and East Indian potentates 

 became less humble. 



In the thirteenth and the early part of the four- 

 teenth centuries Bruni owed allegiance alternately to 

 two powers much younger than herself, Majapahit 

 in Java, and Malacca on the west coast of the Malay 

 Peninsula. Both these states were founded in the 

 thirteenth century."^ Majapahit, originally only one 

 of several Javan kingdoms, rapidly acquired strength 

 and subjugated her neighbours and the nearest 

 portions of the islands around. Malacca, formed 

 when the Malay colony of Singapore was over- 

 whelmed by Javanese, became the great commercial 

 depot of the Straits and the chief centre of 

 Mohammedanism in the Archipelago. The two 

 powers therefore stood for two faiths and two 



^ Than camphor, tortoiseshell, ivory, and sandal woods. 

 2 There is some doubt as to the date of the foundation of Majapahit. 



