THE SACRED ISLES IN THE WEST. 147 



Ptolemy mentions there a place called Malaiou- 

 colon, probably from the Sanscrit Malay a-culam, 

 which implies a place on the borders or shores of Ma- 

 laya: the same is called J/a/t^^i«r by IMarcoPolo ; 

 Malaya-tir and Malaya-calam are synonymous. Peri-' 

 mula in Ptolemy, I suppose to be derived from the 

 Sanscrit Pari-Malaya, which implies the same thing. 

 For it is probable, that they were acquainted only 

 with the t'nrim, tir or culam of the Peninsula : and 

 Canchana-pada may also signify the foot, skirts of the 

 golden mountain, or Peninsula. 



The next island is Sumatra, called in the Pur'an'as 

 RajatOy or silver island, the Argyre of the western 

 geographers. In the Vrihat-catha it is called Naircela 

 or Nalicera and Srimat, or the fortunate, and syno- 

 nymous with Srimatra, 



That famous island is called now Sumatra, and by 

 former European travellers Symotta. In the same 

 book, and in the Hitopades'a, it is called Carpura, 

 or camphire island. In the spoken dialects, that 

 word is pronounced C^/'/Jwr and Ca'fur. Marco-Polo 

 gives the name of Fanfur to one of its provinces, pro- 

 bably for Canfur or Campar, as it is now called. A 

 beautiful lake on the island, is mentioned in the Hi-* 

 topades'a under the name of Padma'-nilaya, or the 

 abode of Padma'-de'vi. 



It is also called Mandara in the Puranas : and as 

 it is represented as a most delightftd country, it may 

 be denominated Su-Mandara; and it was called Saman- 

 der by former geographers. But it seems, that this 

 appellation is derived from Samander in the spoken 

 dialects of India, from the Sanscrit Samudra, which 

 signifies the ocean. The author of the Periplus men- 

 tions an island near the Ganges called Oceanis ^{'Si.wd 



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