150 ESSAY ON 



posite to this, toward tlie west, another river flows 

 from the mountains of Tndra-giri, and is called An- 

 drapour or Indrapoitr from the Sanscrit Indra-jmra : 

 and I believe that the town is the same which is called 

 Aiulra-Simundu by Ptolemy, and foisted into Cey- 

 loji by him, on a supposition that it was the same island 

 with Pulo-Simwidu ; and I believe that this is not the 

 only place in Taprohanc, that belongs to Pido-Shmmdu. 

 The mountains of Indra, or JMaghahd in the island 

 of Sumatra, are mentioned in the Vfihat-catlid, under 

 the name oi' Baldhaca, which is synonymous with 

 Megha, from its summit being capped with clouds : 

 and Indra, who presides over rain, resides above the 

 clouds: hence he is called IMe'ghava'hana, Me'gha- 

 BA'HANA, and in conversation Me'ghaba'n, or tlie 

 cloud borne. The other mountains in Sumatra, men^ 

 tioned in the Vftliat-cathd, are Maindca Vrishahlia, 

 and Chacra. Upon these four mountains, as many 

 gods are, in the same book-, declared to resi<ie, aild 

 to travel occasionally in their self-moving cars to the 

 JVhite Island in the west, in order to pay their respects 

 to Vishnu, and his consort Abdhitanaya', or the 

 dau^diter of the Ocean. NdricHa, another name for 

 this island, implies its abounding with cocoa-nut trees, 

 the leaves of which being agitated by the winds 

 strike ag'ainst each other, and seem to repeat the 

 words Bijc-hoc or Vac-vac: or the continual noise which 

 they make is compared by the Hindus to what is 

 call-d in Hindi Boc-boc or constant chattering. Su- 

 matra is then the island of Boc-boc, Vac-vac or JVac- 

 xvac o^ Arabian autiiors; who sav that the leaves of 

 these trees spiking against each other seem to repeat 

 the word fVac. 



Sumatra appears to me to be the same island, iu 

 which Jambl'EUs is supposed to have resided seven 

 years, and froni wllich be 'Vv^ent tb Pdlibothra. The 



