vin 



employ, but does not say in what capacity. Within a time of more tlian 20 years, 

 he was sent abroacl with Chêng Ho four times , and from wliat he saw , he composed 

 bis book. In the second preface to the Ying-yai Shêng-lan , quoted just now , we 

 see that this man was also a Chinese Mahomedan, who knew Arabic. 



These two books are much similar in plan and execution; in some cases they 

 nearly use the same terms , but as a rule the former gives a greater abundance of 

 details. As the two authors have traveled togetker and in the same capacity, it is 

 but natural that they have cousulted each other and compared notes. 



Hai Yti ( x ), //Words about the Sea", by Hwang Chung, published in 1537. 

 The author has obtained his information from traders , who had visited the countries 

 described by him. He gives an account of Siam and Malacca, and further speaks 

 of some animals , products and wonders of those parts. 



Tung Hsi Yang K'au ( 2 ), //Besearches on the Eastern and Western 

 Ocean", published in 1618 by Wang Ch'i-tsung, Superintendent of Eevenue in Nan- 

 king , and some other functionaries. This book gives an historical and geographical 

 description of Indo-China, the Malay peninsula, the Archipelago , the Philippines and 

 Eormosa , and contains a good deal of curious information ; but it is necessary to read 

 it with care, as many errors are founcl in it. Though written long after the com- 

 mencement of European intercourse, many of the materials used in its composition 

 belong to an earlier date, and as a rule its descriptions refer to the time when the 

 Europeans first began to visit these countries. 



Fo Kiio Chi ( 3 ), //Account of Buddhist Countries ,, , by the Buddhist priest 

 Eahien , who in the year 400 of our era, went overland from China to India in 

 search of Buddhist books, and came back by sea fifteen years afterwards, via Ceylon 

 and Java. The book is written from his narratives and was published shortly after 

 his death. 



T'ai-p'ing Huan-yü Ghi ( 4 ), //A Geography of the AvorkT by Lo Shih, 

 published in the period T'ai-p'ing Hsing-Kuo (976 — 983) and called- after it. It is 

 very valuable for the geography of China, but the information it coutains about the 

 countries we are treating of, has generally been copied from the previous Dynastie 

 Histories in a rather slovenly manner, and it has therefore been of very little use 

 to us. 



Pèn-ts'-au Kang-mu ( 5 ), the Chinese standard-work on botany and the other 

 natural sciences. This has been used for determiuing different products, meutioned in 

 these notes. 



n mm. o 3ü®##. 



o: «BIS. n *T»^IE. 



