— 40 — 



The country is large and the people are numerous; their temper is 

 cruel and hasty; young and old, high and low, all carry a sword at their side 

 and on the slightest provocation they injure each other, therefore their soldiers 

 are the best of all barbarian countries. 



Their letters resemble those of the country Soli (*), they have no 

 paper or pencils, but cut them on kadjang leaves ( 2 ). The weather is always 

 like summer and rice is cut twice a year. Tables, couches, spoons orchop- 

 sticks are not used by them. 



There are three kinds of people: 1° the Chinese who reside here tem- 

 porarely and whose clothes ancl food are fine and nice; 2° the traders from 

 other countries , who reside here for a longer time and who are also pretty 

 civilised and clean, and 3° the natives of the country, who are very dirty, 

 who are fond of eating snakes, ants, insects and worms, and who sleep and 

 eat together with the dogs. 



Their skin is very black, they have hands like monkeys and go with 

 their feet bare. They believe much in ghosts. When one has killed a man, 

 he conceals himself for three elays and is then free of guilt. When their 

 parents die, they carry them to the forest and allow them to be eaten by 

 the dogs; if they are not devoured completely, they are very sorry. The 

 remains are burned and often the wife and the concubines are burned also, 

 to accompany the dead. 



The country is sometimes called Pekalongan and also Ha-kang and 

 Sunda ( 3 ). 



During the period Wan-li (1573 — 1620) the redhaired barbarians 



though I do not see how such a glaring mistake could be made. However it may be, we feel not- 

 iustified in deciding the question, and from tliis interesting passage we only conclude tbat the Java- 

 nese dated the foundation of their country, i. e. the first settlement of the Hindoo's, back to about 

 the beginning of our era. 



(') -J- ^p[ ï^ JJÏ , Soli was the name of a country in India; in an account of Siam 



we read that a man from Soli was first minister there. Om translation agrees with that of Amiol 

 and Dr. SchlegePs version : their letters are small and tinj/, is obviously wrong. The words themselves 



of the Chinese text would not bear tliis translation : ^M means to resemble, not to be, and jnS 

 does not mean small or minute , but has no meaning at all. 



(*) <^c "^ . Kadjang is a gcneral name for different palmlcaves, uscd for rooiing and 

 other purposes. The writer means the leaves of the Borrassus flabclliformis , called lont ar in Java. 



(- 1 ) -&* 0k£ flM, ~T* 'i^fe, Ha-kang, "the lowcv river", is the Chinese name of llmt 

 time for Bantam. I|E i^ , 



