— 41 — 



(Dutch and English) established a toko at the east of the great river ( ] ) and 

 the Franks (Portngnese) another on its western bank, where they traded 

 every year; Chinese traders also go and come there continually. 



In this country there is a place called Sin-ts'un (Grissé) ( 2 ), which 

 has the reputation of being very rich; the ships of Chinese and barbarian 

 merchants all collect there and it is full of valuable merchandise ; the chief 

 of this village is a man from Canton, who, in the year 1411, sent himself 

 envoys to court with a letter and offered products of the country as tribute. 



We shall not attempt to compare the above account with what is found in 

 other sources: for this purpose we have nothing else than Hageman's history of Java 

 and we have seeu from the narrative of the Mongol expedition to Java, how very 

 unreliable this work is. Our translation is therefore gi.ven without further comraent 

 and we only hope that the "native sources for the ancient history of Java may soon 

 be more closely investigated , when we trust that the Chinese narrative , especially by 

 its clironological data, will prove of some use. 



We see further that the relations between China and Java, especially in the 

 beginning of this dynasty, were rather intimate, envoys from both sides continually 

 coming and going; amongst the Chinese envoys the name of Chêng Ho is frequently 

 mentioned, this man acquired such a reputation by bis travels to foreign countries, 

 that the historians of the dynasty have given him a place amongst the biographies 

 of celebrated persons, and as this article contains much valuable information about the 

 way and manner in which the intercourse with foreign countries was carried on, we 

 think it desirable to give a translation of it. 



Account of Chêng Ho. History of the Ming dynasty. Book 304. 



Chêng Ho was a man from Yün-nan and is the same who is com- 

 monly called the eunuch San-pau ( 4 ). At first he served in the palace of the 

 Prince of Yen (afterwards emperor under the name Ch'êng-tsu) and having 

 acquired military merit, he was gradually raised to the rank of first eunuch. 



When the emperor Ch'êng-tsu (1403 — 1424) feared that Hwui-ti (his 

 predecessor, whom he had driven from the throne) was concealing himself 



(') ~fc ifm * the great river, is a designation used for the river of Bantam. We shall pre- 

 sently be able to give a separate notice of this place from other sources, q. y. 

 O ^ff T\ ïf the new village, will be tveated separately, q. v. 



O -~. / ^ , amongst the ï'ukien Chinese Sam-po. 



