— 98 — 



Litai. 



Ying-yai Shêng-lan (1416). 



The country of Litai ( l ) is situated at the west of Nakur; on the south 

 it is bordered by large mountains , on the north it extends as far as the sea 

 and on the west it is bordered by Lambri. The population amounts to one 

 or two thousand families, who have chosen one man to be their chief and 

 to administer their affairs. They acknowledge the supremacy of Sumatra. 

 The country produces nothing for export. The language and the customs 

 are the same as in Sumatra. 



In the mountains there is an abundance of rhinoceroses ; the king is 

 in the habit of sending men to hunt them and the horns are brought to 

 China as tribute, together with that of Sumatra. 



Lambri. 



Ying-yai Shêng-lan (1416). 



The country of Lambri ( 2 ) is situated due west of Sumatra, at adistance 

 of three days sailing with a fair wind; it lies near the sea and has a popu- 

 lation of only about a thousand families. The inhabitants are all Mahomedans 

 and very good people. On the east the country is bordered by Litai, on 

 the west and the north by the sea and on the south by high mountains, at 

 the south of which is the sea again. 



The king is also a Mahomedan ; his house is built high from the 

 ground on large wooden pillars, forty feet long; the ground below has no 

 enclosure and cows, goats and other clomestic animals freely live there , whilst 

 above a flooring and rooms are made with boards ; it is very neat and clean 

 and he lives altogether in that upper part. The houses of the people are 

 the same as in Sumatra. 



In tliis country cows, bufi'aloes, goats, fowls, ducks, vegetables and 

 rice are all scarce, but fish and shrimps are very cheap. 



They use copper cash and the mountains produce the fragrant wood 



(') 3gt T^ , The history of the Ming-dyuasty, which has copied its account from this 

 article, writes ^^ <w Li-fah; we have preferred to folio w the orig'inal narrative. 

 O ^ yfi %\) JÜ the country of Lam-po-li. 



