SUMATRA- 
^ Sumatra is one of the largeft iflands in the world, but its. breadth is S 
determined with fo Httle accuracy ^ that any attempt to calculate its fu- 
perfices 
diitum eft, infula'\ — LtidoYicus Vertomati^i*, 1504. (There is reafon to think thU date too early) 
Priated 1535. *« Pyder the moft famous part of Sumatm or Taprobana'* — Old map aod def- 
cripiion of Sumatra or Taprobana, by a French Captain j without date ; but appeals to have beeti 
written not many years after the firft Portuguefe voyage*. Preferred in Ramufio, vol. 3 — In a 
letter from Emanuel king of Portugal to Pope Leo the tenth, dated 1513 (prefeired in the Novu« 
Orbi* Hiftorfcu*) he mentions the dtfcovcry of Z^nmra by hi» fubjcfls— Epiftoia di Maflimiliano 
Tranfylvano, 1519. Hanno navigato all'ifola dctta di gli antichi TaprobaDa, la qual adffTo G 
chiaraa {lamara) Sumatra; purche dove Totomeo tx Piinio et akrl cofmographi ban mtflb la 
Taprobana^ non e ifola alcuna, chi fi pofla credere efler quel to" — Ludovico Earthuma, ijifj* 
{Ramufio) Jpeaks of Sumotra — Seballianus Munfierus. Printed 1537' ** ^i^^* littora Tapbro- 
pban^, quam hodie Sumatram vocant." — Colinographie Univ. de A Thever, 1541. " Near the 
point of M^ilacca is Taprohane or Sumathre, which the harbariEins formerly called Sallqtit'- 
(miftakc for Ceylon) J jv.-t j :* Mf,*hm$t. and the Africajis, -Sehamba. Famoti^ for 
ctnnemon. Kings of ¥{txar (Pafajf)t DarJgfti (perhaps Aftdergerj), Pedir, Ham and Biranc, 
tributary io the grand Gam* Many fpices here, hut the pepper comes from Calccuc and Zciian. 
Governed by many petty king?. In 1543 it was plundered and ravaged by fome adve«turer» fi-om 
Ctphata. Drcfs of the people well defcribed. The equino£Hal pafTcs throngh the middle of the 
illand'*— Mendei de Pinto,, 1558 , " In 1 5 ?q the Poi tuguefe governor of Malacca received an em- 
baffy from ihe king of the Batas, in the iQand of iflw^/rit— Geography of Ptotomey tranftatcd into 
Italian by GcraiJmo Rufcelli. Printed isti* Taprobajiaj where the people^ according to 
Ptolomey, have the fun exadly over their heads, and fomctimes north, fomedmea fouth of thero ; 
%ve call Samotra or Sumatra. lis four kings pay tribute to the Chain of Tartary''— Scolia J- G. 
Stukii, in periplum Arriani, 1577. ** Taprobane olim, telle Arriatio noftro necnon Ptolomeo, 
SimmS infula fuit apptUata. Hanc pleriquc do£lorujn volunt elfc infulam hodie Sumatram, 
five Samatran, five Zamatran dlflara." — Cofmographie de P. Appian par Gemma Frifon, tsSi. 
*' Tiiirobana, iile autrefois nomme Simundif et maintcnant, felon aucuns, Sumatra. Ptolo- 
roe recite que*!le ^aTavant di£te Simonide, & que Ics pcuples tl'iccllc s'appelloycnt d'un com- 
mun nom* SaUs, & qu*ils portoyent tous mmti. ut x^,.*.*..,.-,- of.*iH«. Xj inflation, jjSi. 
" With thefc five Ihips he (Sequeria) failed to the iflaod formeily named Taprobane, and now 
Zam&tra^* — Maffcus^ Hift. Indic. Printed 1590. Sequeria ad Somatrum primus omnium Lufi- 
tanorum acceffii". — John de Barros, i6iS. Malacca had the epithet of aurm giren to it, on ac- 
count of the abundance of gold carried thither from M&nwica&o and Barrsx, countries in the 
iiland Ctamatra* At the time of our coming into India, thefea coaft was divided into twenty 
kingdoms. Beginning at the moft weftera point, and thence going round by the north, the 
fxrfl, is called Dayai and thofe which follow in order, are, Lami/nj, Acbemt Bi'ar, Pedir, 
Lidtf PtradayPacem^ Bara^ Daru, Arcm, hcoHf Rupaif Purijt Ci'a^aj Camf>i(i\ Captjcmtf Ajigra- 
gtfitij, yam&fjy Falimb^i ^fanun Malajfff Sacantpantf ^alumhaumj Amieitz, PIriamaff, BarreSf 
"S^'s^hel and Mmtcopaf which is in the neighbourhood of Paja and LamMJ beforementioned — 
Vinceftt It Blanc* Printed i66.o» Sumatra, called by fome T^/attf which fignifies a great 
Illan(i 
