"Java is situated at the south-west of Champa. In the time
of the Emperor Kublai of the Yuen Dynasty, Meng-K'i was sent there as an
envoy and had his face cut, on which Kublai sent a large army which
subdued the country and then came back." (l.c. p. 34.) The prince guilty
of this insult was the King of Tumapel "in the eastern part of the island
Java, whose country was called Java par excellence by the Chinese, because
it was in this part of the island they chiefly traded."
(l.c. p. 32.) - H.C.]
The curious figure of a vessel which we give here is taken from the vast
series of mediaeval sculptures which adorns the great Buddhist pyramid in
the centre of Java, known as Boro Bodor, one of the most remarkable
architectural monuments in the world, but the history of which is all in
darkness. The ship, with its outrigger and apparently canvas sails, is not
Chinese, but it undoubtedly pictures vessels which frequented the ports of
Java in the early part of the 14th century,[1] possibly one of those from
Ceylon or Southern India.
[1] 1344 is the date to which a Javanese traditional verse ascribes the
edifice. (Crawford's Desc. Dictionary.)
CHAPTER VII.
WHEREIN THE ISLES OF SONDUR AND CONDUR ARE SPOKEN OF; AND THE KINGDOM OF
LOCAC.
When you leave Chamba[NOTE 1] and sail for 700 miles on a course between
south and south-west, you arrive at two Islands, a greater and a less.
