Way; and [Greek:
Aloae] is perhaps a corruption of the term which the Arabs apply to it,
viz. Al-'Ud, "The Wood."
[It is probable that the first Portuguese who had to do with eagle-wood
called it by its Arabic name, aghaluhy, or malayalam, agila; whence
pao de' aguila "aguila wood." It was translated into Latin as lignum
aquilae, and after into modern languages, as bois d'aigle,
eagle-wood, adlerholz, etc. (A. Cabaton, les Chams, p. 50.) Mr.
Groeneveldt (Notes, pp. 141-142) writes: "Lignum aloes is the wood of
the Aquilaria agallocha, and is chiefly known as sinking incense. The
Pen-ts'au Kang-mu describes it as follows: 'Sinking incense, also
called honey incense. It comes from the heart and the knots of a tree and
sinks in water, from which peculiarity the name sinking incense is
derived.... In the Description of Annam we find it called honey incense,
because it smells like honey.' The same work, as well as the Nan-fang
Ts'au-mu Chuang, further informs us that this incense was obtained in all
countries south of China, by felling the old trees and leaving them to
decay, when, after some time, only the heart, the knots, and some other
hard parts remained. The product was known under different names, according
to its quality or shape, and in addition to the names given above, we find
fowl bones, horse-hoofs, and green cinnamon; these latter names,
however, are seldom used." - H.C.]
The fine eagle-wood of Champa is the result of disease in a leguminous
tree, Aloexylon Agallochum; whilst an inferior kind, though of the same
aromatic properties, is derived from a tree of an entirely different
order, Aquilaria Agallocha, and is found as far north as Silhet.
The Bonus of the G.T. here is another example of Marco's use, probably
unconscious, of an Oriental word. It is Persian Abnus, Ebony, which has
passed almost unaltered into the Spanish Abenuz. We find Ibenus also
in a French inventory (Douet d'Arcq, p. 134), but the Bonus seems to
indicate that the word as used by the Traveller was strange to Rusticiano.
The word which he uses for pen-cases too, Calamanz, is more suggestive
of the Persian Kalamdan than of the Italian Calamajo.
"Ebony is very common in this country (Champa), but the wood which is the
most precious, and which is sufficiently abundant, is called 'Eagle-wood,'
of which the first quality sells for its weight in gold; the native name
Kinam," (Bishop Louis in J.A.S.B. VI. 742; Dr. Birdwood, in the
Bible Educator, I. 243; Crawford's Dict.)
CHAPTER VI.
CONCERNING THE GREAT ISLAND OF JAVA.
When you sail from Chamba, 1500 miles in a course between south and
south-east, you come to a great Island called Java. And the experienced
mariners of those Islands who know the matter well, say that it is the
greatest Island in the world, and has a compass of more than 3000 miles. It
is subject to a great King and tributary to no one else in the world. The
people are Idolaters. The Island is of surpassing wealth, producing black
pepper, nutmegs, spikenard, galingale, cubebs, cloves, and all other kinds
of spices.
[Illustration: View in the Interior of Java.
"Une grandissune Ysle qe est avelle Java. Ceste Ysle est de mont grant
richesse."]
This Island is also frequented by a vast amount of shipping, and by
merchants who buy and sell costly goods from which they reap great profit.
Indeed the treasure of this Island is so great as to be past telling. And
I can assure you the Great Kaan never could get possession of this Island,
on account of its great distance, and the great expense of an expedition
thither. The merchants of Zayton and Manzi draw annually great returns
from this country.[NOTE 1]
NOTE 1. - Here Marco speaks of that Pearl of Islands, Java. The chapter is
a digression from the course of his voyage towards India, but possibly he
may have touched at the island on his previous expedition, alluded to in
note 2, ch. v. Not more, for the account is vague, and where particulars
are given not accurate. Java does not produce nutmegs or cloves, though
doubtless it was a great mart for these and all the products of the
Archipelago. And if by treasure he means gold, as indeed Ramusio reads,
no gold is found in Java. Barbosa, however, has the same story of the
great amount of gold drawn from Java; and De Barros says that Sunda,
i.e. Western Java, which the Portuguese regarded as a distinct island,
produced inferior gold of 7 carats, but that pepper was the staple, of
which the annual supply was more than 30,000 cwt. (Ram. I. 318-319; De
Barros, Dec. IV. liv. i. cap. 12.)
[Illustration: Ship of the Middle Ages in the Java Seas. (From Bas-relief
at Boro Bodor.)
"En ceste Ysle vienent grant quantite de nes, e de mercanz qe hi acatent
de maintes mercandies et hi font grant gaagne"]
The circuit ascribed to Java in Pauthier's Text is 5000 miles. Even the
3000 which we take from the Geog. Text is about double the truth; but it
is exactly the same that Odoric and Conti assign. No doubt it was a
tradition among the Arab seamen. They never visited the south coast, and
probably had extravagant ideas of its extension in that direction, as the
Portuguese had for long. Even at the end of the 16th century Linschoten
says: "Its breadth is as yet unknown; some conceiving it to be a part of
the Terra Australis extending from opposite the Cape of Good Hope.
However it is commonly held to be an island" (ch.
