the natives, and the Dutch colonists following
their example, speak of going to or coming from
Java, meaning by these expressions, going to or
coming from the central and eastern provinces of
the island, those portions occupied by the Javanese
race, strictly so called.
The two greatest islands of the group, Borneo
and Sumatra, are not occupied by any one race distinguished
beyond the rest for numbers or civilization,
and hence we never hear them called after any
one tribe in particular. Thè natives of Sumatra,
especially, are spoken of as if they inhabited separate
and even distinct countries, which is, indeed,
virtually true, for the only intercourse between those
who are not actual neighbours is by water. It is
possible too that the very great extent of these
islands may contribute to remove from the minds
of the natives, to a farther distance than usual,
the notion of continuousness and common connection.
In a few instances, and in the absence of a preeminent
tribe or nation, the name of a place will
be occasionally applied as the common term for a
whole island. When the Javanese, properly so
called, speak of Sumatra, they call it the land of
Palembang, that being the portion of the island
with which they are best acquainted. In the same
manner they call Borneo Banjarmasin. It is on
a similar principle that Borneo, the name of a
Malay state in the north-west part of that immense
island, has been generally applied to the whole.
From what has now been said, it is not to be
supposed that the natives are wholly ignorant of
the insular form of the great islands. Their constant
voyages must, as matter of curiosity, have
rendered them acquainted with this fact, and their
language evinces such knowledge. In the legendary
tales of the Javanese, we occasionally hear
Java called Nusa Jawa, the island of the Javanese;
Bali, Nusa Kambangan, or “ the Floating
Island ;” and Lombok, Sasak, or “ the Raft.”
Such terms are, however, only curiously applied by
the natives, and do not belong to the language of
ordinary life,—the language which is natural to the
usual current of their habits and ideas.
Such are the principles on which the Indian
islanders bestow names on the countries they inhabit.
There are some apparent but no real exceptions.
Bali is idly enough supposed, and by
some of the literary natives themselves, to be derived
from the word which means to return, in reference
to its being supposed that the natives, after
once adopting Mahomedanism, relapsed into idolatry.
The true orthography of the two words,
which is different, destroys this conceit. It is
true that, in the polite dialect of Java, the synonyms
for them are the same, ('wangsul,) but
the mere resemblance of sound seems often to