S t r a n g e P l a n t
OF PURCHAS.
more eaftem i(lands : the plenty o f rice fuperfedes the neceflity
of it in Sumatra. I muft not pafs over the knowlege that our
great traveller Sir John Mandeville * had o f this valuable tree,
who found it in a great Tie he calls Pat'ben.
“ In that lond,” fays that flower of chivalry, “ growen trees
s‘ that beren mele, whereof men maken gode bred and white,' and
“ of gode favour; and it femethe as it were o f whete, hut it is not
“ allynges of fuche favour. And z if zou like to here how the
“ mele comethe out of the trees, I fhalle feye zou. Men hewen
■“ the trees with an hachet, alle ahoute the fote o f the tree, tille
<! that the bark be parted in many parties ; and than comethe
“ out therof a thikke lykour, the whiche thei refceyven in vef-
“ felles, and dryen it at the hete o f the fonne ; and than thei
■“ han it to a mylle to grynde; and it becomethe fair mele and
« white.”
I s h a l l conclude this fubjedt with mentioning that on this
coaft, near Tappanooly, Mr. Charles Miller t found the. “ ftrange
“ plant,” as Purchas + calls it, difcovered by Sir James Lancajler
on the ifland o f Sombrero, who fpeaks of it as a tree which
ihrunk into the ground as foon as it was touched. Wonderful
things were related o f it by our old navigator. It is named, fays
Mr. Miller-, by the Malayes, Lalan-laut, or fea grafs. “ It is found
“ in fandy bays or in fhallow water, where it appears like a
“ flender ftrait flick, but, when you attempt to touch it, im-
** mediately withdraws itfelf into the fand. I could never ob-
“ ferve any tentacula; a broken piece near a foot long, which
after many Unfuccefsful attempts, I drew out, was perfedlly
* Travels, p. 238, 1 J*hil, TranC vol. lxviii, p. 178, j: Vol. i. p. 152.
“ ftrait
« ftrait and uniform, and refembled a worm drawn over a knit-
fg ting needle; when dry it is a coral.”
T h a t Sumatra was known to the antients is moft probable,
hut that only partially. This, and two others which Ptolemy
unites, feem in the opinion o f Mr. Caverhill to have been the
Sabaddiba. o f the old geographer. T he Mahometan travellers o f
the year 117.3 called it Ramni. They fpeak o f its gold mines,,
and excellent camphor, and o f the inhabitants being cannibals.
Marco Polo is very diffufe in his account of this- ifland, which he
calls the little Java-, he aflually travelled' over fix o f its eight
kingdoms, and gives various- particulars,-long fince confirmed by
the later travellers. He mentions- the cuftom of eating, human
flefh; he defcribes the Rhinoceros under the name of Licorne,
camphor,, fago, the cocoa palms, and the tapping them for the
acquifition o f the liquor Toddy, fo neceflary a drink to the inhabitants.
A f t e r a very long interval the Portuguefe again difcovered
Sumatra. Lopez Sequeira, in 1508, by the command o f his
great mafter, failed on a voyage of difcovery, and arrived at the
port o f Pedeer, to the eaft of Acheen, at the northern end of the
ifland * ; there he found ihips from Pegu,-Bengal, and feveral-
other countries. The king,- a Mahometan, treated him- with
much civility. The great Albuquerque vifited the ifland in per-
fon, and entered into a treaty with the king, of Pedeer. The
Portuguefe afterwards engaged deeply in the wars between the
petty monarchs o f the country; but I do not find that they ever
made any fettlement, .
? * Gfoiioj.vol. p. 36s.
T he:
P o r t u g u e s e '.