EREDIA'S ILLUSTRA TIONS

MILLS

1932

Three of Eredia's Illustrations. By J. v. MILLS, Malayan Civil Service.

(Plates XXIX-XXXI.)

The .accompanying illustrations, it has been represented, may be of interest to members. They are taken from the" Dec1aralfam de Malaca e India Meridional com 0 Cathay " written in 1613 by Emanuel Godinho de Eredia (born at Malacca in 1563).

The manuscript is preserved in the Bibliotheque Royale at Brussels (No. 7264). A Portuguese transcript with a French translation, and reproductions of Eredia's illustrations, was published in 1882 by Janssen, in a volume entitled "Malaca, l'Inde Meridionale et Ie Cathay." Copies of Janssen 's book are to be found in Raffles Library at Singapore and in the Penang Library.

An English translation, based on Janssen's transcript, was published in JRASMB., Vol. VIII, Part I, 1930: which (p. 285) contains a note on the manuscript.

The present reproductions are photographs from the manuscript courteously ~upplied by the Conservator-in-Chief of the Bibliotheque Royale.

(Plate X,"XIX.) Folio 47 R. "Portrait of Master Francisco Xavier of the Order of the

Company of Jesus. 1542 A.D." It has been said that this portrait of St. Francis does not resemble any of those which appear among the materials which the Bollandists collected in order to write the life of this saint in the Acta Sanctorum.

Several portraits of .St. Francis wiil be found in "The Life of St. Francis Xavier " by E. A. Stewart: 1917.

A life of St. Francis in 4 volumes is being written by the Reverend Father Schurhammer, S.]., of Berlin.

(Plate XXX.) Folio 61 V. "Chorographic description of the locality of the fortress of

l\1uar, founded by the" Descobridor " Manuel Godinho de Eredia. 1604 A.D."

Cf. JRASMB., Vol. VIII, Part I, 1930, p. 71, for Eredia's account of his naval and military activities and the foundation of the fortress at Muar.

" Descobridor" (" Discoverer. ") means 'officer commissioned to organize the work of exploration and discovery.'

The fortress was placed on the south bank of the Muar river immediately to the west of the stream now called Sungai Bentayan.

The scale of this illustration is about y,;. mile to 1 inch.

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J OURNAL M ALAYAN BRANCR. R OYAL .ASIATIC S OC., VOL. IX. 1931. PLATE XXIX.

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MALAYAN BRANCH, JOURNAL VOL IX. 1931. ROYAL ASIATIC SOC., .

" The Locality of th M T J

) e Fortress of ua .

PLATE XXX.

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Three of Eredia's Illustrations

Key. Os mattos-' the woods.' TanJon Gadin-' Tanjong Gading.' ORTA DO XABANDAR-' Harbour Master's Garden.' CASAS-' houses.' XABANDARIA-' Harbour Master's Office.'

15

Jauejaue-unexplained: a tree, perhaps jawi-jawi, ficus benjamina.

FORTALEZA DE MUAR-' Fortress of Muar.' N.S. de Esperanca-(The Church of) 'Our Lady of Hope.' Tanjon Crobo-' Tanjong Kerbau.' 'Padam ,~, Padang.'

(Plate XXXI.) Folio 82 R.

" Portrait of Emanuel Godinho de Eredia." For" Luca Antara" (which may perhaps represent Australia)

d. ]RASMB., Vol. VIII, Part I, 1930, p. 188.

1932] Royal Asiatic Society.

Notes on some Malayan Place-names.

By J. V. MILLS, Malayan Civil Service.

I. Batu Berantai.

The 10th chapter of the" Malay Annals " relates the attack on Singapore .made by the sword-fish (todak).

(The Journal of the Indian Archipelago: Vol. V, (1851), p. 319). " Rajah Sri Maharajah, attended by his nobles, came to the beach and formed a rampart with the legs of the people, endea­voured to prevent the Todaks from landing, but his efforts were ineffectual. The Todaks, numerous as the falling rain, cut through the legs of the people and were not restrained. At last a boy said " What use is there in our forming a rampart with our legs, it were better that we formed one of plantain stems." When the Raja heard this he commended the boy's quickness and ordered a rampart to be formed as advised. The Todaks now striking against the rampart became fixed and were easily destroyed .. . .... . Afterwards the great men represented to the Rajah that the talents of the boy, shown by his counsel to-day to be so great in his youth, might become dangerous to the state when he grew up, and they recommended that he should be put to death. Accordingly the Rajah ordered him to be killed, and he was killed."

A legend still current in Singapore qualifies this account of the boy '~ death.

According to this legend, the boy was kept in chains pending the Raja's decision as to his fate. The boy took this opportunity to emphasize that he could constitute no danger to Singapore or its Rajah if he was permitted to go to the island of Batam. The Rajah agreed, and ordered that, if the boy was able to swim in his chains to the island of Batam, his life was to be spared.

The boy made good headway across the Strait, but near the rocks now known as Batu Berantai he was unable to cope with the eddies and the weight of his chains, and sank beneath the surface. From this incident the rocks were known as "Alang berantai," the barrier of chains.

Below the surface of the water the rocks are cut away, and fish are plentiful beneath the over-hanging arch.

The Malay fishermen know this, and dispose their boats in stich a position that the current will carry their lines underneath the rocks. There is great danger of their lines being caught in the rock, however, and when this occurs there is no alternative but to cut the line.

Journal Malayan Branch [Vol. X, pt. I,

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Notes on some Malayan Place-names 17

II. Bulla.

Resende (c. 1638), in his account of Malacca, after referring to "the chain of islands called Bintang," continues "Here close to the Straits of Singapore, is the port of Bulla, thickly populated with Malays and frequented to excess by numbers of merchants from all the southern tribes, who come here to sell their wares, from which the King of Pam (Pahang) receives great profit. They come here rather than go to Malacca because of the great abuses committed by the captains of that fortress. "

(JRASSB., No. 60. (1911), p. 9).

It seemed to the present writer, when examining the manuscript (Sloane MS. No. 197) at the British Museum, that Resende in­tended to write " Bullao "; which may represent " Bulang."

One suggests, therefore, that Resende refers to Bulang Bay on the north coast of the islapd of Batam.

Two hundred years later Bulang Bay appears to have played the same role, mutatis mutandis, as in the time of Resende: Hors­burg (1843) writes "Boolang Bay, in Battam Island, or Pulo Battam, situated about 13 or 14 miles E.S.E. from Singapore, affords safe anchorage, and has lately been frequented by American ships ; here they receive cargoes, and trade with Singapore, in order to evade the expenses that would be incurred by going direct to the latter port, as the former place is out of the limit of the British possessions. (The India Directory. II. p. 272).

III. H si-li ( tr £ )

Wang Ta-Yiian ( 'j]:' * mit ) in his Tao i Cltih 10 ~ ~ it: JJl. ) or " Description of the Barbarians of

the Isles," written in 1350, recounts an attack made on Singapore by

the people- of Hsien ( ~ ), Siam:-" (Thus) in recent years they

came with seventy odd junks and raided Tan-ma-hsi (WI ,m m ) and attacked the city moat.

(The town) resisted for a month, the place having closed its

gates and defending itself, and they not daring to assault it.

It happened just then that an Imperial envoy was passing by

(Tan-ma-hsi), so the men of Hsien drew off and hid, after plundering Hsi-li (~ m. )."

(T'oung Pao. Vol. XVI, (1915), p. 100).

1932] Royal Astatic Society.

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18 J. V. Mills.

Clearly Hsi-li must have been within striking distance of Singa­

pore, and the present writer suggests that the place plundered by the Siamese was s:tuated in Keppel Harbour, the Selat (Malay , strait ' ), of which Hsi-li (Cantonese, Sik lei ) may be a translitera­

tion.

1 he word se.'al is the origin of Shek Lat ( 71 Jt1J ) often

shortened to Lat, one of the Chinese names for Singapore ; and the name Shek lat mun (Setat-gate, strait-gate) is used to designate

the Keppel Harbour and Telok Blanga districts. (d. JRASSB.,

No. 23. (1891), p. 59; No. 42. (1904), p. 134; No. 46. ·(1906),

p. 203).

IV. Ka-wang and Ki-pei Islands.

Huang Sheng ts 'eng ( .. 1!1' 1t ) in the H si Yant:

Chao kung lien lu ( i!§ 1$ :M Jt :!!lJ: ~ ) or " Record of the Tributary Nations of the West," written in 1520, gives the course followed by junks going from Malacca to Su-men-ta-la

(Sumudra, on the north coast of Sumatra). The course leads by

the island of Ka-wang, or " the island of the false King " ( fl .:E Z • ) ,Ki-pei island, or "cotton island " ( =ti J! .z _ ), and then by Ki-ku island or " Chicken-bone island ,, (~ * <: .. the Aroa Isl;mds) , Shuang hsu or " Double Island " (~ .. The

Brothers), and Tan Island or " Single Island " (It _ Pulau Berhala), to " A-Iu " (Aru) on the east coast of Sumatra. (T'oung Pao. Vol. XVI, (1915>-, p. 145).

The sailing directions in the Wu-pei-pi-shu chart (c. 1400)

give the course in the opposite direction: George Phillips translates " From which place [Aru] another five watches S.E. by E. bring

the vessel up to Tal!-seu WI d!tI(. (Varela island?) from which

ill a S.E. by a little E. direction four watches put the vessel oif the Brothers, from which in a S.E. and a S.E. by E. direction for

fifteen watches the Aroe islands (?) are reached, three watches further S.E. by E. bringing the vessel to the South Shoals, from

which S.E. by E. in three watches Malacca is reached." (Journal

of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. Vol. XXI.

Journal Malayan Branch [Vol. X, pt. I ,

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Notes on some Malayan Place-names 19

( 1886), p. 31) . What Phillips calls " the South Shoals" are re­

presented in the chart by the name Mien Hua Sha (1iL~ 1:E ~ " cotton shoals " ): they arc to be identified with the " south sands "

of the British Admiralty Charts, e.g. No. 794 and 1355.

Now

(1) the Wu-pei-pu-shu chart ,marks two places on the coast

between the Klang River and Malacca: the more northerly place

is called Mien Hua hsii ( ~,,~ 1£ .. ) " cotton island " and the more southerly is called Ka wu hsii( 1rl ]1. .) " false five

islands " : just off the coast, close to " cotton island," the chart marks " cotton shoals ":

(2) the proper course for a sailing-ship proceeding from the Aroa Islands to Malacca lies almost due east towards Parcellar Hill (Bukit ]ugra): the Hill is an important leading mark in navi­gating the east-and-west channel ' between the North Sands and South Sands: so much so that, according to Dampier, pilots would lay-to in thick weather until they could see the Hill:

(3) Arab, Chinese, and Portuguese navigators all connected Parcellar Hill with the adjacent shoals: Ibn Majid (1462) speaks of " Pulaw Pasalar which is with Kafasi " (Journal Asiatique. Tome XII. (1918) , p. 399): the Chinese call the South Sands " Cotton Shoals " and Parcellar Hill " Cotton Island ,": the Portuguese used the designation " Capacia," " Capasia " and " Capacea " to denote the Hill and the Shoals (Journal Asiatique. l.c .):

(4) cotton, before its introduction into China, " was called

1; J! Ke-pa or ii " Ku-pa, a native name which we find back in the Malay kapas or kapeh" (Groeneveldt in Essays relating to Indo-China. Second Series, Vol. 1. (1887), p . 259).

It seems -reasonably certain, then, that Ki-pei island is Par­cellar Hill ; the ~currence of the form Ki-pei (Ke-pa) ' confirming the surmise made by the present writer (JRASMB. Vol. VIII, Pt. 1. (1930) . p. 123) that the origin of the Arabic, Chinese and Portu­guese names is to be found in Malay' kapas ' or, to go further back, in Hindustani 'kapas,' meaning " cotton."

The designation ' island ' apparently refers to a time when the hill was completely surrounded by water, as is Penang Island at the present day.

If ' Ki-pei island ' is Parcellar Hill, ' Ka-wang island,' probably represents Cape Rachado : for it is difficult to suppose that th:s prominent feature of the coast-line would be ignored by the Chinese pilot.

1932] Royal Asiatic Society.

1 7 AUG 1995

20 J. V. Mills.

The name, " the island of the false king " is curious: and it would seem to be a confusion of two names, viz. the Malay name " the lord 's cape " (tanjong tuan) and' the old Chinese name" the false five islands " (i.e. " the false Malacca," for Malacca prior to 1409 was known to the Chinese as " the five islands " ), which appears in the Wu-pei-pi-shu chart (JRASSB. No. 53. (1909), p. 158: T'oung Pao. Vol. XVI. (1915), p. 131).

The designation " island " may be derived . from its original insular character or from its appearance: Horsburgh notes that "when first seen, in coming from westward, it appears like an island » (The India Directory. (,1843), II, p. 253).

V. Ku bo lut.

The original Ch:nese name for Kuala Kubu was ~iti .~ ffi, Cantonese Sz-nga-ngok, i.e. ' Selangor;' but a fresh triumph has

been won for the transliteration theory of which the Railway is the chief protagonist, for the new station at Kuala Kubu Road glorifie3

in the name of 1; -=e ftt , Amoy Hokkien Ku bo lut.

VI. Pulau Ular.

Eredia's Pulau Dlar, ' Snake Island,' situated near the western end of the Johore Strait, has been tentatively identified with Pulau Merambong. (JRASMB . Vol. VIII, Pt. I. (1930), p. 225). Th~ identification is . confirmed by Horsburgh who refers to "Pulo Marambon, called also Isle Cobra," and speaks of the western entrance of the straight as a channel " formed between Singapore and Snake Island. " (The India Directory. (1843) , II, pp. 263, 273) .

VII. Suara.

" Once upon a time there was a poor Malay fisherman who lived near the sea-coast about 14 miles north-west of Klang.

One day when cutting fishing-stakes in the jungle he got lost and after wandering for a long time he was eventually led to safety by certain supernatural sounds (bunyi) which were not like human voices (suara).

From this incident the village where he lived was called Bunyi." So runs the legend. But modern progress is great and must not be denied. In the year of grace 1919 the Federated Malay States railway admin:stration found that dislocation was being caused through the confusion in their documents between the names Bunyi and Bangi. So the former name was changed to Suara­which is precisely what it ought not to be.

Journal Malayan Branch [Vol. X, pt. I,

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