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.
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.{1}
[Illustration: View in the Interior of Java.
“=Une grandissime Ysle qe est apellé Java.... Ceste Ysle est de mout
grant richesse.=”]
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 quantité de nés, 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. xx.). And in the old map
republished in the Lisbon De Barros of 1777, the south side of Java
is marked “Parte incognita de Java,” and is without a single name,
whilst a narrow strait runs right across the island (the supposed
division of Sunda from Java Proper).
The history of Java previous to the rise of the Empire of
Majapahit, in the age immediately following our Traveller’s voyage,
is very obscure. But there is some evidence of the existence
of a powerful dynasty in the island about this time; and in an
inscription of ascertained date (A.D. 1294) the King Uttungadeva
claims to have subjected _five kings_, and to be sovereign of the
whole Island of Java (_Jawa-dvipa_; see Lassen, IV. 482). It is
true that, as our Traveller says, Kúblái had not yet attempted the
subjugation of Java, but he did make the attempt almost immediately
after the departure of the Venetians. It was the result of one
of his unlucky embassies to claim the homage of distant states,
and turned out as badly as the attempts against Champa and Japan.
His ambassador, a Chinese called Meng-K’i, was sent back with
his face branded like a thief’s. A great armament was assembled
in the ports of Fo-kien to avenge this insult; it started about
January, 1293, but did not effect a landing till autumn. After some
temporary success the force was constrained to re-embark with a
loss of 3000 men. The death of Kúblái prevented any renewal of the
attempt; and it is mentioned that his successor gave orders for the
re-opening of the Indian trade which the Java war had interrupted.
(See _Gaubil_, pp. 217 _seqq._, 224.) To this failure Odoric, who
visited Java about 1323, alludes: “Now the Great Kaan of Cathay
many a time engaged in war with this king; but the king always
vanquished and got the better of him.” Odoric speaks in high terms
of the richness and population of Java, calling it “the second
best of all Islands that exist,” and describing a gorgeous palace
in terms similar to those in which Polo speaks of the Palace of
Chipangu. (_Cathay_, p. 87 _seqq._)
[We read in the _Yuen-shi_ (Bk. 210), translated by Mr.
Groeneveldt, that “Java is situated beyond the sea and further away
than Champa; when one embarks at Ts’wan-chau and goes southward, he
first comes to Champa and afterwards to this country.” It appears
that when his envoy Mêng-K’i had been branded on the face, Kúblái,
in 1292, appointed Shih-pi, a native of Po-yeh, district Li-chau,
Pao-ting fu, Chih-li province, commander of the expedition to Java,
whilst Ike-Mese, a Uighúr, and Kau-Hsing, a man from Ts’ai-chau
(Ho-nan), were appointed to assist him. Mr. Groeneveldt has
translated the accounts of these three officers. In the _Ming-shi_
(Bk. 324) we read: “Java is situated at the south-west of Champa.
In the time of the Emperor Kúblái of the Yuen Dynasty, Mêng-K’i was
sent there as an envoy and had his face cut, on which Kúblái 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 mediæval 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.
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[1] 1344 is the date to which a Javanese traditional verse ascribes the
edifice. (_Crawford’s Desc. Dictionary_.)