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Sumoltra," doubtless the same as Polo's Samara, which he places to the south of Lamori, a State which later gave its name to the island upon the coast of which it was situated. It is doubtful whether the fact of the insularity of their native lands was realised at all generally by the inhabitants of Sumatra, of Java or of Borneo, and I greatly question whether the average Malay of these parts, even now, has any true appreciation of these geographical facts.

Odoric also mentions still further to the south "another realm called Resengo," though he tells us naught concerning it. The name, however, would lead us to infer that the country of the Rejang is indicated, the State in which the British East India Company's station of Bengcoolen was subsequently established. Its inhabitants, of whom by the way Polo makes no mention, were among the most civilised of the Sumatrans, possessing not only a peculiar language, but also an original written character.

From Sumatra Odoric passed to Java, which he states was ruled by a king who had seven other monarchs tributary to him. It is, he quaintly says, "the second best of islands that exist," and he was greatly struck by its riches and by the magnificence of the palace in which its sovereign had his dwelling. He adds that the Great Kaan "many times engaged in war with this king; but this king always vanquished and got the better of him," a statement which is historically true, Kublai Kaan having launched two unsuccessful expeditions against Java during the time which had elapsed between Marco Polo's