le at the
bottom, and is made into paste[14]. I brought some of this to Venice, which
tastes not much unlike barley bread. The wood of this tree is so heavy as
to sink in water like iron, and of it they make excellent lances, but being
very heavy, they are under the necessity of making them short. These are
hardened in the fire, and sharpened, and when so prepared, they will pierce
through armour easier than if made of iron. About 150 miles to the
northward of Lambri, there are two islands, one called Nocueran and the
other Angaman,[l5] in the former of which the inhabitants live like beasts,
and go entirely naked, but have excellent trees, such as cloves, red and
white sanders, coco-nuts, Brazil, and various spices in the other island
the inhabitants are equally savage, and are said to have the heads and
teeth of dogs.

[1] Probably the gulph of Siam.--E.

[2] South-west, certainly.--E.

[3] The inlands in the gulf of Siam are small, and not numerous; so that
the passage is probably corrupted; and may have been in the original,
"that, leaving the gulf of Cheinan on the north, they left infinite
islands, &c; on the south." After all, the gulf of Cheinan may mean
the whole sea of China.--E.

[4] It is difficult to say precisely what division of farther India is here
meant by Ziambar. 1500 miles would carry us to the coast of Malaya;
but 1500 li, or about 500 miles reach only to the coast of
Cochin-China, or it may be Tsiompa. Ziambar, in the editions, is
variously written Ciambau, Ciariban, and Ziambar.--E.

[5] The direction of the voyage is here obviously erroneous, it must have
been between the south and the south-west, or south-south-west. In the
Trevigi edition, the Java of this part of our text is Lava, and
according to Valentine, Lava is the name of the principal city and
kingdom in Borneo; which at all events must be the island here
mentioned by Marco.--E.

[6] According to the Trevigi edition, as reported by Pinkerton, these
islands are only seven miles from Lava or Borneo. At about seventy
miles distance to the south-west, there are two islands named Caremata
and Soorooto, which may be those mentioned in the text.--E.

[7] Called Lochach in some of the editions, and said to be 200 miles from
Sondor and Condur. Whether this may be Ma-lacca or Ma-laya, it is
impossible to determine.--E.

[8] In the Trevigi edition only five miles,