probably belongs to an earlier period, and may have been in the Harleian collection for many years before it came to the British Museum. It is remarkable that in this letter the word Sinnyor should be used in addressing an English captain. Internal evidence leads to the conclusion that the letter was written to the English captain at Jambi, on the East coast of Sumatra, from the neighbouring State of Birni, and not from Brunai in North Borneo; the spelling of the two words would be the same in Malay, but the Malay has been transliterated Birni in the text for the following reasons: In the first place it is difficult to believe that an embassy would be sent such a distance as from Brunai to Jambi for the purpose of procuring saltpetre and blankets, when the same articles could probably have been obtained much more easily from the Spaniards; and secondly the two countries are spoken of as being "as if they were one country," which seems to exclude the possibility of the letter having been written from Brunai. On the other hand it is not so easy to account for the use of the word Sinnyor if the latter was written from Birni as it would be if it came from Brunai, where Portuguese and Spanish influence were very strong. It is mentioned, bowever, by Marsden that in 1629 a Portuguese squadron ascended the Jambi river to attack some Dutch ships which were sheltering there, from which it would appear that the Portuguese had made their power felt in that neighbour- hood. The English Company, as well as the Dutch, had an establishment at Jambi, and it seems probable that the letter was written after that establishment was opened, but the date can- not be fixed with any accuracy. The handwriting of this letter is particularly good, and the traces of Arabic influences on the orthography, which are so strong in A. B. and C., are absent here. The letter dal is here frequently written with three dots under it, which appears to me to be an indication of Javanese influence, for in that language there are two "d" sounds, one of which is distinguished at the present day when writing in the Arabic character by placing three dots under it. The ga in this letter also frequently has the three dots under it, as the Javanese write it, but that is no criterion, for the same method of writing it will be found in A., B. and C. The Javanese titles adipati and pangêran were evidently in use at Jambi when this letter was written. The hiati in this letter are caused by
