in the Sri Bhoja country and other islands of the Archipelago for chewing with nutmegs, cloves and Barus camphor, for the purpose of rendering the mouth fragrant. Pin-lang is of course the Malay word pinang, areca nut.
In I Tsing's time, it seems therefore that the Malay country par excellence was in Central Sumatra, a fact agreeing very well with native Malay tradition on the subject, which derives the origin of many of the Malays of the Peninsula from the old Cen- tral Sumatran State of Menangkabau.
The etymological signification of the national name Malayu has been a subject of much dispute. I Tsing does not throw any additional light upon it; but he makes it quite clear that the word bad in his time a local significance, and denoted the particular region from which a large part of the Malays of the modern Tanah Malayu love to trace their origin.
C. O. Blagden
The Putri Gunong Ledang.
(Fairy Princess of Mt. Ophir)
The following extract from an essay written by a Malacca Chinese boy may be of interest to readers of the Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. I give the boy's own words.
The aborigines of Malacca used to believe that Mt. Ophir was a sacred mountain. Mt. Ophir is also believed to be so by the Malays, as well as by most of the Strait-born Chinese. Since many years ago, neither Malays nor Chinese have ever reached the top of the mountain, where, as our ancestors say, there is plenty of gold strewn along the floor. Although some of the Europeans have been there, yet the natives have not believed it. It is said that there is a fairy who takes charge of the sacred mountain. In the morning, as the sun rises, the fairy is a beautiful girl playing near her well-built hut. At noon, as the sun is right over our head, the girl changes into a maiden; and in the evening, as the sun sets, the maiden becomes an old woman. The same thing happens every day.
