It is supposed that the isle of Sumatra is described by them under the name
of Lumery; for the peculiar productions are the same, and Sumatra was known
under the name of Lambry in the time of Marc Paul, and Mandeville. Java is
evidently meant by Al D'Javah: it is represented as rich in spices, but
subject to volcanic eruptions; circumstances by which it is yet
distinguished. A short period before the Portuguese reached these seas,
Arabian colonists established themselves at Ternate and some of the other
spice islands; and their language, religious opinions, and customs, may
clearly be traced in the Philippine islands.
From the geographical discoveries, the travels by sea and land, and the
commercial enterprize of the Arabians, we pass to those of the
Scandinavians; under that appellation, including not only the
Scandinavians, properly so called, who inhabited the shores of the Baltic
and the coasts of Norway, but also those people who dwelt on the northern
shores of the German Ocean; for they were of the same origin as the Baltic
nations, and resembled them in manners and pursuits.
By an inspection of the map it will appear, that all these tribes were
situated nearly as favorably for maritime enterprize as the nations which
inhabited the shores of the Mediterranean; and though their earliest
expeditions by sea were not stimulated by the same cause, commercial
pursuits, yet they arose from causes equally efficient.
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