134      India and the Roman Empire

and down the coast. Even more interesting
is the evidence that these traders penetrated
beyond the Sunda Straits into the Eastern Seas.
Ptolemy had a good deal to say about the Malay
Archipelago. Among the " Islands of Transgan-
getic India," he mentions Sindae, inhabited by
cannibals; the Isle of Good Luck (A.yadov Saifxovoq);
the Sabadeibae and Barusae Isles, also inhabited
by cannibals; the island of labadius, or Isle
of Barley, very fertile, producing much gold
and having as its capital Argyre, or Silver Town,
at its western extremity ; the Isle of the Satyrs,
where the inhabitants have tails ; and the magnetic
rocks of the Maniolae, which attract ships,
unless they are built with wooden pegs instead
of nails. Of these islands, Sindae i, the Isle of
Good Luck, and the Sabadeibae Isles, have been
located off the coast of Sumatra ; the Barusae
Islands are probably the Nicobars ; while the Isle
of Satyrs no doubt took its name from the apes
which the mariners saw on it. The story of the
fabulous rocks of Maniolae, which attracted ships,
is familiar to readers of the Arabian Nights.
Far more important, however, is the reference
to the island of labadius, or Java dvipa. The
mention of this important island shews a very
great advance in Western knowledge of the
Far East.    That  there is  no  doubt  about  the

^ Lassen, Ind. Alt. in. 250, sees in this name a reference
to Indian traders {Sindhu). Yule thinks that the name
survives in Sundar Fulat.     Sabadeibae is Saba-dvfpa.