194 COMMERCE WITH doubtedly be gold. The two great islands of Su- matra and Borneo are more remarkable for abun- dance of gold, not only than any countries in their vicinity, but, indeed, than any countries in Asia. There is not a tribe of savages in these islands that does not traffic in it, and it would naturally be the first commodity asked for and produced, in an in- tercourse with strangers. From all that has been now stated, the following inferences and conclu- sions may safely be drawn. In the age of the Pe- riplus of the Erythrean Sea, or about the year GSj the clove and nutmeg, or the most distinguishing productions of the oriental Archipelago, were not imported into India, and, therefore, no intercourse existed at this time between the Hindus and the Indian islanders. From the year I76 to the year 180, or during the joint administration of Marcus and Commodus, the clove was imported into Egypt, and, therefore, into India. At this time, therefore, an intercourse certainly did take place. It took place even earlier, for the geographer Ptolemy, who wrote fifty years earlier, cites Malay and Javanese names of places correctly on Hindu authority. All this leads to this final conclusion, that the first in- tercourse between the Indian islands and the coun- try of the Hindus, began between the years 63 and 180, probably about the beginning of the second century of our era. It is singular and in- teresting to observe how well this accords with the
