The Republican journal., 1916-10-19
Eastern Names.
TIincoln Cocord. in The New Republic for
September l6. 1916

September &c. 1861
What's in a name? If the heart has
atropnled, having attained that wlsdorl
which is mainly disilluson, name Is
nothing much; but if the heart keep
young, names the world and all. What
man of parts, choosing book at random,
would hesitate between Paolo and Fran
cesca and Peter Simple, or spend his
money TOR MARTIN Chuzzlewit' if his
eye fell on THE Last of the Mohicans"
or "The Master of Ballantrae' in the
next row of the stall? And, of all right
spirited young sprouts of senslbllty and
good romantic proclivlties. who would not
rather love girl named Eleanor than
one named Mary Jane; who would not
rather follow a commander named Nell
son than one named Henry Simpkins;Who
would not rather go to sea in ship
named the Talavera than in one named
the Goldfish; who would not rather sight
the land in the Straits of Sunda than at
Bracket Bay?
Even though Tristan d .Acunna Is
bleak and uninhabitabe island, and
though the full-rigged ship Henry B.
Hyde was one of the swiftest and most
beautiful vessels that ever spread sail,
yet the sailors heart refutes the prose
of knowledge, and still believes in delec-
table and sounding names. He dreams
of capes and islands whose appellations
are music and song, of lands that echo
their delightful syllables, of mountains
that shout the grandeur of their crowned
and stately realms; and If by any chance
ship were given him again and he were
told to sail in search of treasure and ro-
nance, he would lay his course for East
ern waters, Where squalls hang In the
shadow of Sumatra-side, where the
North Watcher stands like sentinel at
the head of the Thousand Isles, where
the land breeze drops at evening from
the Java hills.
The track towards the East is marked
with singing names. No sooner is the
voyage well under way, than Fernando
de Noronha heaves in sight; that island
of the tall black Pinnacle, a pencil of
rock, mighty spire above the mountain
roof, known to every sailor who has
crossed the Line in the Atlantic. 1t ap
pears, rises, stands on the horizon pale
and wonderfully green in the simmer
ing tropc air, jewel set on a still and
silver sea. 1t vanishes astern, as the
ship picks up the southeast trades.
In the height OF the trades another
island, Trinidad (not Port of SPAIN
breaks the horizon, dark lump of barren
rock in the midst of sparkling waters,
quickly passed in the hurry of the CON
slant breeze Soon afterwards the Cape
of Good Hope stands abeam; the Cape Of
Good Hope, first called Cabo Tormentoso,
Cape of Storms. Vasco de Cana, the
Portuguese, first rounded it. And then
the Indian Ocean, past Algoa Bay. Natal,
and Madagascar. And past the Keeling
Islands, that bold piratical group, where
blood and mutlny abound, and treasure
caskets lie buried under burning sands.
The first big land sighted on the out
ward passage is at Java Head; beside it
stands Cape Sangian SRA, with its name
like battle cry We are in the Straits
of Sunda; name charged with the heady
languor of the Orient, bringing to mind
pictures of palm fringed shores and ma
tive villages, of the dark-skinned men Of
Java clad in bright sarongs, clamoring
from their black-palnted dugouts, selling
fruit and brilliant birds. These waters
are rich in names that stir the blood, like
Krakatoa, Gunong Delam, or Lambuan;
or finer, more sounding than all the rest,
Telok Betong and Raj Bassa, town
and a mountain-Telok Betong at the
head of Lampong Bay and Rajah Bassa,
grand old bulWark on the Sumatra shore,
the cradle of fierce and sudden squalls.
How shall we cross the China Sea
through Banka, Gaspar, or Caramata
Straits? 1t all depends on the monsoon.
In Banka, we are fairly launched among
the smooth Malayan names. We pass
the Lucipara Islands. we take bearing
on Tobo Ali Lama and the Karang Brom-
Brom. But Gaspar is the main highway.
How often have we picked up the light
on Shoaiwater Island, made the coast of
Billion, and passed close under South
west Point, where the white lighthouse
stands above the palms. Navigation in
these channels was constant menace to
the od-time navigator. Many vessel
driving home on clipper passage touch
ed a point of coral that showed no
breakers, and found herself wrecked
beneath cain and tropic skies. She left
her name along with her bones. Hippo
grille Shoal, and Hillsborough Rock,
Actaeon and Severn Reefs, andmany
more, each mark the grave of some fine,
ship. We think of them as we pass by.
The waters of Caramata t ouch the
shores of Borneo, lnscrutable and lovely
island of the East. We hail the town
of Banjarmassin, and sail on.
Perhaps the two most beautiful names
in all the East are given to the waters
lying along the opposite coasts of Borneo
-Palawan Passage, and Macassar Strait.
Palawan skirts the Borneo shore in the
China Sea, running between Palawan,
Labuan, and the group of shoals to west
ward in open water, named mostly for
ships or captains of the past. South of
Paiawan, Balbac Strait leads into the
Sulu Sea; to the northward lies Mindoro
Strait. The names along these coasts
are divided between the English and the
native tongues; Triple-Top Island.
Treacherous Bay, Boat Rock, ard Con-
fiagration Hill alternate with such names
as Appurawan, Bahelee, Inlulutoc,. and
Malampaya. Spanish names, too, begin
to appear: Santa Monica is town on
the north of Palawan, and Punto de San
Tomas, on the island of Mindanao, is the
site Of remarkable Spanish ruin.