Samarcand were frequent.  Besides Canfu, described by the Mahomedan travellers of Renaudot, other cities in China were visited by the Arabian merchants, most of which were in the interior; but the Arabian geographers seem to have been puzzled by the Chinese names.  We learn, however, that the provinces of the north were distinguished from those of the south; the former were called Cathay and Tehar Cathar, or Cathay, which produces tea:  its capital was Cambalu:  the provinces in the south were called Tchin or Sin.  The appellation of Cathay was that under which alone China was long known to the Europeans.  Under the name of Sin, given to the southern districts, the Arabian geographers frequently comprehended all the country to the Ganges.  The Arabians divided the present Hindostan into two parts; Sind and Hind:  the first seems to have comprised the countries lying on the Indus; Hind lay to the east, and comprehended Delhi, Agra, Oude, Bengal, &c.  The Decan, at least the western part of it, belonged to Sind.  The coast of Coromandel, as well as the interior, was unknown to them.  On the west or Malabar coast, their information was full and accurate; but it terminated at Cape Comorin.

While part of the forces of the Caliph Walid were employed in the conquest of Spain, another part succeeded in reducing Multan and Lahore; and the Arabian geographers, always ready to take advantage of the success of their arms, to promote geographical knowledge, describe their new eastern conquests, and the countries which bordered on them, in the most glowing language.  The valley of Cashmere, in particular, affords ample matter for their panegyrics.  The towns of Guzerat, Cambay, and Narwhorra are described:  in the last resided the most powerful king of India; his kingdom extended from Guzerat and Concan to the Ganges.  The city of Benares, celebrated as a school of Indian philosophy, and the almost impregnable fortress of Gevatior, are mentioned by them, as well as a colony of Jews in Cochin, and the Maldive islands:  these they frequented to obtain cowries, which then, as now, were used as money.

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.