epithet the Macedonian hero is always distinguished in eastern story, in consequence, as may be presumed, of the horned figure on his coins,* which must long have circulated in Persia and Arabia.  Upon the obscure history of these supposed brothers some light is thrown by the following legend communicated to me as the belief of the people of Johor.  “It is related that Iskander dived into the sea, and there married a daughter of the king of the ocean, by whom he had three sons, who, when they arrived at manhood, were sent by their mother to the residence of their father.  He gave them a makuta or crown, and ordered them to find kingdoms where they should establish themselves.  Arriving in the straits of Singapura they determined to try whose head the crown fitted.  The eldest trying first could not lift it to his head.  The second the same.  The third had nearly effected it when it fell from his hand into the sea.  After this the eldest turned to the west and became king of Rome, the second to the east and became king of China.  The third remained at Johor.  At this time Pulo Percha (Sumatra) had not risen from the waters.  When it began to appear, this king of Johor, being on a fishing party, and observing it oppressed by a huge snake named Si Kati-muno, attacked the monster with his sword called Simandang-giri, and killed it, but not till the sword had received one hundred and ninety notches in the encounter.  The island being thus allowed to rise, he went and settled by the burning mountain, and his descendants became kings of Menangkabau.”  This has much the air of a tale invented by the people of the peninsula to exalt the idea of their own antiquity at the expense of their Sumatran neighbours.  The blue champaka-flower of which the sultan boasts possession I conceive to be an imaginary and not an existent plant.  The late respected Sir W. Jones, in his Botanical Observations printed in the Asiatic Researches Volume 4 suspects that by it must be meant the Kaempferia bhuchampac, a plant entirely different from the michelia; but as this supposition is built on a mere resemblance of sounds it is necessary to state that the Malayan term is champaka biru, and that nothing can be inferred from the accidental coincidence of the Sanskrit word bhu, signifying ground, with the English term for the blue colour.

(Footnote.  See a beautiful engraving of one of these coins preserved in the Bodleian collection, Oxford, prefixed to Dr. Vincent’s Translation of the Voyage of Nearchus printed in 1809.)

CEREMONIES.

With the ceremonies of the court we are very imperfectly acquainted.  The royal salute is one gun; which may be considered as a refinement in ceremony; for as no additional number could be supposed to convey an adequate idea of respect, but must on the contrary establish a definite proportion between his dignity and that of his nobles, or of other princes, the sultan chooses to leave the measure of his importance indefinite