Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East (Vol. I: Champa; Vol. II: Suvarnadvipa) v2.c13.26

v2.c13.26

The further statement in the Periplus, that after Chryse "under the very north, the sea outside ends in a land called This," is of singular importance, inasmuch as 'This' undoubtedly stands for China. As Clifford has pointed out, this tends to prove "that the sea-route to China *via* the Straits of Malacca even though it was not yet in general use, was no longer unknown to the mariners of the east." This is confirmed by the fact that not long afterwards the sailor Alexander sailed to the Malay Peninsula and beyond; for, to quote again from Clifford, "it may safely be concluded that the feasibility of this south-eastern passage had become known to the sea-farers of China long before an adventurer from the west was enabled to test the fact of its existence through the means of an actual voyage."²