Chapter LXXI: Preface: TO SECOND EDITION xi (68)

1727.—"COILOAN is another small principality. It has the Benefit of a
River, which is the southermost Outlet of the _Couchin_ Islands; and the
_Dutch_ have a small Fort, within a Mile of it on the Sea-shore.... It
keeps a Garrison of 30 Men, and its trade is inconsiderable."—_A.
Hamilton_, i. 333 [ed. 1744].

QUIRPELE, s. This Tamil name of the MUNGOOSE (q.v.) occurs in the quotation which follows: properly _Kīrippiḷḷai_, ['little squeaker'].

1601.—"... bestiolia quaedam QUIL sive QUIRPELE vocata, quae aspectu
primo viverrae...."—_De Bry_, iv. 63.

R

RADAREE, s. P.—H. _rāh-dārī_, from _rāh-dār_, 'road-keeper.' A transit duty; sometimes 'black-mail.' [_Rāh-dārī_ is very commonly employed in the sense of sending prisoners, &c., by escort from one police post to another, as along the Grand Trunk road].

1620.—"Fra Nicolo Ruigiola Francescano genovese, il quale, passagiero,
che d'India andava in Italia, partito alcuni giorni prima da Ispahan ...
poco di qua lontano era stato trattenuto dai RAHDARI, o custodi delle
strade...."—_P. della Valle_, ii. 99.

1622.—"At the garden Pelengon we found a RAHDAR or guardian of the road,
who was also the chief over certain other RAHDARI, who are usually posted
in another place 2 leagues further on."—_Ibid._ ii. 285.

1623.—"For RAHDARS, the Khan has given them a firman to free them, also
firmans for a house...."—_Sainsbury_, iii. p. 163.

[1667.—"... that the goods ... may not be stopped ... on pretence of
taking RHADARYES, or other dutyes...."—_Phirmaan of Shaw Orung Zeeb_, in
_Forrest, Bombay Letters, Home Series_, i. 213.]

1673.—"This great officer, or Farmer of the Emperor's Custom (the
Shawbunder [see SHABUNDER]), is obliged on the Roads to provide for the
safe travelling for Merchants by a constant Watch ... for which
RHADORAGE, or high Imposts, are allowed by the Merchants, both at Landing
and in their passage inland."—_Fryer_, 222.

1685.—"Here we were forced to compound with the RATTAREE men, for ye
Dutys on our goods."—_Hedges, Diary_, Dec. 15; [Hak. Soc. i. 213. In i.
100, RAWDARRIE].

c. 1731.—"Nizámu-l Mulk ... thus got rid of ... the RÁHDÁRÍ from which
latter impost great annoyance had fallen upon travellers and
traders."—_Kháfi Khán_, in _Elliot_, vii. 531.

[1744.—"Passing the river Kizilazan we ascended the mountains by the
RAHDAR (a Persian toll) of Noglabar...."—_Hanway_, i. 226.]

RAGGY, s. _Rāgī_ (the word seems to be Dec. Hindustani, [and is derived from Skt. _rāga_, 'red,' on account of the colour of the grain]. A kind of grain, _Eleusine Coracana_, Gaertn.; _Cynosurus Coracanus_, Linn.; largely cultivated, as a staple of food, in Southern India.

1792.—"The season for sowing RAGGY, rice, and bajera from the end of June
to the end of August."—_Life of T. Munro_, iii. 92.

1793.—"The Mahratta supplies consisting chiefly of RAGGY, a coarse grain,
which grows in more abundance than any other in the Mysore Country, it
became necessary to serve it out to the troops, giving rice only to the
sick."—_Dirom_, 10.

[1800.—"The Deccany Mussulmans call it RAGY. In the Tamil language it is
called _Kevir_ (_kēzhvaragu_)."—_Buchanan, Mysore_, i. 100.]

RAINS, THE, s. The common Anglo-Indian colloquial for the Indian rainy season. The same idiom, _as chuvas_, had been already in use by the Portuguese. (See WINTER).

c. 1666.—"Lastly, I have imagined that if in _Delhi_, for example, the
RAINS come from the East, it may yet be that the Seas which are Southerly
to it are the origin of them, but that they are forced by reason of some
Mountains ... to turn aside and discharge themselves another
way...."—_Bernier_, E.T., 138; [ed. _Constable_, 433].

1707.—"We are heartily sorry that the RAINS have been so very unhealthy
with you."—Letter in _Orme's Fragments_.

1750.—"The RAINS ... setting in with great violence, overflowed the whole
country."—_Orme, Hist._, ed. 1803, i. 153.

1868.—"The place is pretty, and although it is 'THE RAINS,' there is
scarcely any day when we cannot get out."—_Bp. Milman_, in _Memoir_, p.
67.

[RAIS, s. Ar. _ra'īs_, from _ra's_, 'the head,' in Ar. meaning 'the captain, or master, not the owner of a ship;' in India it generally means 'a native gentleman of respectable position.'

1610.—"... REYSES of all our Nauyes."—_Birdwood, First Letter Book_, 435.

1785.—"... their chief (more worthless in truth than a HORSEKEEPER)." In
note—"In the original the word SYSE is introduced for the sake of a
jingle with the word RYSE (a chief or leader)."—_Tippoo's Letters_, 18.

1870.—"RAEES." See under RYOT.

1900.—"The petition was signed by representative landlords,
RAISES."—_Pioneer Mail_, April 13.]

RAJA, RAJAH, s. Skt. _rājā_, 'king.' The word is still used in this sense, but titles have a tendency to degenerate, and this one is applied to many humbler dignitaries, petty chiefs, or large Zemindars. It is also now a title of nobility conferred by the British Government, as it was by their Mahommedan predecessors, on Hindus, as Nawāb is upon Moslem. _Rāī_, _Rāo_, _Rānā_, _Rāwal_, _Rāya_ (in S. India), are other forms which the word has taken in vernacular dialects or particular applications. The word spread with Hindu civilisation to the eastward, and survives in the titles of Indo-Chinese sovereigns, and in those of Malay and Javanese chiefs and princes.

It is curious that the term _Rājā_ cannot be traced, so far as we know, in any of the Greek or Latin references to India, unless the very questionable instance of Pliny's _Rachias_ be an exception. In early Mahommedan writers the now less usual, but still Indian, forms _Rāō_ and _Rāī_, are those which we find. (Ibn Batuta, it will be seen, regards the words for king in India and in Spain as identical, in which he is fundamentally right.) Among the English vulgarisms of the 18th century again we sometimes find the word barbarised into _Roger_.

c. 1338.—"... Bahā-uddīn fled to one of the heathen Kings called the Rāī
Kanbīlah. The word RĀĪ among those people, just as among the people of
Rūm, signifies 'King.'"—_Ibn Batuta_, iii. 318. The traveller here
refers, as appears by another passage, to the Spanish _Rey_.

[1609.—"RAIAW." See under GOONT.]

1612.—"In all this part of the East there are 4 castes.... The first
caste is that of the RAYAS, and this is a most noble race from which
spring all the Kings of Canara...."—_Couto_, V. vi. 4.

[1615.—"According to your direction I have sent per Orincay (see ORANKAY)
Beege ROGER'S junk six pecculles (see PECUL) of lead."—_Foster, Letters_,
iv. 107.

[1623.—"A RAGIA, that is an Indian Prince."—_P. della Valle_, Hak. Soc.
i. 84.]

1683.—"I went a hunting with ye RAGEA, who was attended with 2 or 300
men, armed with bows and arrows, swords and targets."—_Hedges, Diary_,
March 1; [Hak. Soc. i. 66].

1786.—Tippoo with gross impropriety addresses Louis XVI. as "the RAJAH of
the French."—_Select Letters_, 369.

RAJAMUNDRY, n.p. A town, formerly head-place of a district, on the lower Godavery R. The name is in Telegu _Rājamahendravaramu_, 'King-chief('s)-Town,' [and takes its name from Mahendradeva of the Orissa dynasty; see _Morris, Godavery Man._ 23].

RAJPOOT, s. Hind. _Rājpūt_, from Skt. _Rājaputra_, 'King's Son.' The name of a great race in India, the hereditary profession of which is that of arms. The name was probably only a honorific assumption; but no race in India has furnished so large a number of princely families. According to Chand, the great medieval bard of the Rājpūts, there were 36 clans of the race, issued from four _Kshatriyas_ (Parihār, Pramār, Solankhī, and Chauhān) who sprang into existence from the sacred _Agnikuṇḍa_ or Firepit on the summit of Mount Abū. Later bards give five eponyms from the firepit, and 99 clans. The Rājpūts thus claim to be true _Kshatriyas_, or representatives of the second of the four fundamental castes, the Warriors; but the Brahmans do not acknowledge the claim, and deny that the true Kshatriya is extant. Possibly the story of the fireborn ancestry hides a consciousness that the claim is factitious. "The Rajpoots," says Forbes, "use animal food and spirituous liquors, both unclean in the last degree to their puritanic neighbours, and are scrupulous in the observance of only two rules,—those which prohibit the slaughter of cows, and the remarriage of widows. The clans are not forbidden to eat together, or to intermarry, and cannot be said in these respects to form separate castes" (_Rās-mālā_, reprint 1878, p. 537).

An odd illustration of the fact that to partake of animal food, and especially of the heroic repast of the flesh of the wild boar killed in the chase (see Terry's representation of this below), is a Rājpūt characteristic, occurs to the memory of one of the present writers. In Lord Canning's time the young Rājpūt Rāja of Alwar had betaken himself to degrading courses, insomuch that the Viceroy felt constrained, in open DURBAR at Agra, to admonish him. A veteran political officer, who was present, inquired of the agent at the Alwar Court what had been the nature of the conduct thus rebuked. The reply was that the young prince had become the habitual associate of low and profligate Mahommedans, who had so influenced his conduct that among other indications, he _would not eat wild pig_. The old Political, hearing this, shook his head very gravely, saying, 'Would not eat _Wild Pig_! Dear! Dear! Dear!' It seemed the _ne plus ultra_ of Rājpūt degradation! The older travellers give the name in the quaint form _Rashboot_, but this is not confined to Europeans, as the quotation from Sidi 'Alí shows; though the aspect in which the old English travellers regarded the tribe, as mainly a pack of banditti, might have made us think the name to be shaped by a certain sense of aptness. The Portuguese again frequently call them _Reys Butos_, a form in which the true etymology, at least partially, emerges.

1516.—"There are three qualities of these Gentiles, that is to say, some
are called RAZBUTES, and they, in the time that their King was a Gentile,
were Knights, the defenders of the Kingdom, and governors of the
Country."—_Barbosa_, 50.

1533.—"Insomuch that whilst the battle went on, Saladim placed all his
women in a large house, with all that he possessed, whilst below the
house were combustibles for use in the fight; and Saladim ordered them to
be set fire to, whilst he was in it. Thus the house suddenly blew up with
great explosion and loud cries from the unhappy women; whereupon all the
people from within and without rushed to the spot, but the RESBUTOS
fought in such a way that they drove the Guzarat troops out of the gates,
and others in their hasty flight cast themselves from the walls and
perished."—_Correa_, iii. 527.

" "And with the stipulation that the 200 _pardaos_, which are paid
as allowance to the _lascarins_ of the two small forts which stand
between the lands of Baçaim and the REYS BUUTOS, shall be paid out of the
revenues of Baçaim as they have been paid hitherto."—_Treaty_ of _Nuno da
Cunha_ with the _K. of Cambaya_, in _Subsidios_, 137.

c. 1554.—"But if the caravan is attacked, and the _Bāts_ (see BHAT) kill
themselves, the RASHBŪTS, according to the law of the _Bāts_, are
adjudged to have committed a crime worthy of death."—_Sidi 'Ali Kapudān_,
in _J. As._, Ser. I., tom. ix. 95.

[1602.—"RACHEBIDAS."—_Couto_, Dec. viii. ch. 15.]

c. 1614.—"The next day they embarked, leaving in the city, what of those
killed in fight and those killed by fire, more than 800 persons, the most
of them being REGIBUTOS, _Moors_ of great valour; and of ours fell
eighteen...."—_Bocarro, Decada_, 210.

[1614.—"... in great danger of thieves called RASHBOUTS...."—_Foster,
Letters_, ii. 260.]

1616.—"... it were fitter he were in the Company of his brother ... and
his safetie more regarded, then in the hands of a RASHBOOTE
Gentile...."—_Sir T. Roe_, i. 553-4; [Hak. Soc. ii. 282].

" "The RASHBOOTES eate Swines-flesh most hateful to the
Mahometans."—_Terry_, in _Purchas_, ii. 1479.

1638.—"These RASBOUTES are a sort of Highway men, or
Tories."—_Mandelslo_, Eng. by _Davies_, 1669, p. 19.

1648.—"These RESBOUTS (Resbouten) are held for the best soldiers of
Gusuratta."—_Van Twist_, 39.

[c. 1660.—"The word RAGIPOUS signifies _Sons of Rajas_."—_Bernier_, ed.
_Constable_, 39.]

1673.—"Next in esteem were the _Rashwaws_, RASHPOOTS, or
Souldiers."—_Fryer_, 27.

1689.—"The place where they went ashore was at a Town of the _Moors_,
which name our Seamen give to all the Subjects of the Great Mogul, but
especially his Mahometan Subjects; calling the Idolaters _Gentous_ or
RASHBOUTS."—_Dampier_, i. 507.

1791.—"... Quatre cipayes ou REISPOUTES montés sur des chevaux persans,
pour l'escorter."—_B. de St. Pierre, Chaumière Indienne_.

RAMASAMMY, s. This corruption of _Rāmaswāmi_ ('Lord Rāma'), a common Hindū proper name in the South, is there used colloquially in two ways:

(A). As a generic name for Hindūs, like 'Tommy Atkins' for a British soldier. Especially applied to Indian coolies in Ceylon, &c.

(B). For a twisted roving of cotton in a tube (often of wrought silver) used to furnish light for a cigar (see FULEETA). Madras use:

A.—

[1843.—"I have seen him almost swallow it, by Jove, like RAMO SAMEE, the
Indian juggler."—_Thackeray, Book of Snobs_, ch. i.]

1880.—"... if you want a clerk to do your work or a servant to attend on
you, ... you would take on a saponaceous Bengali Baboo, or a servile
abject Madrasi RAMASAMMY.... A Madrasi, even if wrongly abused, would
simply call you his father, and his mother, and his aunt, defender of the
poor, and epitome of wisdom, and would take his change out of you in the
bazaar accounts."—_Cornhill Mag._, Nov., pp. 582-3.

RAMBOTANG, s. Malay _rambūtan_ (_Filet_, No. 6750, p. 256). The name of a fruit (_Nephelium lappaceum_, L.), common in the Straits, having a thin luscious pulp, closely adhering to a hard stone, and covered externally with bristles like those of the external envelope of a chestnut. From _rambūt_, 'hair.'

1613.—"And other native fruits, such as _bachoes_ (perhaps _bachang_, the
_Mangifera foetida_?) RAMBOTANS, _rambes_,[229] _buasducos_,[229] and
pomegranates, and innumerable others...."—_Godinho de Eredia_, 16.

1726.—"... the RAMBOETAN-tree (the fruit of which the Portuguese call
_froeta dos caffaros_ or _Caffer's fruit_)."—_Valentijn_ (v.) _Sumatra_,
3.

1727.—"The RAMBOSTAN is a Fruit about the Bigness of a Walnut, with a
tough Skin, beset with Capillaments; within the Skin is a very savoury
Pulp."—_A. Hamilton_, ii. 81; [ed. 1744, ii. 80].

1783.—"Mangustines, RAMBUSTINES, &c."—_Forrest, Mergui_, 40.

[1812.—"... mangustan, RHAMBUDAN, and dorian...."—_Heyne, Tracts_, 411.]

RAMDAM, s. Hind. from Ar. _ramaẓān_ (_ramaḍhān_). The ninth Mahommedan lunar month, viz. the month of the Fast.

1615.—"... at this time, being the preparation to the RAMDAM or
Lent."—_Sir T. Roe_, in _Purchas_, i. 537; [Hak. Soc. i. 21; also 58, 72,
ii. 274].

1623.—"The 29th June: I think that (to-day?) the Moors have commenced
their RAMADHAN, according to the rule by which I calculate."—_P. della
Valle_, ii. 607; [Hak. Soc. i. 179].

1686.—"They are not ... very curious or strict in observing any Days or
Times of particular Devotions, except it be RAMDAM time as we call it....
In this time they fast all Day...."—_Dampier_, i. 343.

RAMOOSY, n.p. The name of a very distinct caste in W. India, Mahr. _Rāmosī_, [said to be from Mahr. _ranavāsī_, 'jungle-dweller']; originally one of the thieving castes. Hence they came to be employed as hereditary watchmen in villages, paid by cash or by rent-free lands, and by various petty dues. They were supposed to be responsible for thefts till the criminals were caught; and were often themselves concerned. They appear to be still commonly employed as hired CHOKIDARS by Anglo-Indian households in the west. They come chiefly from the country between Poona and Kolhapūr. The surviving traces of a Ramoosy dialect contain Telegu words, and have been used in more recent days as a secret slang. [See an early account of the tribe in: "An Account of the Origin and Present condition of the tribe of RAMOOSIES, including the Life of the Chief Oomíah Naik, by _Capt. Alexander Mackintosh_ of the Twenty-seventh Regiment, Madras Army," Bombay 1833.]

[1817.—"His Highness must long have been aware of RAMOOSEES near the
Mahadeo pagoda."—_Elphinstone's Letter to Peshwa_, in _Papers relating to
E.I. Affairs_, 23.]

1833.—"There are instances of the RAMOOSY Naiks, who are of a bold and
daring spirit, having a great ascendancy over the village PATELLS (PATEL)
and _Koolkurnies_ (COOLCURNEE), but which the latter do not like to
acknowledge openly ... and it sometimes happens that the village officers
participate in the profits which the RAMOOSIES derive from committing
such irregularities."—_Macintosh, Acc. of the Tribe of Ramoossies_, p.
19.

1883.—"Till a late hour in the morning he (the chameleon) sleeps sounder
than a RAMOOSEY or a chowkeydar; nothing will wake him."—_Tribes on My
Frontier._

RAM-RAM! The commonest salutation between two Hindus meeting on the road; an invocation of the divinity.

[1652.—"... then they approach the idol waving them (their hands) and
repeating many times (the words) RAM, RAM, _i.e._ God, God."—_Tavernier_,
ed. _Ball_, i. 263.]

1673.—"Those whose Zeal transports them no further than to die at home,
are immediately Washed by the next of Kin, and bound up in a Sheet; and
as many as go with him carry them by turns on a Colt-staff; and the rest
run almost naked and shaved, crying after him RAM, RAM."—_Fryer_, 101.

1726.—"The wives of Bramines (when about to burn) first give away their
jewels and ornaments, or perhaps a PINANG, (q.v.), which is under such
circumstances a great present, to this or that one of their male or
female friends who stand by, and after taking leave of them, go and lie
over the corpse, calling out only RAM, RAM."—_Valentijn_, v. 51.

[1828.—See under SUTTEE.]

c. 1885.—Sir G. Birdwood writes: "In 1869-70 I saw a green parrot in the
Crystal Palace aviary very doleful, dull, and miserable to behold. I
called it 'pretty poll,' and coaxed it in every way, but no notice of me
would it take. Then I bethought me of its being a Mahratta _poput_, and
hailed it RAM RAM! and spoke in Mahratti to it; when at once it roused up
out of its lethargy, and hopped and swung about, and answered me back,
and cuddled up close to me against the bars, and laid its head against my
knuckles. And every day thereafter, when I visited it, it was always in
an eager flurry to salute me as I drew near to it."

RANEE, s. A Hindu queen; _rānī_, fem. of _rājā_, from Skt. _rājnī_ (= _regina_).

1673.—"_Bedmure_ (Bednūr) ... is the Capital City, the Residence of the
RANNA, the Relict of _Sham Shunker Naig._"—_Fryer_, 162.

1809.—"The young RANNIE may marry whomsoever she pleases."—_Lord
Valentia_, i. 364.

1879.—"There were once a Raja and a RÁNÉ who had an only daughter."—_Miss
Stokes, Indian Fairy Tales_, 1.

RANGOON, n.p. Burm. _Ran-gun_, said to mean 'War-end'; the chief town and port of Pegu. The great Pagoda in its immediate neighbourhood had long been famous under the name of DAGON (q.v.), but there was no town in modern times till Rangoon was founded by Alompra during his conquest of Pegu, in 1755. The name probably had some kind of intentional assonance to _Da-gun_, whilst it "proclaimed his forecast of the immediate destruction of his enemies." Occupied by the British forces in May 1824, and again, taken by storm, in 1852, Rangoon has since the latter date been the capital, first of the British province of Pegu, and latterly of British Burma. It is now a flourishing port with a population of 134,176 (1881); [in 1891, 180,324].

RANJOW, s. A Malay term, _ranjau_. Sharp-pointed stakes of bamboo of varying lengths stuck in the ground to penetrate the naked feet or body of an enemy. See _Marsden, H. of Sumatra_, 2nd ed., 276. [The same thing on the Assam frontier is called a _poee_ (_Lewin, Wild Races_, 308), or _panji_ (_Sanderson, Thirteen Years_, 233).]

RASEED, s. Hind. _rasīd_. A native corruption of the English 'receipt,' shaped, probably, by the Pers. _rasīda_, 'arrived'; viz. an acknowledgment that a thing has 'come to hand.'

1877.—"There is no Sindi, however wild, that cannot now understand
'RASÍD' (receipt), and '_Apíl_' (appeal)."—_Burton, Sind Revisited_, i.
282.

RAT-BIRD, s. The striated bush-babbler (_Chattarhoea caudata_, Dumeril); see _Tribes on My Frontier_, 1883, p. 3.

RATTAN, s. The long stem of various species of Asiatic climbing palms, belonging to the genus _Calamus_ and its allies, of which canes are made (not 'bamboo-canes,' improperly so called), and which, when split, are used to form the seats of cane-bottomed chairs and the like. From Malay _rotan_, [which Crawfurd derives from _rawat_, 'to pare or trim'], applied to various species of _Calamus_ and _Daemonorops_ (see _Filet_, No. 696 _et seq._). Some of these attain a length of several hundred feet, and are used in the Himālaya and the Kāsia Hills for making suspension bridges, &c., rivalling rope in strength.

1511.—"The Governor set out from Malaca in the beginning of December, of
this year, and sailed along the coast of Pedir.... He met with such a
contrary gale that he was obliged to anchor, which he did with a great
anchor, and a cable of RÓTAS, which are slender but tough canes, which
they twist and make into strong cables."—_Correa, Lendas_, ii. 269.

1563.—"They took thick ropes of ROTAS (which are made of certain twigs
which are very flexible) and cast them round the feet, and others round
the tusks."—_Garcia_, f. 90.

1598.—"There is another sorte of the same reedes which they call ROTA:
these are thinne like twigges of Willow for baskets...."—_Linschoten_,
28; [Hak. Soc. i. 97].

c. 1610.—"Il y a vne autre sorte de canne qui ne vient iamais plus grosse
que le petit doigt ... et il ploye comme osier. Ils l'appellent ROTAN.
Ils en font des cables de nauire, et quantité de sortes de paniers
gentiment entre lassez."—_Pyrard de Laval_, i. 237; [Hak. Soc. i. 331,
and see i. 207].

1673.—"... The Materials Wood and Plaister, beautified without with
folding windows, made of Wood and latticed with RATTANS...."—_Fryer_, 27.

1844.—"In the deep vallies of the south the vegetation is most abundant
and various. Amongst the most conspicuous species are ... the RATTAN
winding from trunk to trunk and shooting his pointed head above all his
neighbours."—_Notes on the Kasia Hills and People_, in _J.A.S.B._ vol.
xiii. pt. ii. 615.

RAVINE DEER. The sportsman's name, at least in Upper India, for the Indian gazelle (_Gazella Bennettii_, Jerdon, [Blanford, _Mammalia_, 526 _seqq._]).

RAZZIA, s. This is Algerine-French, not Anglo-Indian, meaning a sudden raid or destructive attack. It is in fact the Ar. _ghāziya_, 'an attack upon infidels,' from _ghāzī_, 'a hero.'

REAPER, s. The small laths, laid across the rafters of a sloping roof to bear the tiles, are so called in Anglo-Indian house-building. We find no such word in any Hind. Dictionary; but in the Mahratti Dict. we find _rīp_ in this sense.

[1734-5.—See under BANKSHALL.]

REAS, REES, s. Small money of account, formerly in use at Bombay, the 25th part of an anna, and 400th of a rupee. Port. _real_, pl. _réis_. Accounts were kept at Bombay in rupees, quarters, and _reas_, down at least to November 1834, as we have seen in accounts of that date at the India Office.

1673.—(In Goa) "The _Vinteen_ ... 15 _Basrooks_ (see BUDGROOK), whereof
75 make a _Tango_ (see TANGA), and 60 REES make a _Tango_."—_Fryer_, 207.

1727.—"Their Accounts (Bombay) are kept by RAYES and _Rupees_. 1 _Rupee_
is ... 400 RAYES."—_A. Hamilton_, ii. App. 6; [ed. 1744, ii. 315].

RED CLIFFS, n.p. The nautical name of the steep coast below Quilon. This presents the only bluffs on the shore from Mt. Dely to Cape Comorin, and is thus identified, by character and name, with the Πυῤῥὸν ὄρος of the _Periplus_.

c. 80-90.—"Another village, Bakarē, lies by the mouth of the river, to
which the ships about to depart descend from Nelkynda.... From Bakarē
extends the RED-HILL (πυῤῥον ὄρος) and then a long stretch of country
called Paralia."—_Periplus_, §§ 55-58.

1727.—"I wonder why the English built their Fort in that place (Anjengo),
when they might as well have built it near the RED CLIFFS to the
Northward, from whence they have their Water for drinking."—_A.
Hamilton_, i. 332; [ed. 1744, i. 334].

1813.—"Water is scarce and very indifferent; but at the RED CLIFFS, a few
miles to the north of Anjengo, it is said to be very good, but difficult
to be shipped."—_Milburn, Or. Comm._ i. 335. See also _Dunn's New
Directory_, 5th ed. 1780, p. 161.

1814.—"From thence (Quilone) to Anjengo the coast is hilly and romantic;
especially about the RED CLIFFS at _Boccoli_ (qu. Βακαρὴ as above?);
where the women of Anjengo daily repair for water, from a very fine
spring."—_Forbes, Or. Mem._, i. 334; [2nd ed. i. 213].

1841.—"There is said to be fresh water at the RED CLIFFS to the northward
of Anjengo, but it cannot be got conveniently; a considerable surf
generally prevailing on the coast, particularly to the southward, renders
it unsafe for ships' boats to land."—_Horsburgh's Direc._ ed. 1841, i.
515.

RED-DOG, s. An old name for PRICKLY-HEAT (q.v.).

c. 1752.—"The RED-DOG is a disease which affects almost all foreigners in
hot countries, especially if they reside near the shore, at the time when
it is hottest."—_Osbeck's Voyage_, i. 190.

REGULATION, s. A law passed by the Governor-General in Council, or by a Governor (of Madras or Bombay) in Council. This term became obsolete in 1833, when legislative authority was conferred by the Charter Act (3 & 4 Will. IV. cap. 85) on those authorities; and thenceforward the term used is _Act_. By 13 Geo. III. cap. 63, § xxxv., it is enacted that it shall be lawful for the G.-G. and Council of Fort William in Bengal to issue Rules or Decrees and Regulations for the good order and civil government of the Company's settlements, &c. This was the same Charter Act that established the Supreme Court. But the authorised compilation of "_Regulations of the Govt. of Fort William in force at the end of 1853_," begins only with the Regulations of 1793, and makes no allusion to the earlier Regulations. No more does Regulation XLI. of 1793, which prescribes the form, numbering, and codifying of the Regulations to be issued. The fact seems to be that prior to 1793, when the enactment of Regulations was systematized, and the Regulations began to be regularly numbered, those that were issued partook rather of the character of resolutions of Government and circular orders than of Laws.

1868.—"The new Commissioner ... could discover nothing prejudicial to me,
except, perhaps, that the REGULATIONS were not sufficiently observed. The
sacred REGULATIONS! How was it possible to fit them on such very
irregular subjects as I had to deal with?"—_Lt.-Col. Lewin, A Fly on the
Wheel_, p. 376.

1880.—"The laws promulgated under this system were called REGULATIONS,
owing to a lawyer's doubts as to the competence of the Indian authorities
to infringe on the legislative powers of the English Parliament, or to
modify the 'laws and customs' by which it had been decreed that the
various nationalities of India were to be governed."—_Saty. Review_,
March 13, p. 335.

REGULATION PROVINCES. See this explained under NON-REGULATION.

REGUR, s. Dakh. Hind. _regaṛ_, also _legaṛ_. The peculiar black loamy soil, commonly called by English people in India 'black cotton soil.' The word may possibly be connected with H.—P. _reg_, 'sand'; but _regaḍa_ and _regaḍi_ is given by Wilson as Telugu. [Platts connects it with Skt. _rekha_, 'a furrow.'] This soil is not found in Bengal, with some restricted exception in the Rājmahal Hills. It is found everywhere on the plains of the Deccan trap-country, except near the coast. Tracts of it are scattered through the valley of the Krishna, and it occupies the flats of Coimbatore, Madura, Salem, Tanjore, Ramnād, and Tinnevelly. It occurs north of the Nerbudda in Saugor, and occasionally on the plain of the eastern side of the Peninsula, and composes the great flat of Surat and Broach in Guzerat. It is also found in Pegu. The origin of _regaṛ_ has been much debated. We can only give the conclusion as stated in the _Manual of the Geology of India_, from which some preceding particulars are drawn: "REGUR has been shown on fairly trustworthy evidence to result from the impregnation of certain argillaceous formations with organic matter, but ... the process which has taken place is imperfectly understood, and ... some peculiarities in distribution yet require explanation."—_Op. cit._ i. 434.

REH, s. [Hind. _reh_, Skt. _rej_, 'to shine, shake, quiver.'] A saline efflorescence which comes to the surface in extensive tracts of Upper India, rendering the soil sterile. The salts (chiefly sulphate of soda mixed with more or less of common salt and carbonate of soda) are superficial in the soil, for in the worst _reh_ tracts sweet water is obtainable at depths below 60 or 80 feet. [Plains infested with these salts are very commonly known in N. India as _Oosur_ Plains (Hind. _ūsar_, Skt. _ūshara_, 'impregnated with salt.')] The phenomenon seems due to the climate of Upper India, where the ground is rendered hard and impervious to water by the scorching sun, the parching winds, and the treeless character of the country, so that there is little or no water-circulation in the subsoil. The salts in question, which appear to be such of the substances resulting from the decomposition of rock, or of the detritus derived from rock, and from the formation of the soil, as are not assimilated by plants, accumulate under such circumstances, not being diluted and removed by the natural purifying process of percolation of the rain-water. This accumulation of salts is brought to the surface by capillary action after the rains, and evaporated, leaving the salts as an efflorescence on the surface. From time to time the process culminates on considerable tracts of land, which are thus rendered barren. The canal-irrigation of the Upper Provinces has led to some aggravation of the evil. The level of the canal-waters being generally high, they raise the level of the _reh_-polluted water in the soil, and produce in the lower tracts a great increase of the efflorescence. A partial remedy for this lies in the provision of drainage for the subsoil water, but this has only to a small extent been yet carried out. [See a full account in _Watt, Econ. Dict._ VI. pt. i. 400 _seqq._]

REINOL, s. A term formerly in use among the Portuguese at Goa, and applied apparently to 'Johnny Newcomes' or GRIFFINS (q.v.). It is from _reino_, 'the Kingdom' (viz. of Portugal). The word was also sometimes used to distinguish the European Portuguese from the country-born.

1598.—"... they take great pleasure and laugh at him, calling him REYNOL,
which is a name given in iest to such as newly come from _Portingall_,
and know not how to behave themselves in such grave manner, and with such
ceremonies as the _Portingales_ use there in _India_."—_Linschoten_, ch.
xxxi.; [Hak. Soc. i. 208].

c. 1610.—"... quand ces soldats Portugais arriuent de nouueau aux Indes
portans encor leurs habits du pays, ceux qui sont là de long tẽs quand
ils les voyent par les ruës les appellent RENOL, chargez de poux, et
mille autres iniures et mocqueries."—_Mocquet_, 304.

[ " "When they are newly arrived in the Indies, they are called
RAIGNOLLES, that is to say 'men of the Kingdom,' and the older hands mock
them until they have made one or two voyages with them, and have learned
the manners and customs of the Indies; this name sticks to them until the
fleet arrives the year following."—_Pyrard de Laval_, Hak. Soc. ii. 123.

[1727.—"The REYNOLDS or European fidalgos."—_A. Hamilton_, ed. 1744, i.
251.]

At a later date the word seems to have been applied to Portuguese deserters who took service with the E.I. Co. Thus:

c. 1760.—"With respect to the military, the common men are chiefly such
as the Company sends out in their ships, or deserters from the several
nations settled in India, Dutch, French, or Portuguese, which last are
commonly known by the name of REYNOLS."—_Grose_, i. 38.

RESHIRE, n.p. _Rīshihr_. A place on the north coast of the Persian Gulf, some 5 or 6 miles east of the modern port of BUSHIRE (q.v.). The present village is insignificant, but it is on the site of a very ancient city, which continued to be a port of some consequence down to the end of the 16th century. I do not doubt that this is the place intended by REYXEL in the quotation from A. Nunes under DUBBER. The spelling RAXET in Barros below is no doubt a clerical error for RAXEL.

c. 1340.—"RISHIHR.... This city built by Lohrasp, was rebuilt by Shapūr
son of Ardeshīr Babegān; it is of medium size, on the shore of the sea.
The climate is very hot and unhealthy.... The inhabitants generally
devote themselves to sea-trade, but poor and feeble that they are, they
live chiefly in dependence on the merchants of other countries. Dates and
the cloths called _Rīschihrī_ are the chief productions."—_Hamdalla
Mastūfī_, quoted in _Barbier de Meynard, Dict. de la Perse_.

1514.—"And thereupon Pero Dalboquerque sailed away ... and entered
through the straits of the Persian sea, and explored all the harbours,
islands, and villages which are contained in it ... and when he was as
far advanced as Bárem, the winds being now westerly—he tacked about, and
stood along in the tack for a two days voyage, and reached RAXEL, where
he found Mirbuzaca, Captain of the Xeque Ismail, (Shāh Ismaīl Sūfi, of
Persia), who had captured 20 _tarradas_ from a Captain of the King of
Ormuz."—_Alboquerque_, Hak. Soc. iv. 114-115.

" "On the Persian side (of the Gulf) is the Province of RAXEL,
which contains many villages and fortresses along the sea, engaged in a
flourishing trade."—_Ibid._ 186-7.

1534.—"And at this time insurrection was made by the King of RAXEL,
(which is a city on the coast of Persia); who was a vassal of the King of
Ormuz, so the latter King sought help from the Captain of the Castle,
Antonio da Silveira. And he sent down Jorge de Crasto with a galliot and
two foists and 100 men, all well equipt, and good musketeers; and bade
him tell the King of RAXEL that he must give up the fleet which he kept
at sea for the purpose of plundering, and must return to his allegiance
to the K. of Ormuz."—_Correa_, iii. 557.

1553.—"... And Francisco de Gouvea arrived at the port of the city of
RAXET, and having anchored, was forthwith visited by a Moor on the King's
part, with refreshments and compliments, and a message that ... he would
make peace with us, and submit to the King of Ormuz."—_Barros_, IV. iv.
26.

1554.—"REYXEL." See under DUBBER, as above.

1600.—"Reformados y proueydos en Harmuz de lo necessario, nos tornamos a
partir ... fuymos esta vez por fuera de la isla Queixiome (see KISHM)
corriendo la misma costa, como de la primera, passamos ... mas adelante
la fortaleza de REXEL, celebre por el mucho y perfetto pan y frutos, que
su territorio produze."—_Teixeira, Viage_, 70.

1856.—"48 hours sufficed to put the troops in motion northwards, the
ships of war, led by the Admiral, advancing along the coast to their
support. This was on the morning of the 9th, and by noon the enemy was
observed to be in force in the village of RESHIRE. Here amidst the ruins
of old houses, garden-walls, and steep ravines, they occupied a
formidable position; but notwithstanding their firmness, wall after wall
was surmounted, and finally they were driven from their last defence (the
old fort of RESHIRE) bordering on the cliffs at the margin of the
sea."—_Despatch_ in _Lowe's H. of the Indian Navy_, ii. 346.

RESIDENT, s. This term has been used in two ways which require distinction. Thus (A) up to the organization of the Civil Service in Warren Hastings's time, the chiefs of the Company's commercial establishments in the provinces, and for a short time the European chiefs of districts, were termed _Residents_. But later the word was applied (B) also to the representative of the Governor-General at an important native Court, _e.g._ at Lucknow, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Baroda. And this is the only meaning that the term now has in British India. In Dutch India the term is applied to the chief European officer of a province (corresponding to an Indian ZILLAH) as well as to the Dutch representative at a native Court, as at Solo and Djokjocarta.

A.—

1748.—"We received a letter from Mr. Henry Kelsall, RESIDENT at
Ballasore."—_Ft. William Consn._, in _Long_, 3.

1760.—"_Agreed_, Mr. Howitt the present RESIDENT in Rajah Tillack Chund's
country (_i.e._ Burdwan) for the collection of the tuncahs (see TUNCA),
be wrote to...."—_Ibid._ March 29, _ibid._ 244.

c. 1778.—"My pay as RESIDENT (at Sylhet) did not exceed 500_l._ per
annum, so that fortune could only be acquired by my own industry."—_Hon.
R. Lindsay_, in _Lives of the L.'s_, iii. 174.

B.—

1798.—"Having received overtures of a very friendly nature from the Rajah
of Berar, who has requested the presence of a British RESIDENT at his
Court, I have despatched an ambassador to Nagpore with full powers to
ascertain the precise nature of the Rajah's views."—_Marquis Wellesley,
Despatches_, i. 99.

RESPONDENTIA, s. An old trade technicality, thus explained: "Money which is borrowed, not upon the vessel as in bottomry, but upon the goods and merchandise contained in it, which must necessarily be sold or exchanged in the course of the voyage, in which case the borrower personally is bound to answer the contract" (_Wharton's Law Lexicon_, 6th ed., 1876; [and see _N.E.D._ under _Bottomry_]). What is now a part of the Calcutta Course, along the bank of the Hoogly, was known down to the first quarter of the last century, as RESPONDENTIA Walk. We have heard this name explained by the supposition that it was a usual scene of proposals and contingent JAWAUBS, (q.v.); but the name was no doubt, in reality, given because this walk by the river served as a sort of 'Change, where bargains in RESPONDENTIA and the like were made.

[1685.—"... Provided he gives his Bill to repay itt in Syam, ... with 20
p. Ct. RESPONDENTIA on the Ship...."—_Pringle, Diary Ft. St. Geo._, 1st
ser. iv. 123.]

1720.—"I am concerned with Mr. Thomas Theobalds in a RESPONDENTIA Bond in
the 'George' Brigantine."—_Testament of Ch. Davers_, Merchant. In
_Wheeler_, ii. 340.

1727.—"There was one Captain Perrin Master of a Ship, who took up about
500 L. on RESPONDENTIA from Mr. Ralph Sheldon ... payable at his Return
to Bengal."—_A. Hamilton_, ii. 14; [ed. 1744, ii. 12].

" "... which they are enabled to do by the Money taken up here on
RESPONDENTIA bonds...."—In _Wheeler_, ii. 427.

1776.—"I have desired my Calcutta Attorney to insure some Money lent on
RESPONDENTIA on Ships in India.... I have also subscribed £500 towards a
China Voyage."—_MS. Letter_ of _James Rennell_, Feb. 20.

1794.—"I assure you, Sir, Europe articles, especially good wine, are not
to be had for love, money, or RESPONDENTIA."—_The Indian Observer_, by
_Hugh Boyd_, &c., p. 206.

[1840.—"A Grecian ghat has been built at the north end of the old
RESPONDENTIA walk...."—_Davidson, Diary of Travels_, ii. 209.]

RESSAIDAR, s. P.—H. _Rasāīdār_. A native subaltern of irregular cavalry, under the RESSALDAR (q.v.). It is not clear what sense _rasāī_ has in the formation of this title (which appears to be of modern devising). The meaning of that word is 'quickness of apprehension; fitness, perfection.'

RESSALA, s. Hind. from Ar. _risāla_. A troop in one of our regiments of native (so-called) Irregular Cavalry. The word was in India applied more loosely to a native corps of horse, apart from English regimental technicalities. The Arabic word properly means the charge or commission of a _rasūl_, _i.e._ of a civil officer employed to make arrests (_Dozy_), [and in the passage from the _Āīn_, quoted under RESSALDAR, the original text has _Risalah_]. The transition of meaning, as with many other words of Arabic origin, is very obscure.

1758.—"Presently after Shokum Sing and Harroon Cawn (formerly of Roy
Dullub's RISSALLA) came in and discovered to him the whole
affair."—_Letter_ of _W. Hastings_, in _Gleig_, i. 70.

[1781.—"The enemy's troops before the place are five ROSOLLARS of
infantry...."—_Sir Eyre Coote_, letter of July 6, in _Progs. of Council_,
September 7, _Forrest, Letters_, vol. iii.]

RESSALDAR, Ar.—P.—H. _Risāladār_ (RESSALA). Originally in Upper India the commander of a corps of Hindustani horse, though the second quotation shows it, in the south, applied to officers of infantry. Now applied to the native officer who commands a RESSALA in one of our regiments of "Irregular Horse." This title is applied honorifically to overseers of post-horses or stables. (See _Panjab Notes & Queries_, ii. 84.)

[c. 1590.—"Besides, there are several copyists who write a good hand and
a lucid style. They receive the _yáddásht_ (memorandum) when completed,
keep it with themselves, and make a proper abridgement of it. After
signing it, they return this instead of the _yaddásht_, when the
abridgement is signed and sealed by the Wāqi'ahnawīs, and the RISALAHDAR
(in orig. _risālah_)...."—_Āīn_, i. 259.]

1773.—"The Nawaub now gave orders to the RISALADÁRS of the regular and
irregular infantry, to encircle the fort, and then commence the attack
with their artillery and musketry."—_H. of Hydur Naik_, 327.

1803.—"The RISSALDARS finding so much money in their hands, began to
quarrel about the division of it, while Perron crossed in the evening
with the bodyguard."—_Mil. Mem. of James Skinner_, i. 274.

c. 1831.—"Le lieutenant de ma troupe a bonne chance d'être fait Capitaine
(RESSELDAR)."—_Jacquemont, Corresp._ ii. 8.

REST-HOUSE, s. Much the same as DAWK BUNGALOW (q.v.). Used in Ceylon only. [But the word is in common use in Northern India for the CHOKIES along roads and canals.]

[1894.—"'REST-HOUSES' or 'staging bungalows' are erected at intervals of
twelve or fifteen miles along the roads."—_G. W. MacGeorge, Ways and
Works in India_, p. 78.]

RESUM, s. Lascar's Hind. for _ration_ (_Roebuck_).

RHINOCEROS, s. We introduce this word for the sake of the quotations, showing that even in the 16th century this animal was familiar not only in the Western Himālaya, but in the forests near Peshāwar. It is probable that the nearest rhinoceros to be found at the present time would be not less than 800 miles, as the crow flies, from Peshāwar. See also GANDA, [and for references to the animal in Greek accounts of India, _McCrindle, Ancient India, its Invasion by Alexander_, 186].

c. 1387.—"In the month of Zí-l Ka'da of the same year he (Prince Muhammed
Khan) went to the mountains of Sirmor (W. of the Jumna) and spent two
months in hunting the RHINOCEROS and the elk."—_Táríkh-i-Mubárak-Sháhí_,
in _Elliot_, iv. 16.

1398.—(On the frontier of Kashmīr). "Comme il y avoit dans ces Pays un
lieu qui par sa vaste étendue, et la grande quantité de gibiers, sembloit
inviter les passans à chaser.... Timur s'en donna le divertissement ...
ils prisent une infinité de gibiers, et l'on tua plusiers RHINOCEROS à
coups de sabre et de lances, quoique cet animal ... a la peau si ferme,
qu'on ne peut la percer que par des efforts extraordinaires."—_Petis de
la Croix, H. de Timur-Bec_, iii. 159.

1519.—"After sending on the army towards the river (Indus), I myself set
off for Sawâti, which they likewise call Karak-Khaneh (_kark-khāna_, 'the
rhinoceros-haunt'), to hunt the RHINOCEROS. We started many RHINOCEROSES,
but as the country abounds in brushwood, we could not get at them. A she
rhinoceros, that had whelps, came out, and fled along the plain; many
arrows were shot at her, but ... she gained cover. We set fire to the
brushwood, but the rhinoceros was not to be found. We got sight of
another, that, having been scorched in the fire, was lamed and unable to
run. We killed it, and every one cut off a bit as a trophy of the
chase."—_Baber_, 253.

1554.—"Nous vinmes à la ville de _Pourschewer_ (PESHAWUR), et ayant
heureusement passe le _Koutel_ (KOTUL), nous gagnâmes la ville de
Djouschayeh. Sur le _Koutel_ nous apercûmes des RHINOCEROS, dont la
grosseur approchait celle d'un elephant...."—_Sidi 'Ali_, in _J. As._,
1st ser. tom. ix. 201-202.

RHOTASS, n.p. This (_Rohtās_) is the name of two famous fortresses in India, viz. A. a very ancient rock-fort in the Shāhābād district of Behar, occupying part of a tabular hill which rises on the north bank of the Sōn river to a height of 1490 feet. It was an important stronghold of Sher Shāh, the successful rival of the Mogul Humāyūn: B. A fort at the north end of the Salt-range in the Jhelum District, Punjab, which was built by the same king, named by him after the ancient Rohtās. The ruins are very picturesque.

A.—

c. 1560.—"Sher Sháh was occupied night and day with the business of his
kingdom, and never allowed himself to be idle.... He kept money
(_khazána_) and revenue _kharáj_) in all parts of his territories, so
that, if necessity required, soldiers and money were ready. The chief
treasury was in ROHTÁS under the care of Ikhtiyár
Khán."—_Waki'at-i-Mushtaki_, in _Elliot_, iv. 551.

[c. 1590.—"ROHTAS is a stronghold on the summit of a lofty mountain,
difficult of access. It has a circumference of 14 _kos_ and the land is
cultivated. It contains many springs, and whenever the soil is excavated
to the depth of 3 or 4 yards, water is visible. In the rainy season many
lakes are formed, and more than 200 waterfalls gladden the eye and
ear."—_Āīn_, ed. _Jarrett_, ii. 152 _seq._]

1665.—"... You must leave the great road to _Patna_, and bend to the
South through _Exberbourgh_ (?) [Akbarpur] and the famous Fortress of
RHODES."—_Tavernier_, E.T. ii. 53; [ed. _Ball_, i. 121].

[1764.—"From Shaw Mull, Kelladar of ROTUS to Major Munro."—In _Long_,
359.]

B.—

c. 1540.—"Sher Sháh ... marched with all his forces and retinue through
all the hills of Padmán and Garjhák, in order that he might choose a
fitting site, and build a fort there to keep down the Ghakkars.... Having
selected ROHTÁS, he built there the fort which now
exists."—_Táríkh-i-Sher Sháhí_, in _Elliot_, iv. 390.

1809.—"Before we reached the Hydaspes we had a view of the famous
fortress of ROTAS; but it was at a great distance.... ROTAS we understood
to be an extensive but strong fort on a low hill."—_Elphinstone, Caubul_,
ed. 1839, i. 108.

RICE, s. The well-known cereal, _Oryza sativa_, L. There is a strong temptation to derive the Greek ὀρύζα, which is the source of our word through It. _riso_, Fr. _riz_, etc., from the Tamil _ariśi_, 'rice deprived of husk,' ascribed to a root _ari_, 'to separate.' It is quite possible that Southern India was the original seat of rice cultivation. Roxburgh (_Flora Indica_, ii. 200) says that a wild rice, known as _Newaree_ [Skt. _nīvāra_, Tel. _nivvāri_] by the Telinga people, grows abundantly about the lakes in the Northern Circars, and he considers this to be the original plant.

It is possible that the Arabic _al-ruzz_ (_arruzz_) from which the Spaniards directly take their word _arroz_, may have been taken also directly from the Dravidian term. But it is hardly possible that ὀρύζα can have had that origin. The knowledge of rice apparently came to Greece from the expedition of Alexander, and the mention of ὀρύζα by Theophrastus, which appears to be the oldest, probably dates almost from the lifetime of Alexander (d. B.C. 323). Aristobulus, whose accurate account is quoted by Strabo (see below), was a companion of Alexander's expedition, but seems to have written later than Theophrastus. The term was probably acquired on the Oxus, or in the Punjab. And though no Skt. word for rice is nearer ὀρύζα than _vrīhi_, the very common exchange of aspirant and sibilant might easily give a form like _vrīsi_ or _brīsi_ (comp. _hindū_, _sindū_, &c.) in the dialects west of India. Though no such exact form seems to have been produced from old Persian, we have further indications of it in the Pushtu, which Raverty writes, sing. 'a grain of rice' _w'rijza'h_, pl. 'rice' _w'rijzey_, the former close to _oryza_. The same writer gives in _Barakai_ (one of the uncultivated languages of the Kabul country, spoken by a 'Tajik' tribe settled in Logar, south of Kabul, and also at Kanigoram in the Waziri country) the word for rice as _w'rizza_, a very close approximation again to _oryza_. The same word is indeed given by Leech, in an earlier vocabulary, largely coincident with the former, as _rizza_. The modern Persian word for husked rice is _birinj_, and the Armenian _brinz_. A nasal form, deviating further from the hypothetical _brīsi_ or _vrīsi_, but still probably the same in origin, is found among other languages of the Hindū Kūsh tribes, _e.g._ Burishki (Khajuna of Leitner) _broṉ_; Shina (of Gilgit), _brīūṉ_; Khowar of the Chitral Valley (Arniyah of Leitner), _grinj_ (_Biddulph, Tribes of Hindoo Koosh_, App., pp. xxxiv., lix., cxxxix.).

1298.—"Il hi a forment et RIS asez, mès il ne menuient pain de forment
por ce que il est en cele provence enferme, mès menuient RIS et font
poison (_i.e._ drink) de RIS con especes qe molt e(s)t biaus et cler et
fait le home evre ausi con fait le vin."—_Marc Pol._ Geo. Text, 132.

B.C. c. 320-300.—"Μᾶλλον δὲ σπείρουσι τὸ καλούμενον ὅρυζον, ἐξ οὗ το
ἔψημα· τοῦτο δὲ ὅμοιον τῇ ζειᾷ, καὶ περιπτισθὲν οἷον χόνδρος, ευπεπτον δὲ
τὴν ὄψιν πεφυκὸς ὅμοιον ταῖς αἴραις, καὶ τὸν πολύν χρόνον ἐν ὕδατι.
Ἀποχεῖται δὲ οὒκ εἰς στάχυν, ἀλλ' οἷον φόβην ὥσπερ ὁ κέγχρος καὶ ὁ
ἔλυμος."—_Theophrast. de Hist. Plantt._, iv. c. 4.

B.C. c. 20.—"The rice (ὄρυζα), according to Aristobulus, stands in water,
in an enclosure. It is sowed in beds. The plant is 4 cubits in height,
with many ears, and yields a large produce. The harvest is about the time
of the setting of the Pleiades, and the grain is beaten out like barley.

"It grows in Bactriana, Babylonia, Susis, and in the Lower
Syria."—_Strabo_, xv. i. § 18, in Bohn's E.T. iii. 83.

B.C. 300.—"Megasthenes writes in the second Book of his _Indica_: The
Indians, says he, at their banquets have a table placed before each
person. This table is made like a buffet, and they set upon it a golden
bowl, into which they first help boiled rice (ὄρυζαν), as it might be
boiled groats, and then a variety of cates dressed in Indian
fashions."—_Athenaeus_, iv. § 39.

A.D. c. 70.—"Hordeum Indis sativum et silvestre, ex quo panis apud eos
praecipuus et alica. Maxime quidem ORYZA gaudent, ex qua tisanam
conficiunt quam reliqui mortales ex hordeo...."—_Pliny_, xviii. 13. Ph.
Holland has here got so wrong a reading that we abandon him.

A.D. c. 80-90.—"Very productive is this country (_Syrastrēnē_ or Penins.
Guzerat) in wheat and rice (ὀρύζης) and sessamin oil and butter[230] (see
GHEE) and cotton, and the abounding Indian piece-goods made from
it."—_Periplus_, § 41.

ROC, s. The _Rukh_ or fabulous colossal bird of Arabian legend. This has been treated of at length by one of the present writers in _Marco Polo_ (Bk. iii. ch. 33, notes); and here we shall only mention one or two supplementary facts.

M. Marre states that _rūḳ-rūḳ_ is applied by the Malays to a bird of prey of the vulture family, a circumstance which _possibly_ may indicate the source of the Arabic name, as we know it to be of some at least of the legends. [See Skeat, _Malay Magic_, 124.]

In one of the notes just referred to it is suggested that the roc's quills, spoken of by Marco Polo in the passage quoted below (a passage which evidently refers to some real object brought to China), might possibly have been some vegetable production such as the great frond of the _Ravenala_ of Madagascar (_Urania speciosa_), cooked to pass as a bird's quill. Mr. Sibree, in his excellent book on Madagascar (_The Great African Island_, 1880), noticed this, but pointed out that the object was more probably the immensely long midrib of the _rofia_ palm (_Sagus Raphia_). Sir John Kirk, when in England in 1882, expressed entire confidence in this identification, and on his return to Zanzibar in 1883 sent four of these midribs to England. These must have been originally from 36 to 40 feet in length. The leaflets were all stript, but when entire the object must have strongly resembled a Brobdingnagian feather. These roc's quills were shown at the Forestry Exhibition in Edinburgh, 1884. Sir John Kirk wrote:

"I send to-day per S.S. Arcot ... four fronds of the Raphia palm, called
here _Moale_. They are just as sold and shipped up and down the coast. No
doubt they were sent in Marco Polo's time in exactly the same
state—_i.e._ stripped of their leaflets and with the tip broken off. They
are used for making stages and ladders, and last long if kept dry. They
are also made into doors, by being cut into lengths, and pinned through."

Some other object has recently been shown at Zanzibar as part of the wings of a great bird. Sir John Kirk writes that this (which he does not describe particularly) was in the possession of the R. C. priests at Bagamoyo, to whom it had been given by natives of the interior, and these declared that they had brought it from Tanganyika, and that it was part of the wing of a gigantic bird. On another occasion they repeated this statement, alleging that this bird was known in the Udoe (?) country, near the coast. The priests were able to communicate directly with their informants, and certainly believed the story. Dr. Hildebrand also, a competent German naturalist, believed in it. But Sir John Kirk himself says that 'what the priests had to show was most undoubtedly the whalebone of a comparatively small whale' (see letter of the present writer in _Athenaeum_, March 22nd, 1884).