G (continued 3)

1768-71.—"A gess or goss is 2 cobidos, being at Chinsurah 2 feet and 10 inches Rhineland measure."—Stavorinus, E.T. i. 463.

1814.—"They have no measures but the gudge, which is from their elbow to the end of the middle finger, for measuring length."—Pearce, Acc. of the Ways of the Abyssinians, in Tr. Lit. Soc. Bo. ii. 56.

GUICOWAR, n.p. Gāekwār, the title of the Mahratta kings of Guzerat, descended from Dāmāji and Pīlājī Gāekwār, who rose to distinction among Mahratta warriors in the second quarter of the 18th century. The word means 'Cowherd.'

[1813.—"These princes were all styled Guickwar, in addition to their family name ... the word literally means a cow-keeper, which, although a low employment in general, has, in this noble family among the Hindoos, who venerate that animal, become a title of great importance."—Forbes, Or. Mem. 2nd ed. i. 375.]

GUINEA-CLOTHS, GUINEA-STUFFS, s. Apparently these were piece-goods bought in India to be used in the West African trade. [On the other hand, Sir G. Birdwood identifies them with gunny (Report on old Recs., 224). The manufacture still goes on at Pondicherry.] These are presumably the Negros-tücher of Baldaeus (1672), p. 154.

[1675.—"Guinea-stuffs," in Birdwood, ut supra.]

1726.—We find in a list of cloths purchased by the Dutch Factory at Porto Novo, Guinees Lywaat, and Negros-Kleederen ('Guinea linens and Negro's clothing').—See Valentijn, Chorom. 9.

1813.—"The demand for Surat piece-goods has been much decreased in Europe ... and from the abolition of the slave trade, the demand for the African market has been much reduced.... Guinea stuffs, 4½ yards each (per ton) 1200 (pieces)."—Milburn, i. 289.

[1878.—"The chief trades of Pondicherry are, spinning, weaving and dyeing the cotton stuffs known by the name of Guinees."—Garstin, Man. of S. Arcot, 426.]

[GUINEA DEER, s. An old name for some species of Chevrotain, in the quotation probably the Tragulus meminna or Mouse Deer (Blanford, Mammalia, 555).

[1755.—"Common deer they have here (in Ceylon) in great abundance, and also Guinea Deer."—Ives, 57.]

GUINEA-FOWL. There seems to have been, in the 16th century, some confusion between turkeys and Guinea-fowl. See however under TURKEY. The Guinea-fowl is the Meleagris of Aristotle and others, the Afra avis of Horace.

GUINEA-PIG, s. This was a nickname given to midshipmen or apprentices on board Indiamen in the 18th century, when the command of such a vessel was a sure fortune, and large fees were paid to the captain with whom the youngsters embarked. Admiral Smyth, in his Sailor's Handbook, 1867, defines: 'The younger midshipmen of an Indiaman.'

[1779.—"I promise you, to me it was no slight penance to be exposed during the whole voyage to the half sneering, satirical looks of the mates and guinea-pigs."—Macintosh, Travels, quoted in Carey, Old Days, i. 73.]

GUINEA-WORM, s. A parasitic worm (Filaria Medinensis) inhabiting the subcutaneous cellular tissue of man, frequently in the leg, varying from 6 inches to 12 feet in length, and common on the Pers. Gulf, in Upper Egypt, Guinea, &c. It is found in some parts of W. India. "I have known," writes M.-Gen. Keatinge, "villages where half the people were maimed by it after the rains. Matunga, the Head Quarters of the Bombay Artillery, was abandoned, in great measure, on account of this pest." [It is the disease most common in the Damoh District (C. P. Gazetteer, 176, Sleeman, Rambles, &c., ed. V. A. Smith, i. 94). It is the rāshta, reshta of Central Asia (Schuyler, Turkistan, i. 147; Wolff, Travels, ii. 407).] The reason of the name is shown by the quotation from Purchas respecting its prevalence in Guinea. The disease is graphically described by Agatharchides in the first quotation.

B.C. c. 113.—"Those about the Red Sea who are stricken with a certain malady, as Agatharchides relates, besides being afflicted with other novel and unheard-of symptoms, of which one is that small snake-like worms (δρακόντια μικρὰ) eat through the legs and arms, and peep out, but when touched instantly shrink back again, and winding among the muscles produce intolerable burning pains."—In Dubner's ed. of Plutarch, iv. 872, viz. Table Discussions, Bk. VIII. Quest. ix. 3.

1600.—"The wormes in the legges and bodies trouble not euery one that goeth to those Countreys, but some are troubled with them and some are not"—(a full account of the disease follows).—Descn. of Guinea, in Purchas, ii. 963.

c. 1630.—"But for their water ... I may call it Aqua Mortis ... it ingenders small long worms in the legges of such as use to drink it ... by no potion, no unguent to be remedied: they have no other way to destroy them, save by rowling them about a pin or peg, not unlike the treble of Theorbo."—Sir T. Herbert, p. 128.

1664.—"... nor obliged to drink of those naughty waters ... full of nastiness of so many people and beasts ... that do cause such fevers, which are very hard to cure, and which breed also certain very dangerous worms in the legs ... they are commonly of the bigness and length of a small Vial-string ... and they must be drawn out little by little, from day to day, gently winding them about a little twig about the bigness of a needle, for fear of breaking them."—Bernier, E.T. 114; [ed. Constable, 355].

1676.—"Guinea Worms are very frequent in some Places of the West Indies ... I rather judge that they are generated by drinking bad water."—Dampier, ii. 89-90.

1712.—"Haec vita est Ormusiensium, imò civium totius littoris Persici, ut perpetuas in corpore calamitates ferant ex coeli intemperie: modo sudore diffluunt; modo vexantur furunculis; nunc cibi sunt, mox aquae inopes; saepè ventis urentibus, semper sole torrente, squalent et quis omnia recenseat? Unum ex aerumnis gravioribus induco: nimirum Lumbricorum singulare genus, quod non in intestinis, sed in musculis per corporis ambitum natales invenit. Latini medici vermem illum nomine donant τοῦ δρακοντίου, s. Dracunculi.... Guineenses nigritae linguâ suâ ... vermes illos vocant Ickòn, ut produnt reduces ex aurifero illo Africae littore...."—Kaempfer, Amoen. Exot., 524-5. Kaempfer speculates as to why the old physicians called it dracunculus; but the name was evidently taken from the δρακόντιον of Agatharchides, quoted above.

1768.—"The less dangerous diseases which attack Europeans in Guinea are, the dry belly-ache, and a worm which breeds in the flesh.... Dr. Rouppe observes that the disease of the Guinea-worm is infectious."—Lind on Diseases of Hot Climates, pp. 53, 54.

1774.—See an account of this pest under the name of "le ver des nerfs (Vena Medinensis)," in Niebuhr, Desc. de l'Arabie, 117. The name given by Niebuhr is, as we learn from Kaempfer's remarks, 'araḳ Medīnī, the Medina nerve (rather than vein).

[1821.—"The doctor himself is just going off to the Cape, half-dead from the Kotah fever; and, as if that were not enough, the narooa, or guinea-worm, has blanched his cheek and made him a cripple."—Tod, Annals, ed. 1884, ii. 743.]

GUJPUTTY, n.p. (See COSPETIR.)

GUM-GUM, s. We had supposed this word to be an invention of the late Charles Dickens, but it seems to be a real Indian, or Anglo-Indian, word. The nearest approximation in Shakespear's Dict. is gamak, 'sound of the kettledrum.' But the word is perhaps a Malay plural of gong originally; see the quotation from Osbeck. [The quotations from Bowdich and Medley (from Scott, Malay Words, p. 53) perhaps indicate an African origin.]

[1659.—"... The roar of great guns, the sounding of trumpets, the beating of drums, and the noise of the gomgommen of the Indians."—From the account of the Dutch attack (1659) on a village in Ceram, given in Wouter Schouten, Reistogt nadr en door Oostindiën, 4th ed. 1775, i. 55. In the Dutch version, "en het geraas van de gomgommen der Indiäanen." The French of 1707 (i. 92) has "au bruit du canon, des trompettes, des tambour et des gomgommes Indiennes."

[1731.—"One of the Hottentot Instruments of Musick is common to several Negro Nations, and is called both by Negroes and Hottentots, gom-gom ... is a Bow of Iron, or Olive Wood, strung with twisted Sheep-Gut or Sinews."—Medley, tr. Kolben's Cape of Good Hope, i. 271.]

c. 1750-60.—"A music far from delightful, consisting of little drums they call Gumgums, cymbals, and a sort of fife."—Grose, i. 139.

1768-71.—"They have a certain kind of musical instruments called gom-goms, consisting in hollow iron bowls, of various sizes and tones, upon which a man strikes with an iron or wooden stick ... not unlike a set of bells."—Stavorinus, E.T. i. 215. See also p. 65.

1771.—"At night we heard a sort of music, partly made by insects, and partly by the noise of the Gungung."—Osbeck, i. 185.

[1819.—"The gong-gongs and drums were beat all around us."—Bowdich, Mission to Ashantee, i. 7, 136.]

1836.—"'Did you ever hear a tom-tom, Sir?' sternly enquired the Captain....

'A what?' asked Hardy, rather taken aback.

'A tom-tom.'

'Never!'

'Nor a gum-gum?'

'Never!'

'What is a gum-gum?' eagerly enquired several young ladies."—Sketches by Boz, The Steam Excursion.

[GUNGE, s. Hind. ganj, 'a store, store-house, market.'

[1762.—See under GOMASTA.

[1772.—"Gunge, a market principally for grain."—Verelst, View of Bengal, Gloss. s.v.

[1858.—"The term Gunge signifies a range of buildings at a place of traffic, for the accommodation of merchants and all persons engaged in the purchase and sale of goods, and for that of their goods and of the shopkeepers who supply them."—Sleeman, Journey through Oudh, i. 278.]

GUNJA, s. Hind. gānjhā, gānjā. The flowering or fruiting shoots of the female plant of Indian hemp (Cannabis sativa, L., formerly distinguished as C. indica), used as an intoxicant. (See BANG.)

[c. 1813.—"The natives have two proper names for the hemp (Cannabis sativa), and call it Gangja when young, and Siddhi when the flowers have fully expanded."—Buchanan, Eastern India, ii. 865.]

1874.—"In odour and the absence of taste, ganjá resembles bhang. It is said that after the leaves which constitute bhang have been gathered, little shoots sprout from the stem, and that these, picked off and dried, form what is called ganjá."—Hanbury & Flückiger, 493.

GUNNY, GUNNY-BAG, s. From Skt. goṇi, 'a sack'; Hind. and Mahr. goṇ, goṇī, 'a sack, sacking.' The popular and trading name of the coarse sacking and sacks made from the fibre of jute, much used in all Indian trade. Ṭāṭ is a common Hind. name for the stuff. [With this word Sir G. Birdwood identifies the forms found in the old records—"Guiny Stuffes (1671)," "Guynie stuffs," "Guinea stuffs," "Gunnys" (Rep. on Old Records, 26, 38, 39, 224); but see under GUINEA-CLOTHS.]

c. 1590.—"Sircar Ghoraghat produces raw silk, gunneys, and plenty of Tanghion horses."—Gladwin's Ayeen, ed. 1800, ii. 9; [ed. Jarrett, ii. 123]. (But here, in the original, the term is pārchah-i-ṭāṭband.)

1693.—"Besides the aforenamed articles Goeny-sacks are collected at Palicol."—Havart (3), 14.

1711.—"When Sugar is pack'd in double Goneys, the outer Bag is always valued in Contract at 1 or 1½ Shahee."—Lockyer, 244.

1726.—In a list of goods procurable at Daatzerom: "Goeni-zakken (Gunny bags)."—Valentijn, Chor. 40.

1727.—"Sheldon ... put on board some rotten long Pepper, that he could dispose of in no other Way, and some damaged Gunnies, which are much used in Persia for embaling Goods, when they are good in their kind."—A. Hamilton, ii. 15; [ed. 1744].

1764.—"Baskets, Gunny bags, and dubbers ... Rs. 24."—In Long, 384.

1785.—"We enclose two parwanehs ... directing them each to despatch 1000 goonies of grain to that person of mighty degree."—Tippoo's Letters, 171.

1885.—"The land was so covered with them (plover) that the hunters shot them with all kind of arms. We counted 80 birds in the gunny-sack that three of the soldiers brought in."—Boots and Saddles, by Mrs. Custer, p. 37. (American work.)

GUNTA, s. Hind. ghanṭā, 'a bell or gong.' This is the common term for expressing an European hour in modern Hindūstānī. [See PANDY.]

GUP, s. Idle gossip. P.—H. gap, 'prattle, tattle.' The word is perhaps an importation from Tūrān. Vambéry gives Orient. Turki gep, geb, 'word, saying, talk'; which, however, Pavet de Courteille suggests to be a corruption from the Pers. guftan, 'to say'; of which, indeed, there is a form guptan. [So Platts, who also compares Skt. jalpa, which is the Bengali golpo, 'babble.'] See quotation from Schuyler showing the use in Turkistan. The word is perhaps best known in England through an unamiable account of society in S. India, published under the name of "Gup," in 1868.

1809-10.—"They (native ladies) sit on their cushions from day to day, with no other ... amusement than hearing the 'gup-gup,' or gossip of the place."—Mrs. Sherwood's Autobiog. 357.

1876.—"The first day of mourning goes by the name of gup, i.e. commemorative talk."—Schuyler's Turkistan, i. 151.

GUREEBPURWUR, GURREEBNUWAUZ, ss. Ar.—P. Gharībpārwar, Gharībnawāz, used in Hind. as respectful terms of address, meaning respectively 'Provider of the Poor!' 'Cherisher of the Poor!'

1726.—"Those who are of equal condition bend the body somewhat towards each other, and lay hold of each other by the beard, saying Grab-anemoas, i.e. I wish you the prayers of the poor."—Valentijn, Chor. 109, who copies from Van Twist (1648), p. 55.

1824.—"I was appealed to loudly by both parties, the soldiers calling on me as 'Ghureeb purwur,' the Goomashta, not to be outdone, exclaiming 'Donai, Lord Sahib! Donai! Rajah!'" (Read Dohāī and see DOAI).—Heber, i. 266. See also p. 279.

1867.—"'Protector of the poor!' he cried, prostrating himself at my feet, 'help thy most unworthy and wretched slave! An unblest and evil-minded alligator has this day devoured my little daughter. She went down to the river to fill her earthen jar with water, and the evil one dragged her down, and has devoured her. Alas! she had on her gold bangles. Great is my misfortune!'"—Lt.-Col. Lewin, A Fly on the Wheel, p. 99.

GURJAUT, n.p. The popular and official name of certain forest tracts at the back of Orissa. The word is a hybrid, being the Hind. gaṛh, 'a fort,' Persianised into a plural gaṛhjāt, in ignorance of which we have seen, in quasi-official documents, the use of a further English plural, Gurjauts or gaṛhjāts, which is like 'fortses.' [In the quotation below, the writer seems to think it a name of a class of people.] This manner of denominating such tracts from the isolated occupation by fortified posts seems to be very ancient in that part of India. We have in Ptolemy and the Periplus Dosarēnē or Dēsarēnē, apparently representing Skt. Daśāṛṇa, quasi daśan ṛiṇa, 'having Ten Forts,' which the lists of the Bṛhat Sanhitā shew us in this part of India (J. R. As. Soc., N.S., v. 83). The forest tract behind Orissa is called in the grant of an Orissa king, Nava Koti, 'the Nine Forts' (J.A.S.B. xxxiii. 84); and we have, in this region, further in the interior, the province of Chattīsgaṛh, '36 Forts.'

[1820.—"At present nearly one half of this extensive region is under the immediate jurisdiction of the British Government; the other possessed by tributary zemindars called Ghurjauts, or hill chiefs...."—Hamilton, Description of Hindustan, ii. 32.]

GURRY.

a. A little fort; Hind. gaṛhī. Also Gurr, i.e. gaṛh, 'a fort.'

b. See GHURRY.

a.—

1693.—"... many of his Heathen Nobles, only such as were befriended by strong Gurrs, or Fastnesses upon the Mountains...."—Fryer, 165.

1786.—"... The Zemindars in 4 pergunnahs are so refractory as to have forfeited (read fortified) themselves in their gurries, and to refuse all payments of revenue."—Articles against W. Hastings, in Burke, vii. 59.

[1835.—"A shot was at once fired upon them from a high Ghurree."—Forbes, Rās Mālā, ed. 1878, p. 521.]

GUTTA PERCHA, s. This is the Malay name Gatah Pertja, i.e. 'Sap of the Percha,' Dichopsis Gutta, Benth. (Isonandra Gutta, Hooker; N.O. Sapotaceae). Dr. Oxley writes (J. Ind. Archip. i. 22) that percha is properly the name of a tree which produces a spurious article; the real gutta p. is produced by the túbau. [Mr. Maxwell (Ind. Ant. xvii. 358) points out that the proper reading is taban.] The product was first brought to notice in 1843 by Dr. Montgomery. It is collected by first ringing the tree and then felling it, and no doubt by this process the article will speedily become extinct. The history of G. P. is, however, far from well known. Several trees are known to contribute to the exported article; their juices being mixed together. [Mr. Scott (Malay Words, 55 seqq.) writes the word getah percha, or getah perchah, 'gum of percha,' and remarks that it has been otherwise explained as meaning 'gum of Sumatra,' "there being another word percha, a name of Sumatra, as well as a third word percha, 'a rag, a remnant.'" Mr. Maxwell (loc. cit.) writes: "It is still uncertain whether there is a gutta-producing tree called Percha by the Malays. My experience is that they give the name of Perchah to that kind of getah taban which hardens into strips in boiling. These are stuck together and made into balls for export."]

[1847.—"Gutta Percha is a remarkable example of the rapidity with which a really useful invention becomes of importance to the English public. A year ago it was almost unknown, but now its peculiar properties are daily being made more available in some new branch of the useful or ornamental arts."—Mundy, Journal, in Narrative of Events in Borneo and Celebes, ii. 342 seq. (quoted by Scott, loc. cit.).]

1868.—"The late Mr. d'Almeida was the first to call the attention of the public to the substance now so well known as gutta-percha. At that time the Isonandra Gutta was an abundant tree in the forests of Singapore, and was first known to the Malays, who made use of the juice which they obtained by cutting down the trees.... Mr. d'Almeida ... acting under the advice of a friend, forwarded some of the substance to the Society of Arts. There it met with no immediate attention, and was put away uncared for. A year or two afterwards Dr. Montgomery sent specimens to England, and bringing it under the notice of competent persons, its value was at once acknowledged.... The sudden and great demand for it soon resulted in the disappearance of all the gutta-percha trees on Singapore Island."—Collingwood, Rambles of a Naturalist, pp. 268-9.

GUZZY, s. Pers. and Hind. gazī; perhaps from its having been woven of a gaz (see GUDGE) in breadth. A very poor kind of cotton cloth.

1701.—In a price list for Persia we find: "Gesjes Bengaals."—Valentijn, v. 303.

1784.—"It is suggested that the following articles may be proper to compose the first adventure (to Tibet): ... Guzzie, or coarse Cotton Cloths, and Otterskins...."—In Seton-Karr, i. 4.

[1866.—"... common unbleached fabrics ... used for packing goods, and as a covering for the dead.... These fabrics in Bengal pass under the names of Garrha and Guzee."—Forbes Watson, Textile Manufactures, 83.]

GWALIOR, n.p. Hind. Gwālīār. A very famous rock-fortress of Upper India, rising suddenly and picturesquely out of a plain (or shallow valley rather) to a height of 300 feet, 65 m. south of Agra, in lat. 26° 13′. Gwalior may be traced back, in Gen. Cunningham's opinion, to the 3rd century of our era. It was the seat of several ancient Hindu dynasties, and from the time of the early Mahommedan sovereigns of Delhi down to the reign of Aurangzīb it was used as a state-prison. Early in the 18th century it fell into the possession of the Mahratta family of Sindhia, whose residence was established to the south of the fortress, in what was originally a camp, but has long been a city known by the original title of Lashkar (camp). The older city lies below the northern foot of the rock. Gwalior has been three times taken by British arms: (1) escaladed by a force under the command of Major Popham in 1780, a very daring feat;^[141] (2) by a regular attack under Gen. White in 1805; (3) most gallantly in June 1858, by a party of the 25th Bombay N. I. under Lieutenants Rose and Waller, in which the former officer fell. After the two first captures the fortress was restored to the Sindhia family. From 1858 it was retained in our hands, but in December 1885 it was formally restored to the Mahārājā Sindhia.

The name of the fortress, according to Gen. Cunningham (Archaeol. Survey, ii. 335), is derived from a small Hindū shrine within it dedicated to the hermit Gwāli or Gwāli-pā, after whom the fortress received the name of Gwāli-āwar, contracted into Gwāliār.

c. 1020.—"From Kanauj, in travelling south-east, on the western side of the Ganges, you come to Jajáhotí, at a distance of 30 parasangs, of which the capital is Kajuráha. In that country are the two forts of Gwáliár and Kálinjar...."—Al-Birūnī, in Elliot, i. 57-8.

1196.—The royal army marched "towards Gālewār, and invested that fort, which is the pearl of the necklace of the castles of Hind, the summit of which the nimble-footed wind from below cannot reach, and on the bastions of which the clouds have never cast their shade...."—Hasan Nizāmī, in Elliot, ii. 227.

c. 1340.—"The castle of Gālyūr, of which we have been speaking, is on the top of a high hill, and appears, so to speak, as if it were itself cut out of the rock. There is no other hill adjoining; it contains reservoirs of water, and some 20 wells walled round are attached to it: on the walls are mounted mangonels and catapults. The fortress is ascended by a wide road, traversed by elephants and horses. Near the castle-gate is the figure of an elephant carved in stone, and surmounted by a figure of the driver. Seeing it from a distance one has no doubt about its being a real elephant. At the foot of the fortress is a fine city, entirely built of white stone, mosques and houses alike; there is no timber to be seen in it, except that of the gates."—Ibn Batuta, ii. 193.

1526.—"I entered Guâliâr by the Hâtipûl gate.... They call an elephant hâti, and a gate pûl. On the outside of this gate is the figure of an elephant, having two elephant drivers on it...."—Baber, p. 383.

[c. 1590.—"Gualiar is a famous fort, in which are many stately buildings, and there is a stone elephant over the gate. The air and water of this place are both esteemed good. It has always been celebrated for fine singers and beautiful women...."—Ayeen, Gladwin, ed. 1800, ii. 38; ed. Jarrett, ii. 181.]

1610.—"The 31 to Gwalere, 6 c., a pleasant Citie with a Castle.... On the West side of the Castle, which is a steep craggy cliffe of 6 c. compasse at least (divers say eleven).... From hence to the top, leads a narrow stone cawsey, walled on both sides; in the way are three gates to be passed, all exceeding strong, with Courts of guard to each. At the top of all, at the entrance of the last gate, standeth a mightie Elephant of stone very curiously wrought...."—Finch, in Purchas, i. 426-7.

1616.—"23. Gwalier, the chief City so called, where the Mogol hath a very rich Treasury of Gold and Silver kept in this City, within an exceeding strong Castle, wherein the King's Prisoners are likewise kept. The Castle is continually guarded by a very strong Company of Armed Souldiers."—Terry, ed. 1665, p. 356.

[ " "Kualiar," in Sir T. Roe's List, Hak. Soc. ii. 539.]

c. 1665.—"For to shut them up in Goualeor, which is a Fortress where the Princes are ordinarily kept close, and which is held impregnable, it being situated upon an inaccessible Rock, and having within itself good water, and provision enough for a Garison; that was not an easie thing."—Bernier, E.T. 5; [ed. Constable, 14].

c. 1670.—"Since the Mahometan Kings became Masters of this Countrey, this Fortress of Goualeor is the place where they secure Princes and great Noblemen. Chaiehan coming to the Empire by foul-play, caus'd all the Princes and Lords whom he mistrusted, to be seiz'd one after another, and sent them to the Fortress of Goualeor; but he suffer'd them all to live and enjoy their estates. Aureng-zeb his Son acts quite otherwise; for when he sends any great Lord to this place, at the end of nine or ten days he orders him to be poison'd; and this he does that the people may not exclaim against him for a bloody Prince."—Tavernier, E.T. ii. 35; [ed. Ball, i. 63].

GYAUL (properly GAYĀL), [Skt. go, 'an ox'], s. A large animal (Gavaeus frontalis, Jerd., Bos f. Blanford, Mammalia, 487) of the ox tribe, found wild in various forest tracts to the east of India. It is domesticated by the Mishmis of the Assam valley, and other tribes as far south as Chittagong. In Assam it is called Mithan.

[c. 1590.—In Arakan, "cows and buffaloes there are none, but there is an animal which has somewhat of the characteristics of both, piebald and particoloured whose milk the people drink."—Āīn, ed. Jarrett, ii. 119.]

1824.—"In the park several uncommon animals are kept. Among them the Ghyal, an animal of which I had not, to my recollection, read any account, though the name was not unknown to me. It is a very noble creature, of the ox or buffalo kind, with immensely large horns...."—Heber, i. 34.

1866-67.—"I was awakened by an extraordinary noise, something between a bull's bellow and a railway whistle. What was it? We started to our feet, and Fuzlah and I were looking to our arms when Adupah said, 'It is only the guyal calling; Sahib! Look, the dawn is just breaking, and they are opening the village gates for the beasts to go out to pasture.'

"These guyal were beautiful creatures, with broad fronts, sharp wide-spreading horns, and mild melancholy eyes. They were the indigenous cattle of the hills domesticated by these equally wild Lushais...."—Lt.-Col. T. Lewin, A Fly on the Wheel, &c., p. 303.

GYELONG, s. A Buddhist priest in Tibet. Tib. dGe-sLong, i.e. 'beggar of virtue,' i.e. a bhikshu or mendicant friar (see under BUXEE); but latterly a priest who has received the highest orders. See Jaeschke, p. 86.

1784.—"He was dressed in the festival habit of a gylong or priest, being covered with a scarlet satin cloak, and a gilded mitre on his head."—Bogle, in Markham's Tibet, 25.

GYM-KHANA, s. This word is quite modern, and was unknown 40 years ago. The first use that we can trace is (on the authority of Major John Trotter) at Rūrkī in 1861, when a gymkhana was instituted there. It is a factitious word, invented, we believe, in the Bombay Presidency, and probably based upon gend-khāna ('ball-house'), the name usually given in Hind. to an English racket-court. It is applied to a place of public resort at a station, where the needful facilities for athletics and games of sorts are provided, including (when that was in fashion) a skating-rink, a lawn-tennis ground, and so forth. The gym may have been simply a corruption of gend shaped by gymnastics, [of which the English public school short form gym passed into Anglo-Indian jargon]. The word is also applied to a meeting for such sports; and in this sense it has travelled already as far as Malta, and has since become common among Englishmen abroad. [The suggestion that the word originated in the P.—H. jamā'at-khana, 'a place of assemblage,' is not probable.]

1877.—"Their proposals are that the Cricket Club should include in their programme the games, &c., proposed by the promoters of a gymkhana Club, so far as not to interfere with cricket, and should join in making a rink and lawn-tennis, and badminton courts, within the cricket-ground enclosure."—Pioneer Mail, Nov. 3.

1879.—"Mr. A—— F—— can always be depended on for epigram, but not for accuracy. In his letters from Burma he talks of the Gymkhana at Rangoon as a sort of establissement [sic] where people have pleasant little dinners. In the 'Oriental Arcadia,' which Mr. F—— tells us is flavoured with naughtiness, people may do strange things, but they do not dine at Gymkhanas."—Ibid. July 2.

1881.—"R. E. Gymkhana at Malta, for Polo and other Ponies, 20th June, 1881."—Heading in Royal Engineer Journal, Aug. 1, p. 159.

1883.—"I am not speaking of Bombay people with their clubs and gymkhanas and other devices for oiling the wheels of existence...."—Tribes on My Frontier, 9.

GYNEE, s. H. gainī. A very diminutive kind of cow bred in Bengal. It is, when well cared for, a beautiful creature, is not more than 3 feet high, and affords excellent meat. It is mentioned by Aelian:

c. 250.—"There are other bullocks in India, which to look at are no bigger than the largest goats; these also are yoked, and run very swiftly."—De Nat. Anim., xv. 24.

c. 1590.—"There is also a species of oxen called gaini, small like gūt (see GOONT) horses, but very beautiful."—Āīn, i. 149.

[1829.—"... I found that the said tiger had feasted on a more delicious morsel,—a nice little Ghinee, a small cow."—Mem. of John Shipp, iii. 132.]

1832.—"We have become great farmers, having sown our crop of oats, and are building outhouses to receive some 34 dwarf cows and oxen (gynees) which are to be fed up for the table."—F. Parkes, Wanderings of a Pilgrim, i. 251.