Note 502 — PRIMO VIAGGIO INTORNO AL MONDO

These native names for cloves are “ghomodo” and “Bongalauant” in MS. 5,650. The principal names current for the clove in the eastern archipelago are foreign rather than native. In the Moluccas they are called gaumedi, which is a Sanskrit word meaning “cow’s marrow.” The most frequent name is cângkek which is said to be a corruption of the Chinese name theng-hia, meaning “odoriferous nails.” Another name is lawan to which the Malays prefix the words “flower” or “fruit” (as Pigafetta’s bongalauan), and is the name of the Telingas of India, who have always conducted the largest trade between India and the Malayan countries. Sec Crawfurd’s Dictionary, pp. 101, 102.