1836.] Note on the Nautical Instruments of the Arabs. 793 



taken from the Malabar word, samoukkd, for which M. Klaproth is 

 at a loss to discover the origin*, though it seems obviously a corrup- 

 tion of the Sanscrit term ^^3fr chumbaka, the loadstone. The 

 Maldives alter a few of the names, particularly towards the south. 

 Some of these variations serve to throw light upon the doubt- 

 ful parts of the Arabic list. The orthography also, as written 

 in my presence by my intelligent friend Muhammad, better known 

 among his island countrymen as Ustdd-muallim, the master-pilot, 

 differs considerably, being more of the Malay style : one letter an 

 £ with a dot under it, is, he tells me, peculiar to his islands ; it has the 

 pronunciation of gh, not of £, while <J is pronounced more like g. The 

 following is his catalogue : 



y c t pronounced ghao, the north pole — of unknown derivation. 

 (i^.j 9 farghadem, a corruption oifarkadain. 

 \j*r-* ndsh, the alif substituted for ain. 

 Oji> dyouk, ditto. 



<J.**U> gdsil, used for a Lyrae in lieu of wdqd or Wega. 

 (JU.*« simdg, the Jj used for l — '. 

 i^-iy theridn, a corruption from suraya. 

 p ]<* murgh, the west — derivation unknown, perhaps corrupted 



' ixova maghib , — irua is the east. 

 I :^=w jozd, the star Rigel. 



**>> tir. Can this be Sirius, which is the next conspicuous star 



more southerly than Rigel ? Its Arabic name is ^c^juSJI. 



S-^l agrab, in lieu of akleil, shewing that the crown intended is 

 the akleil ul dqrab of the globe, which consists, according to Ulugh 

 Beg, of p, 5, 7) and y of Scorpio ; fi has a N. P. D. of 112^ only, which 

 would give an azimuth of 115° in latitude 28° north. 

 u»J-S galb. If this be correct in orthography, it would denote 

 t_^.axJ I L.J.* qalb u i dqrab, the scorpion's heart, or Antares : but if in- 

 tended for V^ the dog, it may stand for Sirius. The former is, how- 

 ever, most probable, because it confirms the Arabic name for the same 

 point which is t__>JL: 3 or simply the scorpion, of which the princi- 

 pal star is Antares. 



fily*^ hamdrim, the final m substituted for n. 



ij"*> sil, pronounced silli, an unknown substitute for soheil, which 



will be seen to be removed further south ; perhaps it is the local name 

 of Canopus, corrupted from the Arabic. 



* Klaproth sur l'invention de la boussole, p. 32. 



5 L 



