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JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. XIII. 



Observe "drugster" for "druggist": "The berries the 

 dragsters in the city do sell in their shops"; and " sallettings" 

 for " salads." " The Dutch on that Island in their Gardens 

 have Lettice, Rosemary, Sage, and all other Herbs and Sal- 

 lettings that we have in these Countreys." The old Italian 

 word is salata, " salted or pickled (herbs)." 



I rather distrust Knox's taste in vegetables, I must say. 

 He speaks of one herb which " being boy led is almost as 

 good as asparagus." I have never met with that delicious 

 herb yet, and I take leave to doubt the assertion. 



The jambu * fruit is to him " amiable to the eye." The 

 expressions, " rice is more plenty here than there," and 

 " monies was very low with us," show interesting changes 

 in idiom. 



Two words now obsolete deserve mention : one is "over- 

 thwart." Speaking of talipot leaves : "With these they make 

 their tents ; fixing sticks into the ground and laying other 

 pieces of wood overthwart after the manner of the roof of 

 an house, and so lay their leaves over all to shoot the 

 rains off." The other is "tarriance," meaning sojourn or 

 remaining. Even " tarry" is now seldom seen, and " tarriance" 

 never. 



Some changes in spelling — and there are many — are note- 

 worthy. Hoes used in cultivating paddy fields Knox spells 

 " houghs," no doubt pronounced hoes. Of. the spelling and 

 pronunciation of " dough " in making bread. It is odd that 

 we have altered " hough " to " hoe," while we have altered 

 the old " plow " to " plough," in the one case from complex 

 to simple and in the other from simple to complex. Blue, the 

 colour, Knox spells " blew." His spelling and the expression 

 he uses, " several black and blew blows," bring out forcibly 

 the actual connection there is in etymology between " blue " 

 and "blow." Blue is the colour produced by blows. 



By some freak or other Knox spells "glue" "glew," 



* Siij. jambara,, colloq. jambu, "rose apple, 1 ' Eugenia jambosa. — B.. 

 Hon. Sec. 



