Chapter MUGGUR to MUNGOOSE of M by The Hobson Jobson Dictionary

Petition of Rogoodee, Weaver of Hugly, in Hedges, Diary, March 26 ; [Hak. Soc. i. 73].

1705.—“Malle- molies et autre diverses sortes de toiles…stinquerques et les belles mousselines.”—Luillier, 78.

MUNCHEEL, MANJEEL, s. This word is proper to the S. W. coast ; Malayal. manjil, mañchal, from Skt. mancha. It is the name of a kind of hammock-litter used on that coast as a substitute for palankin or dooly. It is substantially the same as the dandy of the Himalaya, but more elaborate. Correa describes but does not name it.

1561.—“…He came to the factory in a litter which men carried on their shoulders. These are made with thick canes, bent upwards and arched, and from them are suspended some clothes half a fathom in width, and a fathom and a half in length ; and at the extremities pieces of wood to sustain the cloth hanging from the pole ; and upon this cloth a mattress of the same size as the cloth…the whole very splendid, and as rich as the gentlemen…may desire.”—Correa, Three Voyages, &c., p. 199.

1811.—“The Inquisition is about a quarter of a mile distant from the convent, and we proceeded thither in manjeels.”—Buchanan, Christian Researches, 2nd ed., 171.

1819.—“Muncheel, a kind of litter resembling a sea-cot or hammock, hung to a long pole, with a moveable cover over the whole, to keep off the sun or rain. Six men will run with one from one end of the Malabar coast to the other, while twelve are necessary for the lightest palanquin.”—Welsh, ii. 142.

1844.—“Muncheels, with poles complete.…Poles, Muncheel-, Spare.”—Jameson’s Bombay Code, Ordnance Nomenclature.

1862.—“We…started…in Munsheels or hammocks, slung to bamboos, with a shade over them, and carried by six men, who kept up unearthly yells the whole time.” —Markham, Peru and India, 353.

c. 1886.—“When I landed at Diu, an officer met me with a Muncheel for my use, viz. a hammock slung to a pole, and protected by an awning.”—M.-Gen. R. H. Keatinge.

A form of this word is used at Réunion, where a kind of palankin is called “le manchy.” It gives a title to one of Leconte de Lisle’s Poems :

c. 1858.—

“Sous un nuage frais de claire mousseline
Tous les dimanches au matin,
Tu venais à la ville en manchy, de rotin,
Par les rampes de la colline.”

Le Manchy.

The word has also been introduced by the Portuguese into Africa in the forms maxilla, and machilla.

1810.—“…tangas, que elles chamão maxilas.”—Annaes Maritimas, iii. 434.

1880.—“The Portuguese (in Quilliman) seldom even think of walking the length of their own street, and…go from house to house in a sort of palanquin, called here a machilla (pronounced masheela). This usually consists of a pole placed upon the shoulders of the natives, from which is suspended a long plank of wood, and upon that is fixed an old-fashioned-looking chair, or sometimes two. Then there is an awning over the top. hung all round with curtains. Each machilla requires about 6 to 8 bearers, who are all dressed alike in a kind of livery.”—A Journey in E. Africa, by M. A. Pringle, p. 89.

MUNGOOSE, s. This is the popular Anglo-Indian name of the Indian ichneumons, represented in the South by Mangusta Mungos (Elliot), or Herpestes griseus (Geoffroy) of naturalists, and in Bengal by Herpestes malaccensis. [Blanford (Mammalia, 119 seqq.) recognises eight species, the “Common Indian Mungoose” being described as Herpestes mungo.] The word is Telugu, mangisu, or mungisa. In Upper India the animal is called newal, neola, or nyaul. Jerdon gives mangus however as a Deccani and Mahr. word ; [Platts gives it as dialectic, and very doubtfully derives it from Skt. makshu, ‘moving quickly.’ In Ar. it is bint-’arus ‘daughter of the bridegroom,’ in Egypt kitt or katt Faraun, ‘Pharaoh’s cat’ (Burton, Ar. Nights, ii. 369].

1673.—“…a Mongoose is akin to a Ferret.…”—Fryer, 116.

1681.—“The knowledge of these antidotal herbs they have learned from the Mounggutia, a kind of Ferret.”—Knox, 115.

1685.—“They have what they call a Mangus, creatures something different from ferrets ; these hold snakes in great antipathy, and if they once discover them never give up till they have killed them.”—Ribeyró, f. 56v.

Bluteau gives the