[1873.—"For the actual execution of works there was a Maramat Department constituted under the Collector."—Boswell, Man. of Nellore, 642.]
MARGOSA, s. A name in the S. of India and Ceylon for the Nīm (see [NEEM]) tree. The word is a corruption of Port. amargosa, 'bitter,' indicating the character of the tree. This gives rise to an old Indian proverb, traceable as far back as the Jātakas, that you cannot sweeten the nīm tree though you water it with syrup and ghee (Naturam expellas furcâ, &c.).
1727.—"The wealth of an evil man shall another evil man take from him, just as the crows come and eat the fruit of the margoise tree as soon as it is ripe."—Apophthegms translated in Valentijn, v. (Ceylon) 390.
1782.—"... ils lavent le malade avec de l'eau froide, ensuite ils le frottent rudement avec de la feuille de Margosier."—Sonnerat, i. 208.
1834.—"Adjacent to the Church stand a number of tamarind and margosa trees."—Chitty, Ceylon Gazetteer, 183.
MARKHORE, s. Pers. mār-khōr, 'snake-eater.' A fine wild goat of the Western Himālaya; Capra megaceros, Hutton.
[1851.—"Hence the people of the country call it the Markhor (eater of serpents)."—Edwardes, A Year on the Punjab Frontier, i. 474.
[1895.—"Never more would he chase the ibex and makor."—Mrs. Croker, Village Tales, 112.]
MARTABAN, n.p. This is the conventional name, long used by all the trading nations, Asiatic and European, for a port on the east of the Irawadi Delta and of the Sitang estuary, formerly of great trade, but now in comparative decay. The original name is Talaing, Mūt-ta-man, the meaning of which we have been unable to ascertain.
1514.—"... passed then before Martaman, the people also heathens; men expert in everything, and first-rate merchants; great masters of accounts, and in fact the greatest in the world. They keep their accounts in books like us. In the said country is great produce of lac, cloths, and provisions."—Letter of Giov. da Empoli, p. 80.