[1773.—"... the governor ... sent also four Mossulas, or country boats, to accommodate him...."—Ives, 182.]
1783.—"The want of Massoola boats (built expressly for crossing the surf) will be severely felt."—In Life of Colebrooke, 9.
1826.—"The masuli-boats (which first word is merely a corruption of 'muchli,' fish) have been often described, and except that they are sewed together with coco-nut twine, instead of being fastened with nails, they very much resemble the high, deep, charcoal boats ... on the Ganges."—Heber, ed. 1844, ii. 174.
1879.—"Madras has no harbour; nothing but a long open beach, on which the surf dashes with tremendous violence. Unlucky passengers were not landed there in the ordinary sense of the term, but were thrown violently on the shore, from springy and elastic Masulah boats, and were occasionally carried off by sharks, if the said boats chanced to be upset in the rollers."—Saty. Review, Sept. 20.
MUSSUCK, s. The leathern water-bag, consisting of the entire skin of a large goat, stript of the hair and dressed, which is carried by a bhishtī (see [BHEESTY]). Hind. mashak, Skt. maśaka.
[1610.—"Mussocke." See under [RUPEE].
[1751.—"7 hands of Musuk" (probably meaning Bhistis).—In Yule, Hedges' Diary, Hak. Soc. II. xi.]
1842.—"Might it not be worth while to try the experiment of having 'mussucks' made of waterproof cloth in England?"—Sir G. Arthur, in Ind. Adm. of Lord Ellenborough, 220.
MUSSULMAN, adj. and s. Mahommedan. Muslim, 'resigning' or 'submitting' (sc. oneself to God), is the name given by Mahommed to the Faithful. The Persian plural of this is Muslimân, which appears to have been adopted as a singular, and the word Muslimān or Musalmān thus formed. [Others explain it as either from Ar. pl. Muslimīn, or from Muslim-mān, 'like a Muslim,' the former of which is adopted by Platts as most probable.]
1246.—"Intravimus terram Biserminorum. Isti homines linguam Comanicam loquebantur, et adhuc loquuntur; sed legem Sarracenorum tenent."—Plano Carpini, in Rec. de Voyages, &c. iv. 750.