[1554.—"All the spoil of Mombasa that came into the general stock was sold by leilão."—Castanheda, Bk. ii. ch. 13.]
1598.—"In Goa there is holden a daylie assemblie ... which is like the meeting upõ the burse in Andwarpe ... and there are all kindes of Indian commodities to sell, so that in a manner it is like a Faire ... it beginneth in ye morning at 7 of the clocke, and continueth till 9 ... in the principal streete of the citie ... and is called the Leylon, which is as much as to say, as an outroop ... and when any man dieth, all his goods are brought thether and sold to the last pennieworth, in the same outroop, whosoever they be, yea although they were the Viceroyes goodes...."—Linschoten, ch. xxix.; [Hak. Soc. i. 184; and compare Pyrard de Laval, Hak. Soc. ii. 52, who spells the word Laylon].
c. 1610.—"... le mary vient frapper à la porte, dont la femme faisant fort l'estonnée, prie le Portugais de se cacher dans vne petite cuue à pourcelaine, et l'ayant fait entrer là dedans, et ferme très bien à clef, ouurit la porte a son mary, qui ... le laissa tremper là iusqu'au lendemain matin, qu'il fit porter ceste cuue au marché, ou lailan ainsi qu'ils appellent...."—Mocquet, 344.
Linschoten gives an engraving of the Rua Direita in Goa, with many of these auctions going on, and the superscription: "O Leilao que se faz cada dia pola menhã na Rua direita de Goa." The Portuguese word has taken root at Canton Chinese in the form yélang; but more distinctly betrays its origin in the Amoy form lé-lang and Swatow loylang (see Giles; also Dennys's Notes and Queries, vol. i.).
NEELGYE, NILGHAU, &c., s. Hind. nīlgāū, nīlgāī, līlgāī, i.e. 'blue cow'; the popular name of the great antelope, called by Pallas Antilope tragocamelus (Portax pictus of Jerdon, [Boselaphus tragocamelus of Blanford, Mammalia, 517]), given from the slaty blue which is its predominant colour. The proper Hind. name of the animal is rojh (Skt. ṛiśya, or ṛishya).
1663.—"After these Elephants are brought divers tamed Gazelles, which are made to fight with one another; as also some Nilgaux, or grey oxen, which in my opinion are a kind of Elands, and Rhinoceross, and those great Buffalos of Bengala ... to combat with a Lion or Tiger."—Bernier, E.T. p. 84; [ed. Constable, 262; in 218 nilsgaus; in 364, 377, nil-ghaux].
1773.—"Captain Hamilton has been so obliging as to take charge of two deer, a male and a female, of a species which is called neelgow, and is, I believe, unknown in Europe, which he will deliver to you in my name."—Warren Hastings to Sir G. Colebrooke, in Gleig, i. 288.
1824.—"There are not only neelghaus, and the common Indian deer, but some noble red-deer in the park" (at Lucknow).—Heber, ed. 1844, i. 214.
1882.—"All officers, we believe, who have served, like the present writers, on the canals of Upper India, look back on their peripatetic life there as a happy time ... occasionally on a winding part of the bank one intruded on the solitude of a huge nílgai."—Mem. of General Sir W. E. Baker, p. 11.
NEEM, s. The tree (N. O. Meliaceae) Azadirachta indica, Jussieu; Hind. nīm (and nīb, according to Playfair, Taleef Shereef, 170), Mahr. nimb, from Skt. nimba. It grows in almost all parts of India, and has a repute for various remedial uses. Thus poultices of the leaves are applied to boils, and their fresh juice given in various diseases; the bitter bark is given in fevers; the fruit is described as purgative and emollient, and as useful in worms, &c., whilst a medicinal oil is extracted from the seeds; and the gum also is reckoned medicinal. It is akin to the bakain (see [BUCKYNE]), on which it grafts readily.