c. 1785.—"Major Adams had sent on the 11th Captain Hebbert ... to throw a bridge over Shinga nullah."—Carraccioli, Life of Clive, i. 93.
1789.—"The ground which the enemy had occupied was entirely composed of sandhills and deep nullahs...."—Munro, Narrative, 224.
1799.—"I think I can show you a situation where two embrasures might be opened in the bank of the nullah with advantage."—Wellington, Despatches, i. 26.
1817.—"On the same evening, as soon as dark, the party which was destined to open the trenches marched to the chosen spot, and before daylight formed a nullah ... into a large parallel."—Mill's Hist. v. 377.
1843.—"Our march tardy because of the nullahs. Watercourses is the right name, but we get here a slip-slop way of writing quite contemptible."—Life of Sir C. Napier, ii. 310.
1860.—"The real obstacle to movement is the depth of the nullahs hollowed out by the numerous rivulets, when swollen by the rains."—Tennent's Ceylon, ii. 574.
NUMDA, NUMNA, s. Hind. namda, namdā, from Pers. namad, [Skt. namata]. Felt; sometimes a woollen saddle-cloth, properly made of felt. The word is perhaps the same as Ar. namaṭ, 'a coverlet,' spread on the seat of a sovereign, &c.
[1774.—"The apartment was full of people seated on Næmets (felts of camel hair) spread round the sides of the room...."—Hanway, Hist. Account of British Trade, i. 226.]
1815.—"That chief (Temugin or Chingiz), we are informed, after addressing the Khans in an eloquent harangue, was seated upon a black felt or nummud, and reminded of the importance of the duties to which he was called."—Malcolm, H. of Persia, i. 410.
[1819.—"A Kattie throws a nunda on his mare."—Trans. Lit. Soc. Bo. i. 279.]