[1757.—"He was then beckoning to his servant that stood in a Ponsy above the Gaut."—A. Grant, Account of the Loss of Calcutta, ed. by Col. Temple, p. 7.]
c. 1760.—"Ponsways, Guard-boats."—Grose (Glossary).
1780.—"The Paunchways are nearly of the same general construction (as budgerows), with this difference, that the greatest breadth is somewhat further aft, and the stern lower."—Hodges, 39-40.
1790.—"Mr. Bridgwater was driven out to sea in a common paunchway, and when every hope forsook him the boat floated into the harbour of Masulipatam."—Calcutta Monthly Review, i. 40.
1823.—"... A panchway, or passage-boat ... was a very characteristic and interesting vessel, large and broad, shaped like a snuffer-dish; a deck fore-and-aft, and the middle covered with a roof of palm-branches...."—Heber, ed. 1844, i. 21.
1860.—"... You may suppose that I engage neither pinnace nor bujra (see [BUDGEROW]), but that comfort and economy are sufficiently obtained by hiring a small bhouliya (see [BOLIAH]) ... what is more likely at a fine weather season like this, a small native punsóee, which, with a double set of hands, or four oars, is a lighter and much quicker boat."—C. Grant, Rural Life in Bengal, 10 [with an illustration].
PAWL, s. Hind. pāl, [Skt. paṭala, 'a roof']. A small tent with two light poles, and steep sloping sides; no walls, or ridge-pole. I believe the statement 'no ridge-pole,' is erroneous. It is difficult to derive from memory an exact definition of tents, and especially of the difference between pawl and [shooldarry]. A reference to India failed in getting a reply. The shooldarry is not essentially different from the pawl, but is trimmer, tauter, better closed, and sometimes has two [flies]. [The names of tents are used in various senses in different parts. The Madras Gloss. defines a paul as "a small tent with two light poles, a ridge-bar, and steep sloping sides; the walls, if any, are very short, often not more than 6 inches high. Sometimes a second ridge above carries a second roof over the first; this makes a common shooting tent." Mr. G. R. Dampier writes: "These terms are, I think, used rather loosely in the N.W.P. Sholdārī generally means a servant's tent, a sort of tente d'abri, with very low sides: the sides are generally not more than a foot high; there are no doors only flaps at one end. Pāl is generally used to denote a sleeping tent for Europeans; the roof slopes on both sides from a longitudinal ridge-pole; the sides are much higher than in the sholdārī, and there is a door at one end; the fly is almost invariably single. The Raoti (see [ROWTEE]) is incorrectly used in some places to denote a sleeping pāl; it is, properly speaking, I believe, a larger tent, of the same kind, but with doors in the side, not at the end. In some parts I have found they use the word pāl as equivalent to sholdārī and bilṭan (? bell-tent).">[
1785.—"Where is the great quantity of baggage belonging to you, seeing that you have nothing besides tents, pawls, and other such necessary articles?"—Tippoo's Letters, p. 49.
1793.—"There were not, I believe, more than two small Pauls, or tents, among the whole of the deputation that escorted us from Patna."—Kirkpatrick's Nepaul, p. 118.
[1809.—"The shops which compose the Bazars, are mostly formed of blankets or coarse cloth stretched over a bamboo, or some other stick for a ridge-pole, supported at either end by a forked stick fixed in the ground. These habitations are called pals."—Broughton, Letters, ed. 1892, p. 20.]