1691.—"In orâ Occidentali, quae Malabarorum est, hyems â mense Aprili in Septembrem usque dominatur: in littore verò Orientali, quod Hollandi de Kust van Choromandel, Oram Coromandellae vocant trans illos montes, in iisdem latitudinis gradibus, contrariô planè modô â Septembri usque ad Aprilem hyemem habent."—Iobi Lusdofi, ad suam Historiam Commentarius, 101.
1770.—"The mere breadth of these mountains divides summer from winter, that is to say, the season of fine weather from the rainy ... all that is meant by winter in India is the time of the year when the clouds ... are driven violently by the winds against the mountains," &c.—Raynal, tr. 1777, i. 34.
WOOD-APPLE, s. [According to the Madras Gloss. also known as Curd Fruit, Monkey Fruit, and Elephant Apple, because it is like an elephant's skin.] A wild fruit of the N.O. Aurantiaceae growing in all the drier parts of India (Feronia elephantum, Correa). It is somewhat like the bel (see [BAEL]) but with a still harder shell, and possesses some of its medicinal virtue. In the native pharmacopœia it is sometimes substituted (Moodeen Sherif, [Watt, Econ. Dict. iii. 324 seqq.]). Buchanan-Hamilton calls it the Kot-bel (Kaṭhbel), (Eastern India, ii. 787)].
1875.—"Once upon a time it was announced that the Pádsháh was about to pass through a certain remote village of Upper India. And the village heads gathered in pancháyat to consider what offering they could present on such an unexampled occasion. Two products only of the village lands were deemed fit to serve as nazrána. One was the [custard-apple], the other was the wood-apple ... a wild fruit with a very hard shelly rind, something like a large lemon or small citron converted into wood. After many pros and cons, the custard-apple carried the day, and the village elders accordingly, when the king appeared, made salám, and presented a large basket of custard-apples. His Majesty did not accept the offering graciously, but with much abusive language at being stopped to receive such trash, pelted the simpletons with their offering, till the whole basketful had been squashed upon their venerable heads. They retired, abashed indeed, but devoutly thanking heaven that the offering had not been of wood-apples!"—Some Unscientific Notes on the History of Plants (by H. Y.) in Geog. Mag., 1875, pp. 49-50. The story was heard many years ago from Major William Yule, for whom see under [TOBACCO].
WOOD-OIL, or GURJUN OIL, s. Beng.—H. garjan. A thin balsam oil drawn from a great forest tree (N.O. Dipterocarpeae) Dipterocarpus turbinatus, Gaertn., and from several other species of Dipt., which are among the finest trees of Transgangetic India. Trees of this N.O. abound also in the Malay Archipelago, whilst almost unknown in other parts of the world. The celebrated Borneo camphor is the product of one such tree, and the [saul-wood] of India of another. Much wood-oil is exported from the Burmese provinces, the Malay Peninsula, and Siam. It is much used in the East as a natural varnish and preservative of timber; and in Indian hospitals it is employed as a substitute for copaiva, and as a remedy for leprosy (Hanbury & Flückiger, Watt, Econ. Dict. iii. 167 seqq.). The first mention we know of is c. 1759 in Dalrymple's Or. Repertory in a list of Burma products (i. 109).
WOOLOCK, OOLOCK, s. [Platts in his Hind. Dict. gives ulāq, ulāk, as Turkish, meaning 'a kind of small boat.' Mr. Grierson (Bihar Peasant Life, 42), among the larger kinds of boats, gives ulānk, "which has a long narrow bow overhanging the water in front." Both he and Mr. Grant (Rural Life in Bengal, 25) give drawings of this boat, and the latter writes: "First we have the bulky Oolák, or baggage boat of Bengal, sometimes as gigantic as the Putelee (see [PATTELLO]), and used for much the same purposes. This last-named vessel is a clinker-built boat—that is having the planks overlapping each other, like those in a London wherry; whereas in the round smooth-sided oolak and most country boats, they are laid edge to edge, and fastened with iron clamps, having the appearance of being stitched.">[
1679.—"Messrs. Vincent" (&c.) ... "met the Agent (on the Hoogly R.) in Budgeroes and Oolankes."—Fort St. Geo. Consns., Sept. 14. In Notes and Exts., Madras, 1871.
[1683.—"... 10 Ulocks for Souldiers, etc."—Hedges, Diary, Hak. Soc. i. 76.
[1760.—"20 Hoolucks 6 Oars at 28 Rs. per month."—In Long, 227.]
1764.—"Then the Manjees went after him in a wollock to look after him."—Ibid. 383.