b.—
1624.—Antonio Andrada in his journey across the Himālaya, speaking of the sufferings of travellers from the poisonous emanations.—See Ritter, Asien., iii. 444.
1661-2.—"Est autem Langur mons omnium altissimus, ita ut in summitate ejus viatores vix respirare ob aëris subtilitatim queant: neque is ob virulentas nonnullarum herbarum exhalationes aestivo tempore, sine manifesto vitae periculo transire possit."—PP. Dorville and Grueber, in Kircher, China Illustrata, 65. It is curious to see these intelligent Jesuits recognise the true cause, but accept the fancy of their guides as an additional one!
(?) "La partie supérieure de cette montagne est remplie d'exhalaisons pestilentielles."—Chinese Itinerary to Hlassa, in Klaproth, Magasin Asiatique, ii. 112.
1812.—"Here begins the Esh—this is a Turkish word signifying Smell ... it implies something the odour of which induces indisposition; far from hence the breathing of horse and man, and especially of the former, becomes affected."—Mir Izzet Ullah, in J. R. As. Soc. i. 283.
1815.—"Many of the coolies, and several of the Mewattee and Ghoorkha sepoys and chuprasees now lagged, and every one complained of the bīs or poisoned wind. I now suspected that the supposed poison was nothing more than the effect of the rarefaction of the atmosphere from our great elevation."—Fraser, Journal of a Tour, &c., 1820, p. 442.
1819.—"The difficulty of breathing which at an earlier date Andrada, and more recently Moorcroft had experienced in this region, was confirmed by Webb; the Butias themselves felt it, and call it bis ki huwa, i.e. poisonous air; even horses and yaks ... suffer from it."—Webb's Narrative, quoted in Ritter, Asien., ii. 532, 649.
1845.—"Nous arrivâmes à neuf heures au pied du Bourhan-Bota. La caravane s'arrêta un instant ... on se montrait avec anxiété un gaz subtil et léger, qu'on nommait vapeur pestilentielle, et tout le monde paraissait abattu et découragé.... Bientot les chevaux se refusent à porter leurs cavaliers, et chacun avance à pied et à petits pas ... tous les visages blémissent, on sent le cœur s'affadir, et les jambes ne pouvent plus fonctionner.... Une partie de la troupe, par mesure de prudence s'arrêta ... le reste par prudence aussi épuisa tous les efforts pour arriver jusqu'au bout, et ne pas mourir asphyxié au milieu de cet air chargé d'acide carbonique," &c.,—Huc et Gabet, ii. 211: [E. T., ii. 114].
[BISMILLAH, intj., lit. "In the name of God"; a pious ejaculation used by Mahommedans at the commencement of any undertaking. The ordinary form runs—Bi-'smi 'llāhi 'r-raḥmāni 'r-raḥīm, i.e. "In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful," is of Jewish origin, and is used at the commencement of meals, putting on new clothes, beginning any new work, &c. In the second form, used at the time of going into battle or slaughtering animals, the allusion to the attribute of mercy is omitted.
[1535.—"As they were killed after the Portuguese manner without the bysmela, which they did not say over them."—Correa, iii. 746.]