1666.—"... with 110 paraos, and 100 catures (see [PROW], [CATUR]) and 80 tonees of broad beam, full of people ... the enemy displayed himself on the water to our caravels."—Faria y Sousa, Asia Portug. i. 66.
1672.—"... four fishermen from the town came over to us in a Tony."—Baldaeus, Ceylon (Dutch ed.), 89.
[1821.—In Travels on Foot through the Island of Ceylon, by J. Haafner, translated from the Dutch (Phillip's New Voyages and Travels, v. 6, 79), the words "thonij," "thony's" of the original are translated Funny, Funnies; this is possibly a misprint for Tunnies, which appears on p. 66 as the rendering of "thonij's." See Notes and Queries, 9th ser. iv. 183.]
1860.—"Amongst the vessels at anchor (at Galle) lie the dows of the Arabs, the Patamars of Malabar, the dhoneys of Coromandel."—Tennent's Ceylon, ii. 103.
DOOB, s. H. dūb, from Skt. dūrvā. A very nutritious creeping grass (Cynodon dactylon, Pers.), spread very generally in India. In the hot weather of Upper India, when its growth is scanty, it is eagerly sought for horses by the 'grass-cutters.' The natives, according to Roxburgh, quoted by Drury, cut the young leaves and make a cooling drink from the roots. The popular etymology, from dhūp, 'sunshine,' has no foundation. Its merits, its lowly gesture, its spreading quality, give it a frequent place in native poetry.
1810.—"The doob is not to be found everywhere; but in the low countries about Dacca ... this grass abounds; attaining to a prodigious luxuriance."—Williamson, V. M. i. 259.
DOOCAUN, s. Ar. dukkān, Pers. and H. dukān, 'a shop'; dukāndār, 'a shopkeeper.'
1554.—"And when you buy in the dukāns (nos ducões), they don't give picotaa (see [PICOTA]), and so the Dukándárs (os Ducamdares) gain...."—A. Nunes, 22.
1810.—"L'estrade elevée sur laquelle le marchand est assis, et d'où il montre sa marchandise aux acheteurs, est proprement ce qu'on appelle dukān; mot qui signifie, suivant son étymologie, une estrade ou plateforme, sur laquelle on se peut tenir assis, et que nous traduisons improprement par boutique."—Note by Silvestre de Sacy, in Relation de l'Egypte, 304.
[1832.—"The Dukhauns (shops) small, with the whole front open towards the street."—Mrs. Meer Hassan Ali, Observations, ii. 36.]