says Rafinesque, means "beyond the sea" (American Nations, &c., No. 2. p. 41.).
Madagascar. Curious the similarity between this name of an island and the American names Madagaska and Madawaska. By the way, I forgot to notice of this last, that Captain Levinge, in his Echoes from the Back Woods, &c., vol. i. p. 150., derives it from Madawas (Micmac), a "porcupine;" whilst The Angler in Canada (Lanman), p. 229., says that it means "never frozen," because part of the river never freezes. Which is right?
Tcherkask. Every one knows that the capital of the Don Cossacks is eminently a water city. According to Pallas, the Circassians (Tcherkesses) once were located in the Crimea. They may have extended their influence to the Don, and the name in question may be a synthetic form of Tcherkesse-aska.
Damasca (Latinised Damascus) is famed all over the East for its waters. The name of the ancient city was Damas, "Le Demechk, ou Chamel-Dimichk, des Orientaux" (Malte-Brun, viii. 215.).
The modern city is said to be called Damas, or I Domeschk, though it seems more generally known as El Sham. Bryant says it was called by the natives Damasec and Damakir, the latter meaning the city (Caer?) of Dams, or of Adama (Mythology, &c., vol. i. p. 69.). Can it have once been Adama, or Dama-asca?
In Great Britain we have rivers and lakes called severally Esk, Exe or Isca, Axe, and Usk.
Axe seems to have been written Asca at one time; for Lambarde gives Ascanmynster as the Saxon name of Axminster. Hence, also, we may infer that Axholme Island was once Ascanholme. The Exe was probably Esk, i.e. water, or river: it certainly was Uske. Iska is the British Isk Latinised by Ptolemy; for Camden says Exeter was called by the Welsh Caerisk, &c. Usk or Uske was written Osca by Gyraldo Camb. (See Lambarde.)
Kyleska, or Glendha, ferry in Sutherlandshire. Kyle-aska? Kyles (Ir.), a frith or strait.
Ask occurs frequently as the first syllable of names in England, and such places will be almost invariably found connected with water. Camden mentions a family of distinguished men in Richmondshire named Aske, from whom perhaps some places derive their names, as p. ex. the Askhams, Askemoore, &c. Askrigg, however, being in the neighbourhood of some remarkable waterfalls (Camden), may have reference to them.
Now, from places let us turn to things, first noticing that usk, in modern Welsh, means river. In Irish, uisce or uiske is water. In Hebrew and Chaldee, hisca is to wash or to drink. (See Introduction to Valancey's Irish Dictionary.) In the same we find ascu (ancient Irish), a water-serpent or dog; iasc, fish; easc (Irish), water, same as esk. Chalmers, in "Caledonia," &c., has easc or esc (Gael.), water; easc lan (Gael.), the full water.