Chapter CATTY to CAWNEY of C by The Hobson Jobson Dictionary

in the Tamil country is, however, hardly likely to have a non-mythological Skt. name. The Cauvery in flood, like other S. Indian rivers, assumes a reddish hue. And the form Kaveri has been explained by Bp. Caldwell as possibly from the Dravidian kavi, ‘red ochre’ or ka (ka-va), ‘a grove,’ and er-u, Tel. ‘a river,’ er-i, Tam. ‘a sheet of water’ ; thus either ‘red river’ or ‘grove river.’ [The Madras Admin. Gloss. takes it from ka, Tam. ‘grove,’ and eri, Tam. ‘tank,’ from its original source in a garden tank.] Ka- viri, however, the form found in inscriptions, affords a more satisfactory Tamil interpretation, viz. Ka- viri, ‘grove-extender,’ or developer. Any one who has travelled along the river will have noticed the thick groves all along the banks, which form a remarkable feature of the stream.

c. 150 A.D.—

“ [Greek Text] Xabhrou potamou ekbolai

Xabhric emporion.”—Ptolemy, lib. vii. 1. The last was probably represented by Kaveripatan.

c. 545.—“Then there is Sieledeba, i.e. Taprobane…and then again on the Continent, and further back, is Marallo, which exports conch-shells ; Kaber, which exports alabandinum.”—Cosmas, Topog. Christ. in Cathay, &c. clxxviii.

1310–11.—“After traversing the passes, they arrived at night on the banks of the river Kanobari, and bivouacked on the sands.”—Amïr Khusru, in Elliot, ii. 90.

The Cauvery appears to be ignored in the older European account and maps.

CAVALLY, s. This is mentioned as a fish of Ceylon by Ives, 1775 (p. 57). It is no doubt the same that is described in the quotation from Pyrard [see Gray’s note, Hak. Soc. i. 388]. It may represent the genus Equula, of which 12 spp. are described by Day (Fishes of India, pp. 237–242), two being named by different zoologists E. caballa. But Dr. Day hesitates to identify the fish now in question. The fish mentioned in the fourth and fifth quotations may be the same species ; but that in the fifth seems doubtful. Many of the spp. are extensively sun-dried, and eaten by the poor.

c. 1610.—“Ces Moucois pescheurs prennent entr’autres grande quantité d’vne sorte de petit poisson, qui n’est pas plus grande que la main et large comme vn petit bremeau. Les Portugais l’appellent Pesche cauallo. Il est le plus commun de toute ceste coste, et c’est de quoy ils font le plus grand trafic ; car ils le fendent par la moitié, ils le salent, et le font secher au soleil.”—Pyrard de Laval, i. 278 ; see also 309 ; [Hak. Soc. i. 427 ; ii. 127, 294, 299].

1626.—“The Ile inricht us with many good things ; Buffols,…oysters, Breams, Cavalloes, and store of other fish.”—Sir T. Herbert, 28.

1652.—“There is another very small fish vulgarly called Cavalle, which is good enough to eat, but not very wholesome.”—Philippus a Sanct. Trinitate, in Fr. Tr. 383.

1796.—“The ayla, called in Portuguese cavala, has a good taste when fresh, but when salted becomes like the herring.”—Fra Paolini, E. T., p. 240.

1875.—“Caranx denter (Bl. Schn.). This fish of wide range from the Mediterranean to the coast of Brazil, at St. Helena is known as the Cavalley, and is one of the best table fish, being indeed the salmon of St. Helena. It is taken in considerable numbers, chiefly during the summer months, around the coast, in not very deep water : it varies in length from nine inches up to two or three feet.”—St. Helena, by J. C. Melliss, p. 106.

CAWNEY, CAWNY, s. Tam. kani, ‘property,’ hence ‘land,’ [from Tam. kan, ‘to see,’ what is known and recognised,] and so a measure of land used in the Madras Presidency. It varies, of course, but the standard Cawny is considered to be = 24 manai or Grounds (q.v.), of 2,400 sq. f. each, hence 57,600 sq. f. or ac. 1.322. This is the only sense in which the word is used in the Madras dialect of the Anglo-Indian tongue. The ‘Indian Vocabulary’ of 1788 has the word in the form Connys, but with an unintelligible explanation.

1807.—“The land measure of the Jaghire is as follows : 24 Adies square=1 Culy ; 100 Culies=1 Canay. Out of what is called charity however the Culy is in fact a Bamboo 26 Adies or 22 feet 8 inches in length…the Ady or Malabar foot is therefore 10 46/100 inches nearly ; and the customary canay contains 51,375 sq. feet, or 1 18/100 acres nearly ; while the proper canay would only contain 43,778 feet.”—F. Buchanan, Mysore, &c. i. 6.

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