Chapter LAXIMANA to LEWCHEW of L by The Hobson Jobson Dictionary

LAXIMANA to LEWCHEW

LAXIMANA, LAQUESIMENA, &c., s. Malay Laksamana, from Skt. lakshmana, ‘having fortunate tokens’ (which was the name of a mythical hero, brother of Rama). This was the title of one of the highest dignitaries in the Malay State, commander of the forces.

1511.—“There used to be in Malaca five principal dignities … the third is Lassamane; this is Admiral of the Sea.…”—Alboquerque, by Birch, iii. 87.

c. 1539.—“The King accordingly set forth a Fleet of two hundred Sails.… And of this Navy he made General the great Laque Xemena, his Admiral, of whose Valor the History of the Indiaes hath spoken in divers-places.”—Pinto, in Cogan, p. 38.

1553.—“Lacsamana was harassed by the King to engage Dom Garcia; but his reply was: Sire, against the Portuguese and their high-sided vessels it is impossible to engage with low-cut lancharas like ours. Leave me (to act) for I know this people well, seeing how much blood they have cost me; good fortune is now with thee, and I am about to avenge you on them. And so he did.”—Barros, III. viii. 7.

[1615.—“On the morrow I went to take my leave of Laxaman, to whom all strangers business are resigned.”—Foster, Letters, iv. 6.]

LEAGUER, s. The following use of this word is now quite obsolete, we believe, in English; but it illustrates the now familiar German use of Lager-Bier, i.e. ‘beer for laying down, for keeping’ (primarily in cask). The word in this sense is neither in Minshew (1627), nor in Bayley (1730).

1747.—“That the Storekeeper do provide Leaguers of good Columbo or Batavia arrack.”—Ft. St. David Consn., May 5 (MS. Record in India Office).

1782.—“Will be sold by Public Auction by Mr. Bondfield, at his Auction Room, formerly the Court of Cutcherry … Square and Globe Lanthorns, a quantity of Country Rum in Leaguers, a Slave Girl, and a variety of other articles.”—India Gazette, Nov. 23.

LECQUE, s. We do not know what the word used by the Abbé Raynal in the following extract is meant for. It is perhaps a mistake for last, a Dutch weight.

1770.—“They (Dutch at the Cape) receive a still smaller profit from 60 lecques of red wine, and 80 or 90 of white, which they carry to Europe every year. The lecque weighs about 1,200 pounds.”—Raynal, E.T. 1777, i. 231.

LEE, s. Chin. li. The ordinary Chinese itinerary measure. Books of the Jesuit Missionaries generally interpret the modern li as 1/10 of a league, which gives about 3 li to the mile; more exactly, according to Mr. Giles, 27 4/5 li = 10 miles; but it evidently varies a good deal in different parts of China, and has also varied in the course of ages. Thus in the 8th century, data quoted by M. Vivien de St. Martin, from Père Gaubil, show that the li was little more than 1/5 of an English mile. And from several concurrent statements we may also conclude that the li is generalised so that a certain number of li, generally 100, stand for a day’s march. [Archdeacon Gray (China, ii. 101) gives 10 li as the equivalent of 3 1/3 English miles; Gen. Cunningham (Arch. Rep. i. 305) asserts that Hwen Thsang converts the Indian yojanas into Chinese li at the rate of 40 li per yojana, or of 10 li per kos.] 1585.—“By the said booke it is found that the Chinos haue amongst them but only three kind of measures; the which in their language are called lii, pu, and icham, which is as much as to say, or in effect, as a forlong, league, or iorney: the measure, which is called lii, hath so much space as a man’s voice on a plaine grounde may bee hearde in a quiet day, halowing or whoping with all the force and strength he may; and ten of these liis maketh a pu, which is a great Spanish league; and ten pus maketh a daye’s iourney, which is called icham, which maketh 12 (sic) long leagues.”—Mendoza, i. 21.

1861.—“In this part of the country a day’s march, whatever its actual distance, is called 100 li; and the li may therefore be taken as a measure of time rather than of distance.”—Col. Sarel, in J.R. Geog. Soc. xxxii. 11.

1878.—“D’après les clauses du contrat le voyage d’une longueur totale de 1,800 lis, ou 180 lieues, devait s’effectuer en 18 jours.”—L. Rousset, A Travers la Chine, 337.

LEECHEE, LYCHEE, s. Chin. li-chi, and in S. China (its native region) lai-chi; the beautiful and delicate fruit of the Nephelium litchi, Cambessèdes (N. O. Sapindaceae), a tree which has been for nearly a