Doura (1788); Kibitka (1780); Hawaiian Fish; New Orleans

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DOURA (continued)

TRAVELS THROUGH SYRIA AND EGYPT
IN THE YEARS 1783, 1784, and 1785
by M. C-F. Volney
Dublin: Burnet, White, Byrne, W. Porter, Moore and Dornin
1788

Pg. 197:  Palestine abounds in sesamum, from which oil is procured, and doura* as good as that of Egypt.
*A sort of pulse, something like lentils, which grows in clusters; on a stalk six or seven feet high.  It is the _belcus orgudinaceus_ of Linneaus.

(Slightly earlier than I posted recently--ed.)

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KIBITKA (continued)

   I just lost my notes for this book.
   OED has 1806 for "kibitka," meaning a Russian wagon (second definition, after "tent").
   OED cites "1780 Coxe _Russ._" 53 times.  "Kibitka" is in this work, in italics, at least five times.  It was explained thoroughly _twice_.  I don't know how it was missed.

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HAWAIIAN FISH

   This is like shooting fish in a barrel.
   I checked John Mariani's Hawaiian fish entries against THE FISH AND FISHERIES OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS by David Starr Jordan and Barton Warren Evermann (1902, but extracted from U.S. Fish Commission Report for 1901).  I already discussed "mahimahi," which Mariani dates to 1926.

AHI-Mariani, 1932
   Pg. 357, "Ahi...Gernio sibi."
AHOLE-Mariani, 1926
   Pg. 357, "Aholehole...Kuhlia malo."
AKULE-Mariani, 1902
   Pg. 357, "Akule...Trachurops crumenopthauus."
MOI-Mariani, 1926
   Pg. 358, "Moi...Polydactylus sexfilis."
ONO-Mariani, 1926
   Pg. 358, "Ono..."
OPAKA-PAKA-Mariani, 1926
   Pg. 358, "Opakapaka...Apsilus kelloggi."
OPELU-Mariani 1926
   Pg. 358, "Opelu...Decapterus pinnulatus."

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THE MANHATTANER IN NEW ORLEANS
OR, PHASES OF "CRESCENT CITY" LIFE
by A. Oakey Hall
New-York: J. S. Redfield
1851
L.S.U. Press, Baton Rouge
1976

Pg. 46:  ...a month or two back when ale and cocktails "were the cheese and nothin' else."
Pg. 60:  They "put up" (so the phrase goes for "lodging" in the South and West) at the St. Charles Hotel....
Pg. 77:  In short, a citizen in Louisiana soon finds that he must sue and be sued; marry and die; shave and get shaved (a la Wall-street meaning)....
Pg. 102:  Picayune dram-houses (better known among Crescent citizens as cabarets) smoke each other at every few steps, whatever way you turn.
Pg. 104: ..."holding their own."
Pg. 106:  ...Calaboose, or prison....
Pg. 161:  ...question whether it was orthodox to eat rum-omelette with "pompano" fish.

(A. Oakey Hall later became mayor of New York City.  He's described in the introduction as a keen observer of New Orleans life.  "Jambalaya" is not here.  Maybe he didn't eat it.  But 1851, and no "lagniappe"?--ed.)