rmerly also _ragusye_, was named from the Adriatic port
of _Ragusa_, and a _lateen_ sail is a _Latin_, _i.e._ Mediterranean,
sail; _gamboge_ is the Fr. _Cambodge_, Cambodia, and _indigo_ is from
Span. _indico_, Indian. Of wines, _malmsey_, chiefly remembered in
connection with George of Clarence, and _malvoisie_ are doublets, from
_Monemvasia_ in the Morea. _Port_ is named from _Oporto_, i.e. _o
porto_, the harbour (cf. _le Havre_), and _sherry_ (see p. 116) from
_Xeres_, Lat. _Caesaris_ (urbs); cf. _Saragossa_, from _Caesarea Augusta_.

But it is possible to be mistaken in connecting countries with products.
_Brazil_ wood is not named from the country, but _vice-versa_. It was
known as a dye-wood as early as the 12th century, and the name is found
in many of the European languages. The Portuguese navigators found large
quantities of it in South America and named the country accordingly.
They christened an island _Madeira_, timber, Lat. _materia_, for a
similar reason. The _canary_ comes from the Canary Islands, but its name
is good Latin. The largest of these islands, _Canaria_, was so called by
the Romans from the dogs found there. The _guinea_-fowl and _guinea_
gold came first from the west coast of Africa, but the _guinea-pig_ is a
native of Brazil. The name probably came from the _Guinea-men_, or
slave-ships, which regularly followed a triangular course. They sailed
outward to the west coast of Africa with English goods. These they
exchanged for slaves, whom they transported to the West Indies, the
horrible "middle passage," and finally they sailed homeward with New
World produce, including, no doubt, _guinea-pigs_ brought home by
sailors. The turkey is also called _guinea-fowl_ in the 17th century,
probably to be explained in the same way. The German name for
guinea-pig, _Meerschweinchen_, seems to mean little pig from over the
sea.

Guinea was a vague geographical expression in the 17th century, but not
so vague as India or Turkey. _Indian ink_ comes from China (Fr. _encre
de Chine_), and _Indian corn_ from America. The names given to the
_turkey_ are extraordinary. We are not surprised that, as an American
bird, it should be naturally connected with India; _cf._ West Indies,
Red Indian, etc. _Turk_ was in the 16th and 17th centuries a vague term
for non-Christians--

"Jews, _Turks_, infidels, and hereticks."
(Collect for Good Friday.)

and we find also _Turkey