Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive c10.15790

c10.15790

WANGHEE, WHANGEE, s. The trade name for a slender yellow bamboo with beautifully regular and short joints, imported from Japan. We cannot give the origin of the term with any conviction. The two following suggestions may embrace or indicate the origin. (1). Rumphius mentions a kind of bamboo called by him *Arundinarbor fera*, the native name of which is Bulu swangy (see in vol. iv. cap. vii. et seqq.). As *buluh* is Malay for bamboo, we presume that *swangi* is also Malay, but we do not know its meaning. (2). Our friend Professor Terrien de la Couperie notes: "In the *K'ang-hi tze-tien*, 118, 119, the *Huang-tchu* is described as follows: 'A species of bamboo, very hard, with the joints close together; the skin is as white as snow; the larger kind can be used for boats, and the smaller used for pipes, &c.' See also Wells Williams, *Syllabic Dict. of the Chinese Lang.* p. 251.