Tabasca, or Tobasco (for it is written both ways), a country on the borders of Yucatan, described by the conquerors as difficult to march through, on account of numerous pools of water and extensive swamps. Clavigero says the present name was given by the Spaniards; but I know of no Spanish word at all resembling it, therefore presume they must have adopted the native appellation. The language was, and perhaps is, the Maya. Tarasca; name of a people inhabiting the country of Mechouacan, celebrated for its numerous fountains of fine water. Language appears to have been Mexican. (See Clavigero, vol. i. p. 10., edit. 4to., Cullen's _Trans._; and Dr. Prichard's _Phys. Hist._, &c., vol. v. p. 340.) The mention of Tarasca reminds one of Tarascon, also written Tarasca. Two instances occur in the country of Celtic Gaul; both on rivers: the one on the Rhone, the other on the Arriège. Having for the present finished with America, one is naturally led to inquire whether _asca_ occurs in other parts of the world, in like manner associated with water. Before doing so, however, I would observe that Thompson, in his _Essay on Etymologies_, &c., p. 10., remarks that "The Gothic termination _sk_, the origin of our _ish_, the Saxon _isk_, signifying _assimilated_, _identified_, is used in all dialects, to the very shores of China," &c. He instances "Tobolsk" and "Uvalsk." If, then, it be true that _[=a]_ and _[=a]b_ are primitive sounds denoting water in many languages, may we not here have a combination of _[=a]_ and _sk_? But to proceed. Malte Brun mentions a city in Arabia called "Asca," one of the places sacked by the expedition under Elius Gallus (_Précis de la Géographie_, &c., vol. i. p. 179.). Generally speaking, Arabia is not abounding in waters; but that very circumstance renders celebrated, more or less, every locality where they do abound and are pure. The city, therefore, might have been notable for its walls and fountains of pure water. Aska is the name of a river in Japan, remarkable for its great depth, and for frequently changing its course (Golownin, vol. iii. p. 149.). In north-eastern Asia we find a river called after the Tongouse, _Tongousca_. Query, Tungouse-asca? and, following up Thompson's examples before mentioned, we may name Yakutsk, Irkutsk, Ochotsk, Kamtchatka, &c., all intimately connected with water. Then there is Kandalask, a gulf of the White Sea; Tchesk, another; Kaniska-Zemblia, an island, &c. In Spain, Huesca is on the river Barbato. The two Gradiskas in Hungary, &c. are the one on the Sâve, the other on the Lisonzo. Zaleski (Pereslav) is seated on a lake; but Malte-Brun says the name means "au-delà des bois." This may or may not be the case. The sound is here, and in connexion with water. Pultusk is nearly surrounded by water, the Narew. Askersan, in Sweden, stands on a lake. Gascon, {490} says Rafinesque, means "beyond the sea" (_American Nations_, &c., No. 2. p. 41.).