The word 'pigeon' is simply a corruption of 'business' and with its companion means _business_-English. Of Portuguese origin we have the most undoubted proof in such words as _mandarin_, from mandar, to order; _compradore_, from compra, to buy; _joss_, from Deös; _pa-te-le_, from padre; _maskei_, from masqué, never mind; _la-le-loon_, from ladraŏ, a thief; _grand_, from grande, the chief, as, for instance, 'grand chop;' _junk_, from the Portuguese sound of Chuĕng in the dialect of the East Coast, where they first traded. Of Indian words we have _bazaar_, a market; _Shroff_, money-dealer; _chunam_, lime; _tiffin_, luncheon; _go-down_, from kā-dang; _lac_, one hundred thousand; _cooly_, a labourer; _chit_, a note or letter; _bungalow_, a cottage; _kāārle_, curry, and others. Some peculiarities of expression and application of two words constantly used in Pigeon-English may be mentioned. The language was by no means confined to those of foreign, but it contained quite a vocabulary of words of Chinese origin; it was, in fact, a very mixed tongue. 'Chop,' for instance, is of perpetual occurrence. It is the same as 'chŏ,' which signifies literally any 'document.' A shopkeeper's bill is a 'chop,' so is an Imperial edict or a Mandarin's proclamation; a cargo-boat is a chop-boat; it does duty also for a promissory note, a receipt, a stamp or seal, a license for shipping off or to land cargo, a mark for goods, or a permit. 'First quality' is expressed by 'first chop,' and an inferior according to quality is No. 6, 8, or 10 'chop,' the worst of all. When a cooly is sent on an errand requiring haste, he is told to go 'chop-chop.' A 'first chop' man speaks for itself, so does 'bad chop man.' The variety of uses to which the compound word 'chow-chow' is put is almost endless, and in some cases have a directly opposite meaning. For instance, a 'No. 1 chow-chow' thing signifies 'utterly worthless' but when applied to a breakfast or dinner it means 'unexceptionally good.' A 'chow-chow' cargo is an assorted cargo; a general shop is a 'chow-chow' shop; provisions of all kinds are classed under the general head of 'chow-chow;' and, as may have been remarked in the list of the Factories, one was called the 'Chow-chow' from its being inhabited by divers Parsees, Moormen, or other natives of India.