E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Ballambangjan (The Straits of).
A sailor’s joke for a place where he may lay any wonderful adventure. These straits, he will tell us, are so narrow that a ship cannot pass through without jamming the tails of the monkeys which haunt the trees on each side of the strait; or any other rigmarole which his fancy may conjure up at the moment.
