RE: Here & the linked threads & pop entertainment sources &c:

A reference to Nordhoff is a reference to popular entertainment. It's young adult fiction:
Do we really think the Alabaman chantyman jotted down his extempore lyrics for young sailor Nordhoff?
Did young Nordhoff sound things out for himself, spelling, pronunciation and all, and keep notes for future reference?
Did author Nordhoff recall the lyrics from memory and guess at the spellings years after the fact?
Is it pure young adult reader popular fiction loosely based on true experience?


MARINGO is apparently a Swahili word. Which could mean it's of African origin?

Swahili could give English a run for the title of most appropriated/borrowed/stolen. The very word Swahili is not Bantu. It's Arabic. A 19th century Sub-Saharan 'African' Maringo, even borrowed and/or relevant to Nordhoff, wouldn't be in Roman alphabet.