Cumshaw

[Sarah]

A present or bonus; -- originally applied to that paid on shipswhich entered the port of Canton. S. Wells Williams.

[Sarah]

International seagoing term for petty graft or secret commissions.

[Sarah]

Cumshaw: In the Coast Guard, at least (this may be an incident of perpetual under-funding), the commonest definition of cumshaw [verb] is pretty much identical to your first definition of scrounge [verb]. To cumshaw is to get by irregular means--exchanging favors, calling in debts, cutting corners with procurement--what an individual Coastie, a group, a cutter, or the like should be able to get by regular ones.