la 
44 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [N.S., XVIU, 
assigned as an annual contribution; while at Bakla the salary 
of two priests was paid by the Raja. 
[p. 411.] In 1601, the Jesuits had two missions in Kastern 
Bengal, one at Jessore, the other at Chatigan. Owing, however, 
to disturbances, the Jesuit fathers were withdrawn, and the 
Church of Eastern Bengal was transferred to the care of August- 
inian monks from Goa. At the end of the sixteenth century 
there were churches at Jessore, Bakla, Dacca, Sripuir, and 
Noricol,! supported by Portuguese settlers and native converts. * 
Very little is said of the internal condition of the country. 
Dakafts infested the tidal branches of the Ganges at that time, 
as they did two centuries later. The country generally was 
remarkably fertile, and the abundance of corn and fruit almost 
incredible. Wherever they went the Hindu and Muhammadan 
inhabitants treated them with marked respect and kindness. 
Father Pimenta has left us the following charming description 
of the scenery of the Delta. 
‘‘ The route from Bakla to Jessore [Ciandeca] is so agreeable 
and picturesque that 1 have not seen its equal. Plains 
irrigated by numerous rivers whose banks are adorned with the 
most beautiful trees. On the one side you perceive large herds 
of deer, on the other flocks of cattle. I forbear mentioning the 
luxuriant fields of rice, the thickets of sugar-bearing reeds 
(Arundineta calamis mellifluis redundantia), the hives of bees, 
the monkeys bounding from tree to tree, and such like objects 
that afford pleasure to travellers. Tigers and crocodiles that 
feed through our neglect, or fault, on human beings, are 
common. In the woods rhinoceroses are seen, but this far I 
have met with none.” 4 
In 1602, the Portuguese of Chittagong, being harassed by 
attacks of the Arakanese, made Sondip their chief stronghold. 
This island, situated in the estuary of the Ganges, is probably 
the oldest and most permanent of the group which the mighty 
river is for ever building up and destroying. It had belonged 
to the Rajah of Bakla, but the Muhammadans took possession, 
and when Le Blane and Caesar Frederick landed, between 1565 
and 1586, the Moorish inhabitants were most friendly and 
courteous. The fertility of the island was unparalleled, the 
population large and prosperous, and the cheapness of food 
extraordinary, The manufacture of salt and the trade of ship- 
building were carried on with great energy and success. 
| In Rajnagar, on the right bank of the Padma. 
* For further particulars regarding the Jesuit Mission, see R.P 
Petri Jarrici, ‘*‘ Thesaurus,” jii, 2,c. xxix; ** De rebus Japonicis, Indicis, 
oN _A Johanne Hayo, Scoto S.J.P., 809; ‘*Exemplum Epi tolae P. 
d wae Pimentae.”’ _,Romae, 1602. [Also Josson, passim. ] 
a *Exemplum,” p. 91. (Father Pimenta is quoting from a letter 
written in January, 1600, from Ciandeca by Father Melchior Je Fonseca. 
The original Italian of this passace may b. 39 of 
Beveridge’s Bakarganj. HES] g y be seen on pp. 31 and 32 « 
