14 
BENGAL. 
most plentiful part of the season, no less than twenty may be bought 
for a rupee, about the value of half a crown. 
The first plants of this fruit that grew in Hindostan, were brought 
into India, in the reign of the Emperor Akbar, by the priests of the 
Portugueze mission, who at that period eagerly pursued every method 
they could devise to ingratiate themselves with the court ; indeed 
they had so far succeeded, that they began to flatter themselves with 
having gained a complete ascendency over the inquisitive and liberal 
mind of their patron, and that he was even about to become a convert 
to their faith; be this as it may, of all their services, perhaps, this 
delicious gift may deservedly be deemed not the least valuable; the 
fruits of which have spread so far, and proved so extensive in their 
utility, as well as so permanent in their duration. A part of the ori¬ 
ginal stock, that is, some plants derived from it in direct descent, was 
pointed out to me in the garden of Moorteza Zemani, at Delhi, where 
they first grew. The Ayeen Akbari mentions both the time and man¬ 
ner of their introduction; and I consider it as an additional evidence 
of their having been derived from one original stock, that they are 
called, in every part of India which I have visited, by the same com¬ 
mon name of ananas. To account for their appearance in an obscure 
village on the borders of Cooch Bahar, we must have recourse to an 
event in the reign of the Emperor Aurungzebe, when the General 
i 
Moiizzum Khawn commanded an army employed in the reduction 
of these districts, which had not before submitted to the Mogul do¬ 
minion. In the prosecution of his designs he was detained a consi¬ 
derable time in this neighbourhood, during which, among the other 
