1631.—"... these Europeans increased in number, and erected large substantial buildings, which they fortified with cannons, muskets, and other implements of war. In due course a considerable place grew up, which was known by the name of Port of Hūglī."—'Abdul Hamīd, in Elliot, vii. 32.
1753.—"... les établissements formés pour assurer leur commerce sont situés sur les bords de cette rivière. Celui des Portugais, qu'ils ont appelé Bandel, en adoptant le terme Persan de Bender, qui signifie port, est aujourd'hui reduit à peu de chose ... et il est presque contigu à Ugli en remontant."—D'Anville, Éclaircissemens, p. 64.
1782.—"There are five European factories within the space of 20 miles, on the opposite banks of the river Ganges in Bengal; Houghly, or Bandell, the Portuguese Presidency; Chinsura, the Dutch; Chandernagore, the French; Sirampore, the Danish; and Calcutta, the English."—Price's Observations, &c., p. 51. In Price's Tracts, i.
BANDICOOT, s. Corr. from the Telegu pandi-kokku, lit. 'pig-rat.' The name has spread all over India, as applied to the great rat called by naturalists Mus malabaricus (Shaw), Mus giganteus (Hardwicke), Mus bandicota (Bechstein), [Nesocia bandicota (Blanford, p. 425)]. The word is now used also in Queensland, [and is the origin of the name of the famous Bendigo gold-field (3 ser. N. & Q. ix. 97)].
c. 1330.—"In Lesser India there be some rats as big as foxes, and venomous exceedingly."—Friar Jordanus, Hak. Soc. 29.
c. 1343.—"They imprison in the dungeons (of Dwaigīr, i.e. Daulatābād) those who have been guilty of great crimes. There are in those dungeons enormous rats, bigger than cats. In fact, these latter animals run away from them, and can't stand against them, for they would get the worst of it. So they are only caught by stratagem. I have seen these rats at Dwaigīr, and much amazed I was!"—Ibn Batuta, iv. 47.
Fryer seems to exaggerate worse than the Moor:
1673.—"For Vermin, the strongest huge Rats as big as our Pigs, which burrow under the Houses, and are bold enough to venture on Poultry."—Fryer, 116.
The following surprisingly confounds two entirely different animals:
1789.—"The Bandicoot, or musk rat, is another troublesome animal, more indeed from its offensive smell than anything else."—Munro, Narrative, 32. See [MUSK-RAT].