Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive c10.375

c10.375

1535.—“There are in this iland of Spagnuolo certain thistles, each of which bears a *Pigna*, and this is one of the most beautiful fruits that I have seen. . . . It has all these qualities in combination, viz. beauty of aspect, fragrance of colour, and exquisite flavour. The Christians gave it the name it bears (*Pigna*) because it is, in a manner, like that. But the pine-apples of the Indies of which we are speaking are much more beautiful than the *pigne* [i.e. pine-cones] of Europe, and have nothing of that hardness which is seen in those of Castile, which are in fact nothing but wood,” &c.—*Ramusio*, iii. f. 135 v.