Reilly, J.

1. In this suit the plaintiff is the Official Assignee, representing the estate of Dumaine & Co., who have been adjudged insolvents. Dumaine & Co., it appears, were exporters of groundnuts, and in the course of their business they pledged a large quantity of groundnuts to the Nedungadi Bank, who are the defendants, received loans on these groundnuts, sold the groundnuts to various persons in other countries and had them shipped by the defendants, who received the bills of lading and the bills of exchange drawn on the purchasers and applied the proceeds of the bills of exchange after getting them discounted by another bank towards the repayment of the loans they had made to Dumaine & Co., crediting the balance to Dumaine & Co. The Official Assignee in this suit alleges that the defendants have not accounted for 7,169 bags of groundnuts and prays that they may be delivered to him or their value, about Rs. 1,59,000, or in the alternative that this sum of Rs. 1,50,000 may be paid to him as damages for conversion. The defendants after some delay put in their written statement. The plaintiff applied for an order for particulars, which was made by the Master. Eventually,