THE BAMBOO AND DURIAN OF BORNEO. 229 



touch each other, and are consequently somewhat hexagonal, while the 

 points are very strong and sharp. It is so completely armed that if 

 the stalk is broken off it is a difficult matter to lift one from the ground. 

 The outer rind is so thick and tough that from whatever height it may 

 fall it is never broken. Prom the base to the apex five very faint lines 

 may be traced, over which the spines somewhat curve and approximate ; 

 these are the sutures of the carpels, and show where the fruit may be 

 opened with a heavy knife and a strong hand. The five cells are silky- 

 white within, and are filled with a mass of firm, cream-coloured pulp, 

 containing about three seeds each. This pulp is the eatable part, and 

 its consistence and flavour are indescribable. A rich custard highly 

 flavoured with almonds gives the best general idea of it, but there are 

 occasional wafts of flavour that call to mind cream-cheese, onion-sauce, 

 sherry-wine, and other incongruous dishes. Then there is a rich glu- 

 tinous smoothness in the pulp which nothing else possesses, but which 

 adds to its delicacy. It is neither acid nor sweet nor juicy ; yet it 

 wants neither of these qualities, for it is in itself perfect. It produces 

 no nausea or other bad effect, and the more you eat of it the less you 

 feel inclined to stop. In fact, to eat Durians is a new sensation worth 

 a voyage to the East to experience. 



The smell of the ripe fruit is certainly at first disagreeable, though 

 less so when it has newly fallen from the tree ; for the moment it is 

 ripe it falls of itself, and the oaly way to eat Durians in perfection is to 

 get them as they fall- It would perhaps not be correct to say that the 

 Durian is the best of all fruits, because it cannot supply the place of 

 subacid juicy fruits such as the orange, grape, mango, and mango- 

 steen, whose refreshing and cooling qualities are so grateful; but as 

 producing a food of the most exquisite flavour it is unsurpassed. If I 

 bad to fix on two only as representing the perfection of the two classes, 

 I should certainly choose the Durian and the Orange as the king and 



queen of fruits. 



The Durian is however (in another way) dangerous. As a tree 

 ripens the fruit falls daily and almost hourly, and accidents not unfre- 

 quently happen to persons walking or working under them. When a 

 Durian strikes a man in its fall it produces a fearful wound, the strong 

 spines tearing open the flesh, while the blow itself is very heavy ; but 

 from this very circumstance death rarely ensues, the copious effusion of 

 blood preventing the inflammation which might otherwise take place. 



