177^. ROUND THE WORLD. 313 



26. Rambutan. This is a fruit little known to 

 Europeans ; in appearance it very much resembles 

 a chestnut with the husk on, and like that, is covered 

 with small points, which are soft and of a deep red 

 colour : under this skin is the fruit, and within the 

 fruit a stone ; the eatable part thereof is small in 

 quantity, but its acid perhaps is more agreeable than 

 any other in the whole vegetable kingdom. 



27. Jambolan. This in size and appearance is 

 not unlike a damascene ; but in taste is still more 

 astringent, and therefore less agreeable. 



28. The Boa Bidarra ; or Rhctmnus Jujuba of 

 Linnaeus. This is a round yellow fruit, about the 

 size of a gooseberry ; its flavour is like that of an 

 apple, but it has the astringency of a crab. 



29. Nam nam. The Cynometra Caulifiora of Lin- 

 naeus. This fruit in shape somewhat resembles a 

 kidney ; it is about three inches long, and the out- 

 side is very rough : it is seldom eaten raw, but fried 

 with batter it makes a good fritter. 



30, 31. The Catappa, or Terminalia Catappa ; and 

 the Canare, the Canarium commune of Linnaeus ; are 

 both nuts, with kernels somewhat resembling an al- 

 mond ; but the difficulty of breaking the shell is so 

 great, that they are no where publicly sold. Those 

 which we tasted were gathered for curiosity by Mr. 

 Banks, from the tree upon which they grew. 



32. The Madja, or Limoni of Linnaeus, contains, 

 under a hard brittle shell, a lightly acid pulp, which 

 cannot be eaten without sugar ; and with it, is not 

 generally thought pleasant. 



33. SuntuL The Trichilia of Linnaeus. This 

 is the worst of all the fruits that I shall particularly 

 mention : in size and shape it resembles the Madja ; 

 and within a thick skin contains kernels like those 

 of the Mangostan, the taste of which is both acid 

 and astringent, and so disagreeable that we were sur- 

 prised to see it exposed upon the fruit-stalls. 



34. 35, 36. The Blimbing, or Averrhoa Belimbi ; 



