312 The Gardens of the Sun. [ch. xv. 



medicines had failed. It is the general native remedy 

 for this disease throughout the Malay Islands, and the 

 dried skins strung on strips of rattan are commonly met 

 with in the bazaars. 



When exploring near the capital city of Brunei in 

 North West Borneo I frequently came across a species of 

 garcinia — sometimes in flower, sometimes in fruit — which 

 my native followers called " Prada Prada," the duplication 

 of particular names being usual in Borneo, for the sake 

 of emphasis, as also among various native tribes in South 

 America and elsewhere. The foliage and flowers are 

 somewhat like those of the mangosteen proper, the fruit, 

 however, is curiously shaped like a boy's " top," and of a 

 bright red colour, changing to purplish black when fully 

 ripe. The segments of edible white pulp are usually 

 eight in number — four containing* fully developed seeds, 

 and four are abortive or seedless — the flavour being 

 similar to that of the mangosteen proper, but more 

 acidulous. 



Of the luscious mango, Rumphius tells us that it was 

 introduced by the Dutch from the Moluccas to Java in 

 1655, but it grows in India, and as the Malay name and 

 that of the Javanese as applied to this fruit are evident 

 corruptions of that in the Sanskrit tongue, Mr. Crawfurd 

 thinks that it was brought to the Archipelago from the 

 Continent, and that it should not be considered as indi- 

 genous. Be this as it may there is no doubt that the 

 mango has long been introduced to the Malay Islands, in 

 many of which it is now perfectly naturalised, and a fruit 

 exactly like the mango in structure is often found in the 

 Bornean woods. It has the mango flavour of the most 

 ultra tow and turpentine type, but its juice is very grate- 

 ful during hot weather, as I can testify by experience. 

 The cultivated mango forms a round-headed evergreen 



