The Durion. 85 



in England, but Avhich both by natives and Europeans in the 

 Malay Archipelago is reckoned superior to all others. The 

 old traveller Linschott, writing in 1599, says : " It is of such 

 an excellent taste that it surpasses in flavor all the other 

 fruits of the world, according to those who have tasted it," 

 And Doctor Paludanus adds : " This fruit is of a hot and 

 humid nature. To those not used to it, it seems at first to 

 smell like rotten onions, but immediately they have tasted it 

 they prefer it to all other food. The natives give it honor- 

 able titles, exalt it, and make verses on it." When brought 

 into a house the smell is often so offensive that some persons 

 can never bear to taste it. This was my own case when I 

 first tried it in Malacca, but in Borneo I found a ripe fruit on 

 the ground, and, eating it out-of-doors, I at once became a 

 confirmed durion eater. 



The durion grows on a large and lofty forest-tree, some- 

 what resembling an elm in its general character, but with a 

 more smooth and scaly bark. The fruit is round or slightly 

 oval, about the size of a large cocoa-nut, of a green color, and 

 covered all over with short stout spines the bases of which 

 touch each other, and are consequently somewhat hexagonal, 

 while the points are very strong and sharp. It is so completely 

 anned, 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 bro- 

 ken. From the base to the apex five very faint lines may be 

 traced, over which the spines arch a little ; these are the sutures 

 of the carpels, and show where the fruit may be divided with 

 a heavy knife and a strong hand. The five cells are satiny- 

 white within, and are each filled with an oval mass of cream- 

 colored pulp, imbedded in which are two or three seeds about 

 the size of chestnuts. This pulp is the eatable part, and its 

 consistence and flavor are indescribable. A rich butter-like 

 custard highly flavored with almonds gives the best general 

 idea of it, but intermingled with it come wafts of flavor that 

 call to mind cream-cheese, onion-sauce, brown-sherry, and 

 other incongruities. Then there is a rich glutinous smooth- 

 ness in the pulp which nothing else possesses, but which adds 

 to its delicacy. It is neither acid, nor sweet, nor juicy, yet 

 one feels the want of none of these qualities, for it is perfect as 



