viir.] THE KAXARI NUT. 179 



known to us in Europe. Both nutmegs and mace are sent to the 

 Singapore market, and it is essential that the latter should arrive 

 before it has lost its scarlet colour and faded to yellow, which is 

 the condition in which it eventually reaches London. The nutmegs 

 are sliipped to Singapore m their inner shells, which are there 

 removed before they are despatched to Europe.^ 



It was in Menado that we made our lEirst acquaintance with the 

 Kanari nut — an event to be remembered, for when eaten fresh it 

 is, I think, incomparably superior to any nut I ever tasted. The 

 Kanari- tree grows to a very great height, and bears a fleshy fruit 

 enclosing a shell of extreme hardness — so hard indeed that it needs 

 a heavy hammer to break it. Witlihi are from one to three kernels, 

 covered with a thin skin, and on this being removed the nut falls 

 into a number of irregular flakes, snowy white, and of delicious 

 flavour. The flesh of the Kanari is eaten by large pigeons, but the 

 gTeat Black Cockatoo of Xew Guinea {Microglossus aterrimus), by 

 means of his enormously powerful beak, is able to open the nut 

 itself. The labour is considerable, but the bird may be considered 

 to be amply rewarded. 



Our collections grew apace in tliis part of Celebes, one of the 

 most noteworthy additions being a young bull Sapi-utan (Anoa 

 depresdcornis) which we obtained alive from a native. This animal, 

 one of the many peculiar Celebesian forms, though considered by 

 anatomists to be most closely allied to the buffaloes, has no gTeat 

 resemblance to any of the wild oxen, and is rather antelopean in 

 appearance. The horns are short and lather slender, depressed, 

 ringed at the base, and pointing nearly straight backwards; the 

 body small but powerful ; the limbs clean. The little creature, 

 which appeared to be about two years old, and was very tame and 

 tractable, was destined for the Zoological Gardens, but he never 

 reached England, succumbing in the following year to the effects of 

 a gale in the Bay of Biscay. 



Many of the birds of Celebes are of great beauty, although 



' Vide illustration on p. 211. 



