CHAPTER XI. 



Fruits of India, China, and Japan. Mango ; Mangostan ; Durion ; Malay 

 Apple; Jaca; Litchi ; Longan; Jujube; Kaki; Loquat. 



THE Indian archipelago is said to produce the most 

 rich and curious fruits of any part of the globe. The 

 greater number of the fruits of the Indian islands 

 grow wild ; and very little cultivation is given to 

 any. Nature appears to bestow her bounty pecu- 

 liarly upon fruits ; for some of the fine sorts are 

 produced upon land unfit for raising grain.* The 

 Indian continent bears, generally, the same fruits as 

 the Indian islands; with some peculiar to itself. In 

 China and Japan, the cultivated fruits, with a few 

 exceptions, consist of the same natural orders as 

 those of Europe ; though, according to many tra- 

 vellers, far superior in size and flavour. 



THE MANGO Mangifera indica. 



The mango, which grows abundantly in India, the 

 south-eastern countries of Asia, Brazil, and some 

 other places, is accounted one of the most delicious 

 of the tropical fruits, and second only to the mango- 

 stan. The tree on which it is produced is large, with 

 lancet-shaped leaves, bearing some resemblance to 

 the walnut. The flowers are small and whitish, 

 formed into pyramidal bunches; the fruit has some 

 resemblance to a short, thick cucumber, and on the 

 average of the varieties, of which there are many, 



* Lindley on Tropical Fruits, Hort. Trans, vol. T. 



