54 OUDE FRUIT. 



celebrated in true old English style — roast beef, turkey, 

 and plum-pudding, to wit, washed down by very ex- 

 cellent champagne, sent round at the expense of mine 

 host, who presided ; and I need hardly say that it 

 added materially to the expression of good fellowship 

 amongst us, and the banquet ended with the usual 

 loyal toasts. 



Lucknow is the prettiest and pleasantest place in 

 Northern India, and its climate excellent, whilst the 

 cost of living is much more moderate than, for in- 

 stance, at Bombay, where a good bungalow can hardly 

 be had under 250 rupees per month, whilst here 100 

 rupees is a fair rent. Provisions are plentiful and ex- 

 ceedingly cheap ; beef, as good as any in England, 

 costs less than twopence the pound. There is also a 

 great variety of fruit in the bazaar, melon, guava, plan- 

 tain, prickly pear, loquat, and two other kinds I had not 

 seen before ; the one is called "kyta " (Plate IV.) by the 

 natives, not unlike a large potato in appearance, of 

 brownish colour and perfectly round. I ventured to put 

 my teeth into it, but soon withdrew them again, for its 

 taste was most disagreeable, reminding one of gritty 

 soap. I have since been told that it is the " avocado, 

 or alligator's pear," alias " midshijjman's butter " 

 fM^ {Persia gratissima), described by Charles Kingsley in 

 his " At Last." He met with it at St. Thomas, in the 



