IN THE EYE OF DAY 195 



As in the case of the rattle of the rattlesnake, it is 

 impossible to find fitting words for it. 



Although the shell is very tough, yet the fruit 

 opens easily from the stem to disclose its centre 

 divided into orange-like sections or pods, each 

 having several seeds about the size of a marble. 

 Around these seeds is the fruit, a cream-colored, 

 cream-like substance, of a flavor which simply 

 baffles description. If the meat of a banana were 

 squashed and mixed with an equal quantity of rich 

 cream, a smaller quantity of chocolate, and enough 

 garlic to stamp strongly the whole, the result 

 would be, it seems to me, about the nearest ap- 

 proach to the consistency and combination of tastes 

 afforded by the durian. At the same time its flavor 

 is extremely delicate and rich, and its odor power- 

 ful. They say the durian is an acquired taste- 

 certainly so for the European ; but after overcom- 

 ing your repugnance to the odor, which is so strong 

 you can literally taste it, you become very fond of 

 the fruit. I survived the odor long enough to eat 

 a portion and tasted it for three days afterwards. 

 Somehow I never tried another. 



To me the attraction of Jelebu was not as a cen- 

 tre of durian activity, but its reported nearness to 

 seladang and elephant, and particularly to the sela- 

 dang, that most formidable member of the great 

 Bos family. From the nearly extinct American 



