302 FLOWERS AND FRUITS. 



beautifully-wooded valleys, a large white-flowered Convol- 

 vulus, or rather Calystegia, climbs among the tangled 

 thickets in the wildest luxuriance, and, mingling its pure 

 blossoms with those of a yellow-flowered Hibiscus, pro- 

 duces quite a pleasing effect. 



Among the Meia-co-shimah Islands, I first had the 

 curiosity to taste the fruit of the Pandanus, or Screw- 

 Pine, and found it refreshing and juicy, but very insipid. 

 When perfectly mature, however, they certainly look very 

 tempting, and resemble large rich-coloured Pine- Apples. 

 In several instances I found the interior of half-decayed 

 fruits filled with a fermented, subacid liquor, and have no 

 doubt that a decent wine might be manufactured from 

 the pulp. The stones, though very hard, contain a 

 pleasant kernel. 



A large yellow-flowered Hibiscus grows in vast quanti- 

 ties, offering a most beautiful spectacle in the deep woody 

 gorges of Koo-kien-san. In the young shoots, the spiral 

 vessels resembling spider-webs, could be distinctly seen 

 with the naked eye, on breaking through the green stems. 

 On the open plains, a small Campanula with a very flat 

 blue corolla, and a curious flower, with white tufts on the 

 petals, are very common. 



In some parts of Pa-tchung-san we passed through 

 large masses of the Canna Indica, with red and yellow 

 flowers, sometimes inclining to a deep orange, producing 

 a very beautiful and brilliant effect, and near the villages 

 the Camelia Japonica attains the dimensions of a large 

 tree, frequently several feet in diameter, and loaded as 

 it was, at the time of our visit, with handsome red 

 wax-like blossoms, it imparts a very gay aspect to the 



