86 MANUAL OF TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL FRUITS 



but there seems to be little doubt that it is indigenous in the 

 localities enumerated." Dietrich Brandis (Indian Trees) says 

 it is indigenous in Burma, the Western Ghats, in the Khasia 

 hills, Sikkim, and in the ravines of the Satpuras. R. S. Hole, 

 of the Imperial Forest Research Institute at Dehra Dun, 

 considers that the so-called wild mangos which are found in 

 many parts of India are mostly forms escaped from cultivation, 

 as shown by the fact that they are always near streams or 

 foot-paths in the jungle, where seeds have been thrown by 

 passing natives. 



Alphonse DeCandolle says : " It is impossible to doubt that 

 it is a native of the south of Asia and of the Malay Archipelago, 

 when we see the multitude of varieties cultivated in those 

 countries, the number of ancient names, in particular a San- 

 skrit name, its abundance in the gardens of Bengal, of the Dek- 

 kan peninsula, and of Ceylon, even in Rheede's time. . . . 

 The true mango is indicated by modern authors as wild in the 

 forests of Ceylon, the regions at the base of the Himalayas, 

 especially towards the east, in Arracan, tygu, and the Andaman 

 Isles. Miquel does not mention it as wild in any of the islands 

 of the Malay Archipelago. In spite of its growing in Ceylon, 

 and the indications, less positive certainly, of Sir Joseph Hooker 

 in the Flora of British India, the species is probably rare or only 

 naturalized in the Indian peninsula." 



Most species of Mangifera are natives of the Malayan 

 region. Sumatra in particular is the home of several. While 

 it is known that the mango has been cultivated in western India 

 since a remote day, and we find it to-day naturalized in many 

 places, it seems probable that its native home is to be sought in 

 eastern India, Assam, Burma, or possibly farther in the Malayan 

 region. 



The Chinese traveler Hwen T'sang, who visited Hindustan 

 between 632 and 645 A.D., was the first person, so far as known, 

 to bring the mango to the notice of the outside world. He 



