368 



HISTORY OF TOE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



introduced into England in 1793. The leaves of 

 the akee are something similar to tliose of tlie 

 asli : tlie flowers are small and white, and are 

 produced in branched spikes. Tlie fruit is ob- 

 long, ribbed, and compressed in tlie middle, of a 

 dull orange colour, and contains several large 

 seeds, to the end of which is attached a rich 

 and slightly acid arillua (the outer coat of a seed 

 lightly attached to it), which is the part eaten. 



The Negro Peach, or Edible Peach. The 

 tree on wliich the negro peach is produced is 

 very handsome, with lanceolate leaves, resem- 

 bling those of the orange. The flowers are 

 white, and grow closely clustered in little round 

 heads, like those of the American button wood, 

 so common in shrubberies. The tree has flowered 

 in the gardens of the Horticultural Society, but 

 has not borne fiuit in this country. The fruit 

 is about the size of an ordinary peach, but very 

 different in colour and qualities. Externally 

 and internally it is brown, of varying shades : 

 its form is irregular, and the whole surface 

 covered with tubercles. About one-third of the 

 diameter in the centre consists of a very firm 

 and somewhat dry pulp, of a flavour resembling 

 an apple. Betvs'een that and the rind, the pulp 

 is of softer consistency, full of seeds and fibres, 

 and has a flavour resembling the strawberry. 



Monkey's Bread {Adansonia digitata). This 



tree, known as the celebrated baohab, is a native 



of the western coast of Africa, and also of 



Egypt. In the former country it is described 



137. 



Monkey's Bread. 

 by Adanson as being a tree of large dimen- 

 sions and singular economy. The trunks 

 were about twelve or fourteen feet high, but of 

 Ihe vast circuinfureiice of sixty or seventy feet. 



The lateral branches were forty or fifty feet lon(f, 

 of tlie thickness of a great tree, and with their 

 remote branches touching the ground ; while 

 some of the roots tlmt had been laid bare were 

 upwards of a hundred feet long, and even then 

 were not exposed for tlieir whole length. The 

 fruit is from nine to twelve inches long, and about 

 four in diameter, of a brownish colour, and rather 

 pointed toward the extremities. The pulp is a 

 little farinaceous, mixed with fibres : when re- 

 cent, it has a very refreshing, acid taste ; and 

 eaten with sugar, it is both pleasant and whole- 

 some. It retains its cooling qualities when dry ; 

 and, on that account, the physicians of Cairo 

 administer it in fevers and other diseases. 



We shall have occasion to describe this curious 

 tree more minutely afterwards. 



The Mango {Mangifeva indioa). Natural 

 order terebinthacex ; Pcmandria, Monogynia, of 



Linn. 



Tlie mango is a large spreading tree like tlie 

 walnut, with lanceolate, shining, green leaves, 

 seven or eight inches long, having a sweet resin- 

 ous 8 iiell. The flowers are white, growing in 

 bunches at the extremity of the branches : the 

 fruit has some resemblance to a short, thick cu- 

 cumber, and on the average of the varieties, of 

 which there are many, about the size of a goose's 

 egg. At first the fruit is of a fine green colour, 

 and in some of the varieties it continues so, while 

 others become partly or wholly orange. When 

 ripe, the mango emits a smell, which, though 

 faint is very pleasant ; and the flavour of it is 

 then as delicious as can be imagined. Exter- 

 nally there is a thin skin ; and upon removing 

 that, a pulp, which has some appearance of con- 

 sistency, but which melts in the mouth with a 

 cooling sweetness, that can hardly bo imagined 

 by those who have not tasted that choicest of 

 nature's delicacies. In the heart of the pulp 

 there is a pretty large stone, resembling that of 

 a peach, to which the pulp adheres firmly. 



It is a native of Asia and its islands, as well 

 as Brazil. The mangos of Asia are said to be 

 superior both in size and flavour to those of 

 America ; and so highly are some of the finer 

 trees' prized in India, that guards are placed over 

 them during the fruit season. The mangos of 

 Mazagong, which are thus carefully watched, are 

 thought to be superior to any other. The varie- 

 ties of a fruit so much esteemed must be num- 

 erous ; accordingly it is reckoned that there are 

 upwards of forty in the island of Java alone, 

 while those of some of the islands farther (o the 

 east, such as Amboyna and B inda, are said to be 

 still finer. The mango dodol is the largest var- 

 iety, the finit weighing upwards of two pounds ; 

 generally about the size of a middling shaddock. 

 Some of the others, which make up the five 

 principal heads into which llhuraphius (herbar- 

 ium amboinense), arranges the whole, are of su- 

 perior size and flavour ; but the fruit, taken alto- 



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