370 



HISTORY OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



the top. It must then be eaten fresh from the 

 tree, as it putrifies in less than twenty-four 

 hours. 



Internally, the fruit contains five largo longi- 

 tudinal cells, in each of which are the seeds, 

 about the size of pigeon's eggs, and from one to 

 four in each cell. The remainder of the cells is 

 filled with the pulp, which is the delicious part 

 of the fruit. It is of tlie consistence of thick 

 cream, of a milk-white colour, highly nutritious, 

 and blending the flavour and qualities of a deli- 

 cate animal sul)stance with the cool acidity of a 

 vegetable. This compound flavour is peculiarly 

 its own, and cannot be imitated by any process 

 of cookery. The Spanish mangia bianco, pullet's 

 flesh distilled with vinegar, is said to come the 

 nearest to it. 



The durion is a particular favourite with the 

 natives of the eastern archipelago; and there are 

 many varieties of it. They all, however, belong 

 to three principal ones: — The horneo durion is 

 found in the island after which it is named. It 

 grows to so great a size, that one fniit is a load 

 for a man. The cassomha, which has a smoother 

 rind, is more orange in the colour, more elongated 

 in the shape, and contains fewer seeds and more 

 pulp. The babi is a small, but very delicious 

 sort. The kernels or seeds of the durion, when 

 roasted, have nearly the same taste as chestnuts. 

 It has not been found in a wild state; but in the 

 countries where it will grow and ripen at all, it 

 is easily cultivated. So highly is it esteemed, 

 that it is the most costly fruit in the archipelago, 

 a single durion being worth more than a dozen 

 of the choicest pine apples. 



The lanseh, and the jamlee, fruits of Sumatra, 

 are esteemed most highly by the natives, the 

 former next to the durion. 



The Malay Apple (Evgcnia malaccensis). 

 This, though an inferior fruit to the durion, is 

 attractive by its fragrance, its smell being that of 

 a rose. The Malay apple belongs to a numerous 

 genus of plants, there being a great number of 

 species very generally difi^used over the tropical 

 countries. The fruit of all the species is a flesliy 

 rind, inclosing one or two large seeds. The 

 Malay apple varies in size from about an inch in 

 diameter to the bigness of a man's fist. The 

 skin is yellowish, thin, and shining ; the nut 

 large, and without any hard shell ; and the pulp 

 very wholesome and agreeable. The tree that 

 produces it has a brown stem, about twenty feet 

 high, very full of branches at the top. The 

 young leaves are bright purple, and the old ones 

 gKen. 



The Rose Apple, or Jamrosade (Eugenia 

 jatnbos). This is a branching tree, from twenty 

 to tliirty feet in height, with long narrow leaves, 

 resembling those of the peach. The flowers come 

 out in terminal bunches in July, are of a greenish 

 yellow colour, and succeeded by fruit about the 



size of a hen's egg ; white, red, or rose-scented, 

 with the flavour of a ripe apricot. It is a native 



139. 



The Rose Apple, 



of the East Indies, and was cultivated in Eng- 

 land, by Millar, in 1708. 



LiTCHi (dimocarpiis litchi) — Lonoan (dimo- 

 carpiis longan). These fruits are natives of the 

 south of China, where they are held in the 

 highest estimation. They have thence been in- 

 troduced into many parts of the East Indies, and 

 to the gardens of the curious in some places of 

 Europe. John Knight, Esq., of Lee Castle, near 

 Kidderminster, presented tlie Horticultural So- 

 ciety with some of the fruit that had ripened in 

 his hot-house in 1816, and it was found to be as 

 good as that which is produced in China. The 

 litchi was introduced into this country by the 

 celebrated Wan-en Hastings, Esq., in 1786 : the 

 longan had been introduced before. 



The trees on which these fruits are produced 

 have a considerable resemblance to each other; 

 are in fact so much alike, that they are distin- 

 guished only by the flowers of the litchi being 

 without petals, while those of the longan have 

 eight ; and the fruit of the litchi being larger, 

 and generally of a red colour, while that of the 

 longan is always brown. They are moderately 

 sized trees, with brown bark, which is very 

 bright in the twigs. The leaves are large, have 

 some resemblance to those of the laurel, are 

 placed alternate, and hang very gracefully. The 

 fniit is produced in bunches, which are pendent 

 from the extremities of the twigs ; and there is 

 a considerable number of fruit in the bunches, 

 not close together, like grapes, but on stalks, the 

 principal ones from six inches to a foot in length ; 

 while those of the individual fruit are from one 

 inch to two. 



Of both species there are many varieties in 

 China, which differ in the time of ripening, and 

 the form and qualities of the fruit. In general, 

 the litchi is about an inch and a half, or from that 

 to two inches, in diameter, and the longan about 

 an inch and a quarter ; and both are covered with 

 small scaly processes, which are most prominent 

 in the longan. Both fruits are covered by tough, 

 thin, leathery coats, within which is the pul]), 

 and in the inside of that a single brown seed 

 Tlie pulp is colourless, semi-transparent, slightly 



i 



