72 TRUITS or 



' buah manggis,' (buah, signifying fruit, being prefixed 

 to all the names of the different kinds as puhn and 

 kyuh are to trees,) is produced terminally by a tree 

 which attains the height of thirty feet, called, botani- 

 cally, Garcinea mangustina; it is a very handsome 

 tree, the foliage, which is large and opposite, being of 

 the darkest shining green. The fruit, as large as a 

 moderate apple, is composed of an outer skin of a 

 soft and fibrous nature, dark purple on the outside, 

 but when cut of a bright crimson : the snow-white 

 pulp which envelopes the seeds, lying within this, has 

 an appearance no less beautiful to the eye than the 

 flavour is grateful to the palate ; when cultivated, as 

 in the peninsula of Malacca, it fruits twice a year, 

 being ripe in July and December. The durian (Durio 

 zibethinus), the strong odour from which disgusts many 

 Europeans, is a large fruit from nine to twelve inches in 

 length ; when ripe it opens into five divisions, each con- 

 taining several seeds, which are environed by the rich 

 and cream-like acid. The tree which produces it is 

 lofty, frequently sixty or more feet in height. In Borneo 

 its seasons are irregular, but in favourable seasons it 

 produces three, and sometimes four, crops in immediate 

 succession, having the flowers, young fruit, and perfect, 

 all at one time. The flowers are produced in bunches 

 from the stem and older branches. 



Of this fruit there are many kinds, some of which are 

 without the offensive odour complained of by Euro- 

 peans : the most esteemed is called by the natives 

 ' durian esa ;' its coat is furnished with longer but 

 weaker spines than those of the other kinds. The wild 



