504 ACCOUNT OF BASSIA BUTYRACEA ; 



balls, which they sell or exchange, for fish, rice, 

 and various sorts of small grain. 



7th. The ripe fruit, as well as the unripe, is 

 eaten by the poor, as other fruits. Of the unripe, 

 the skin is taken off, and after throwing away the 

 unripe kernel, boiled to a jelly, and eaten with 

 salt and Capsicum. 



8th. The leaves are boiled with water, and 

 given as a medicine, in several diseases, both to 

 men, and to cattle. 



9th. The milk of the green fruit, and of the 

 tender bark, is also administered as a medicine. 



10th. The bark is used as a remedy for the 

 itch. 



11 th. The wood is as hard, and durable, as teak 

 wood, but not so easily wrought, nor is it pro- 

 curable of such a length for beams, and planks, as 

 the former; except in clay ground, where the 

 tree grows to a considerable height ; but, in such 

 a soil, it produces fewer branches, and is less fruit- 

 ful, than in a sandy, or mixed soil, which is the 

 best suited for it. In a sandy soil, the branches 

 shoot out nearer to the ground, and to a greater 

 circumference, and yield more fruit. These trees 

 require but little attention ; beyond watering them 

 during the first two or three years, in the dry 

 season. Being of so great use, we have here whole 

 groves of them, on high, and sandy grounds, 

 where no other fruit trees will prow. 



&' 



12th. We may add, that the owls, squirrels, 

 lizards, dogs and jackals, take a share of the 





