488 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. IX. 



No. VI.- ON THE SIZE OF MANGO TREES. 

 Nearly eight miles from Khandala, and about two miles on the Khandala side 

 of Rajmachi, on the sloping side of a green valley, there is a huge mango tree 

 which has apparently remained unnoticed for many years. It first attracted 

 my attention when I visited the place, nearly a year ago, in company with my 

 brother, Dr. Dixon, of the Bombay Medical Service, but we had no tape with 

 us on that occasion. Later on, I again went to the Rajmachi pass, and 

 mea3ured the tree with the following result : — 



A huge tree, a little over seventy feet in height, covering an area of 



nearly 5,000 square feet, trunk straight, about six feet, girth 



17'5" ; crown very broad and massive, girth of crown nearly 



19 feet ; boughs widely spreading, thirty to fifty feet long, girth 



from six to thirteen feet. 



Some parts of the tree have begun to show signs of natural decay, which is 



perhaps being accelerated by forest fires, and the present growth of the tree, 



on the whole, appears to be very weak. It seems to me that within a few 



years no trace of this gigantic tree will be left on the spot where it is now 



standing. 



In 1837 Col. Sykes noticed a huge mango tree, at Bhimashankar on the crest 

 of the Sahyadris, 3448 feet above sea level, which was stated to be fully eighty 

 feet high and from which boards could be cut thirty feet long and three or 

 four feet wide. It was known as the " Rajah " and was in the immediate 

 neighbourhood of the Hindu temple at Bhimashankar. The tree died however 

 some years ago. 



Col. Syke's mango at Bhimashankar does not appear to have been known to 

 Dalzell and Gibson, as no mention is made of it in their Bombay Flora, and 

 according to Brandis, the mango, in Northern India, attains a height of 

 sixty to seventy feet with a girth of fifteen feet. 



No botanical writer has, as far as I know, made mention of such a gigantic 

 manco tree as the one above referred to, so I am inclined to believe that 

 the specimen in the Rajmachi pass is in all probability the largest living mango 

 tree in India. 



It would be interesting if other members of this Society would measure any 

 large mangoes which they may hear of, with a view of establishing the 

 maximum size attained by this tree. 



R. M. DIXON. 

 Bombay, February, 1895. 



No. YII — THE BIRDS OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY. 



In an interesting article on the birds from Central India, mentioned in 

 Barnes's Handbook, Mr. Blanf ord draws attention to several birds which he 

 thinks have never been obtained within the limits of the Bombay Presidency 

 proper. 



