Foreign Notices : — India. 375 



be conceived, that such vast masses of vegetable matter are but little adapted 

 to become the food of man ; it is, however, not altogether neglected for that 

 use, though but rarely had recourse to. For this purpose, the farinaceous 

 matter is separated from the juice, vegetable fibre, and other products, by 

 drying, maceration, &c. The root is also used in medicine. 



" Of all the tuberous roots, this would appear to be by far the largest and 

 most extraordinary. In other plants of the kind, the tuberosities are pro- 

 portiond to the size of the plants, and their visible means of nourishment. In 

 this the yam is of the most gigantic size, and its stem extremely' small. The 

 means of nourishment are by no means apparent. Earth and water, the ordi- 

 nary sources of vegetable nutriment, are almost altogether wanting : the stem 

 is not of a structure to require anything but simple support from the sur- 

 rounding trees. There remains no visible source but the atmosphere, to which 

 its numerous leaves are amply exposed, thi'ough the aid of the surrounding 

 trees." (Ibid.) 



The Melon is the choicest fruit of BoJchara. — There are two distinct species 

 of melons, which the people class into hot and cold ; the first ripens in June, 

 and is the common musk or scented melon of India, and not superior in 

 flavour : the other ripens in July, and is the true melon of Toorkistan. In 

 appearance it is not unlike a water-melon, and comes to maturity after being 

 seven months in the ground. It is much larger than the common sort, and 

 generally of an oval shape, exceeding 2 and 3 feet in circumference. Some are 

 much larger, and those which ripen in the autumn have exceeded 4 ft. One 

 has a notion that what is large cannot be delicate or high-flavoured ; but no 

 fruit can be more luscious than the melon of Bokhara. I always looked upon 

 the melon as an inferior fruit till I went to that country ; nor do I believe 

 their flavour will be credited by any one who has not tasted them. The melons 

 of India, Cabool, and even Persia, bear no comparison with them ; not^even 

 the celebrated fruit of Ispahan itself. The pulp is rather hard, about 2 in. 

 thick, and is sweet to the very skin ; which, with the inhabitants, is the great 

 proof of superiority. A kind of molasses is extracted from these melons, which 

 might be easily converted into sugar. There are various kinds of melons : the 

 best is named kochechu, and has a green and yellow-coloured skin : another is 

 called ak nubat, which means white sugar-candy ; it is yellow, and exceedingly 

 rich. The winter melon is of a dark green colour, called kara-koobuk, and said 

 to surpass all the others. Bokhara appears to be tlie native country of the 

 melon, having a dry climate, sandy soil, and great facihties for irrigation. 

 Melons may be purchased in Bokhara throughout the year, and are preserved 

 by merely hanging them up apart from one another ; for which those of the 

 winter crop are best suited. The water-melons of Bokhara are good, and 

 attain, also, an enormous bulk : twenty people may partake of one ; and two 

 of them, it is said, form sometimes a load for a donkey. The cucumbers are 

 likewise superior." (Burnes's Travels into Bokhara, as quoted for us by J. B. W.) 



Vegetation of the Mountains of Nillgherry. — M. Perrottet, director of the 

 garden at Pondicherry, writes to M. Benjamin Delessert, in a letter dated 

 Kaiti, containing curious information on the vegetation of the mountains of 

 Nillgherry. The East India Company have granted the experimental farm at 

 Kaiti to the French governor, the Marquis de Saint Simon. This farm is 

 situated in a very favourable spot for botanical researches, and for the natural- 

 isation of plants. The governor intends collecting all the useful and interesting 

 plants of the Nillgherry, to cultivate and propagate there, and then to send 

 them to the Royal garden at Pondicherry, whence they will be forwarded to 

 the colonies and France. He wishes, also, to sow at this establishment different 

 sorts of seeds of grain and forage, &c., to supply the colony of Pondicherry, 

 which is very deficient in both ; and that of Bourbon, which sufi'ers no less 

 from a want of these productions. In the middle of India, a vegetation analo- 

 gous to that of Europe is found. Two very distinct regions characterise the 

 Nilgherry: the region of the lower mountains, and that of the higher moun- 

 tains. In the first, most of the plants of tropical India are found j while in 



B B 4 



