chap, v.] A DANGEROUS FRUIT. 119 



kept the year round, when it acquires a most disgusting 

 odour to Europeans, but the Dyaks appreciate it highly 

 as a relish with their rice. There are in the forest two 

 varieties of wild Durians with much smaller fruits, one of 

 them orange-coloured inside; and these are probably the 

 origin of the large and fine Durians, which are never found 

 wild. It would not, perhaps, be correct to say that the 

 Durian is the best of all fruits, because it cannot supply 

 the place of the subacid juicy kinds, such as the orange, 

 grape, mango, and mangosteen, whose refreshing and cool- 

 ing qualities are so wholesome and grateful ; but as pro- 

 ducing a food of the most exquisite flavour it is unsurpassed. 

 If I had to fix on two only, as representing the perfection 

 of the two classes, I should certainly choose the Durian 

 and the Orange as the king and queen of fruits. 



The Durian is, however, sometimes dangerous. When 

 the fruit begins to ripen it falls daily and almost hourly, 

 and accidents not unfrequently happen to persons walking 

 or working under the trees. When a Durian strikes a 

 man in its fall, it produces a dreadful wound, the strong 

 spines tearing open the flesh, while the blow itself is very 

 heavy, but from this very circumstance death rarely 

 ensues, the copious effusion of blood preventing the in- 

 flammation which might otherwise take place. A Dyak 

 chief informed me that he had been struck down by a 

 Durian falling on his head, which he thought would 



