OF ACCOMPANYING ANIMALS AND PLANTS. 335 



" sukas " seen by Androsthenes on Tyle, — (Theophr. iv. 7. 8) : F. comosa was observed by Graham 

 " on the Ghauts and hilly parts of the Concans " as far as Bombay, a tree with smooth shining leaves, 

 " fruit size of a gooseberry ; " by Roxburgh cor. ii. pi. 125, in other parts of Hindustan. 



Ficus benjamina of Tropical Hindustan. A beautiful tree called in the environs of Bombay 

 "nandrook " (Graham), in Telinga " tella barinka " (Drur.) ; and perhaps included among the ever- 

 green " sukas " on Tyle — (Theophr. iv. 7. 8) : F. benjamina was observed by Rheede i. pi. 26 in 

 Malabar, a decoction of the leaves mixed with oil applied to ulcers ; by Graham, " between the 

 Kamatkee Ghaut and Wye," and " common throughout the Mawul districts," the leaves polished 

 shining; by Roxburgh, Wight pi. 642 and 648, and Drury, in other portions of the peninsula. 



Ficus racemosa of Tropical Hindustan. The red-wood fig-tree is called in Hindustanee " gooler," 

 in Telinga " maydi," in Tamil " attie marum " (Drur.) ; and is perhaps included among the evergreen 

 " sukas " on Tyle — (Theophr. iv. 7. 8) : F. racemosa was observed by Rheede i. pi. 25 in Malabar ; 

 by Graham, in " the Concans " as far as Bombay ; by Ainslie, and Drury, in other parts of Hindustan, 

 the fruit edible, and the leaves root and bark employed medicinally by the natives ; the leaves 

 according to Lindley are "on the upper side dark-green and shining : " the tree is termed "grossularia 

 domestica " by Rumphius iii. pi. 87 to 88. 



November, when the " Etesian winds " or Southwest monsoon ceased (Arrian ind. 21), Nearchus 

 sailed from the mouth of the Indus and " Kr6kala " (to the present day called Crocola), passing the 

 Aravios (Araba-il-mend), and continuing along the Desert coast Westward. The people of this coast 

 were found to be exclusively fishermen, living on fish which in the cooked state were sometimes 

 ground into meal ; a few date-palms were met with, also some gardens, with sheep and gnats fed how- 

 ever mainly on fish-meal (the detailed description of the natives and their habits being, according to 

 Kempthorne, "strictly correct even to the present day"). The bones of whales were used in con- 

 structing dwellings ; and on afterwards meeting with living whales (a novelty to the Greeks) the sail- 

 ors were much terrified ; but Nearchus bearing down with the clang of arms and the ships in battle 

 array, put the dreaded monsters to flight : a dead whale fallen in with, measured "fifty cubits," hav- 

 ing many OSTPEA shell-fish, AOnAAAS barnacles, and *YKIA sea-weed, adhering to the skin 

 (Arrian 1. c. 30 and 39). 



Hydnocarpus inebrians of Tropical Hindustan and Ceylon. Called in Malabar " morotti," in 

 Tamil " maravuttie " (Drur.) . and the tree seen by Nearchus whose fruit inebriates if eaten, and 

 from which honey also is extracted — (Strab. xv. 1. 20), may be compared: H. inebrians was ob- 

 served by Rheede i. pi. 30 in Malabar ; by Nimmo, and Graham, in the Concan, "common" a* far 

 at least as Bombay; by Buchanan, Wight i. pi. 16, and Drury, very common on the Western coast 

 as far as Travancore, the fruit if eaten occasioning giddiness, and on Ceylon the seeds used for poison- 

 ing fish : oil from the seeds is used medicinally by the natives (Rheede, and Ainslie). 



Arenga saccharifera of Tropical Eastern Asia. A very stately palm called in the environs of 

 Bombay " bhirlee " (Graham) ; and the " phloiou phoinikinou " of which fishermen seen by Nearchus 

 made their nets — (Strab. xv. 2. 2), may be compared : A. saccharifera was observed by Graham 

 planted near Bombay, affording " tolerably good sago, the sap palm wine and sugar, and the black 

 horse-hair like fibres of the trunk are converted into excellent cordage ; " by Roxburgh iii. 626, and 

 Buchanan, under cultivation in other parts of Hindustan. Farther East, by Mason v. 506 indigenous 

 in Burmah " on the mountains north-east of Toungoo ; " by Parish, observed also in Siam ; by Lou- 

 reiro 759, in Anam ; by Marsden, and Crawfurd, on Sumatra and the neighbouring islands, planted 

 according to Griffith very commonly by the Malays, the cordage from black fibres of the trunk 

 renowned for its power of resisting wet, the sap drunk as toddy or converted into sugar, and the 

 young albumen in syrup forming one of the well-known preserves of the Straits ; the palm is termed 

 "gomutus gomuto " by Rumphius i. pi. 13 ; and according to a writer in soc. tract Lond., its very acid 

 fruit, exciting inflammation when chewed, was the basis of the "infernal water" used by the AIoluc- 

 cans in war to pour over their enemies. Is termed also " saguerus Rumphii " by Roxburgh, and 

 "gomutus saccharifer" by Sprengel. (See Caryota urens, and Phcenix sylvestris.) 



Michelia champaca of Ciampa and Anam. The pcela of golden-flowered chumpa is a tree thirty 

 to forty feet high called in Sanscrit "champaca" or " champeya " or " hemapushpaca " (W. Jones), 

 in Bengalee " chumpaka " or "chumpa" (Drur.); and the "alia anthea" seen in a garden by 

 Nearchus, the flowers worn in the hair — (Arrian ind. 27), may be compared : the fragrant "champa" 

 is mentioned in the Mrichchhakati iv : garments scented with a "champa flower," by Vachespati 

 Misra tatwa-kaum. (Wils. sankh.) ; and the " katu " or "kanaka" or "kanchana" or "gand'ha" or 

 "nagapushpa" or " surab'hi " or " hemanga " of Susrutas sulr. 28, is referred here by Hessler : M. 

 champaca was observed by Graham " in gardens " around Bombay, "a highly ornamental and sacred 

 tree ; " by W. Jones as. res. iv. 287, Roxburgh, and Wight i. 13, in gardens throughout the peninsula 

 and as far as Bengal, dedicated according to Drury to Vishnu, and its flowers used by the natives to 

 adorn their heads. Farther East, was observed by Mason v. 402 " exotic " in Burmah, planted about 



