Cuaar. V.] FRUITS. 69 
are brought to the markets of Tinghae in the summer 
season, are from the main land. There are, how- — 
ever, two fruits cultivated on the island, which are 
of considerable excellence; the one is called Yang- 
mai: it is a scarlet fruit, not unlike an arbutus or 
strawberry, but having a stone like a plum in the 
centre; the other is the Kum-quat, a small species 
of Citrus, about the size of an oval gooseberry, 
with a sweet rind and sharp acid pulp. This fruit is 
well known in a preserved state by those who 
have any intercourse with Canton, and a small 
quantity is generally sent home as presents every 
year. Preserved in sugar, according to the Chinese 
method, it is excellent. Groves of the kum-quat 
are common on all the hill-sides of Chusan. The 
bush grows from three to six feet high, and, when 
covered with its orange-coloured fruit, is a very 
pretty object. 
The islands of the Chusan Archipelago having 
every variety of elevation and soil, and a large pro- 
portion of the hills and ravines being in a state of 
nature*, I found them not only rich in plants, but 
had also the satisfaction of meeting with several 
novelties of great interest. 
The natives of Chusan are a quiet and inoffen- 
sive race, and were always civil and obliging to me. 
* This description will scarcely agree with those writers 
who inform us that such is the persevering industry of the 
Chinese, that every inch of ground in China is under cultiva- 
tion! ‘ Facts, however, are stubborn things.” 
F 3 
