FRUITS. 



235 



a.d. 1331 the traveller Ibn Batutah found El 

 Jammun (^y^O a t Mombasah. 



The interior of the Island produces the 

 ' Pursad,' a small stunted variety of the Persian 

 red mulberry ; the 6 Tut/ or white, species, grows 

 in every jungle from the shore of the Mainland 

 to Puga, in Usumbara, and suggests the possi- 

 bility of rearing silk- worms. The pomegranate 

 here, as on the Coast, gives a fruit which is hardly 

 eatable : during the season Omani ships bring a 

 supply of the very best description from the Jebel 

 el Akhzar (the Green Mountain), near Maskat, 

 and apples from the Persian Gulf. The Badam, 

 locally called Bidam (the Persian almond), is 

 here barren ; the broad polished leaves are used 

 as platters by the vegetarian Hindus. The Chinese 

 llambotang or Leechee is neglected, and the fruit 

 is poor. The Ber (jujube) is unusually well- 

 flavoured; according to Moslem custom, the 

 Arab dead are washed with an infusion of the 

 leaves. That South American growth the 

 Mbibo or Cashew (Caju) tree abounds here and 

 on the continental sea-board : the nuts are 

 roasted, the pulp is eaten, though its astringent 

 quince-like flavour is by no means pleasant, and 

 the juice is distilled, as at Goa. After pressure, 

 the yield, exposed two or three days for ferment- 



