THE LITCHI— MANGOSTEEN— MANGO—DURION. 



557 



In order to obtain the fruit in perfection, for the use of the Imperial Court, the trees, 

 as soon as they blossom, are conveyed from Canton to Pekin on rafts, at a very great 

 trouble and expense, so that the plum may just be ripe on their arrival in the northern 

 capital. 



The beautiful Mangosteen ( Garcinia mangostana,) a native of the Moluccas, and 

 thence transplanted to Java, Siam, the Philippines, and Ceylon, resembles at a dis- 

 tance the citron tree, and bears large flowers like roses. The dark-brown capsular 

 fruit, about the size of a small apple, is described as of unequalled flavor — ^juicy and 

 aromatic, like a mixture of strawberries, raspberries, grapes, and oranges. It is said 

 that the patient who has lost an appetite for every thing else still relishes the mango- 

 steen, and that the case is perfectly hopeless when he refuses even this. 



The stately Mango^ (Mangifera indica,) is frequently represented on the silk 

 tissues of the Hindoos, who venerate, under the ugly form of the ape Huniman, the 

 transformed hero who first robbed the gardens of a Ceylonese giant of its sweet fruit, 

 and presented their forefathers with this inestimable gift. The mango bears beautiful 

 girandoles of flowers, followed by large plum-like fruits, of which, however, but four 

 or five ripen on each branch. 



In Borneo and the other islands of the Malayan Archipelago grows the Durion, a 

 fruit utterly unknown in Europe and America, which alone of all vegetable productions 

 possesses the opposite qualities of extreme offensiveness to one sense, and of the highest 

 gratefulness to the other sense most closely allied to it. Its smell is like that of 

 rotten onions, while its taste is such that those who have once partaken of it prefer it 

 to all other fruit. Wallace"^ thus describes the fruit : 



" The durion grows on a large and lofty forest tree, somewhat resembling an elm in 

 its general character, but with a more smooth and scaly bark. The fruit is round, or 

 slightly oval, about the size of a large cocoa-nut, of a green color, and covered all over 

 with short, stout spines, the bases of which touch each other, and are consequently 

 somewhat hexagonal, while the points are very strong and sharp. It is so completely 

 armed that, if the stalk is broken off, it is a difficult matter to lift one from the 

 ground. The outer rind is so thick and tough that from whatever hight it may fall it 

 is never broken. From the base to the apex five very faint lines may be traced, over 

 which the spines arch a little ; these are the sutures of the carpels, and show where 

 the fruit may be divided with a heavy knife and a strong hand. The five cells are 

 white within, and are each filled with an oval mass of cream-colored pulp, imbedded in 

 which are two or three seeds about the size of chestnuts. The pulp is the eatable 

 part, and its consistence and flavor are indescribable. A rich, butter-like custard, 

 highly flavored with almonds, gives the best general idea of it; but intermingled with 

 it come wafts of flavor that call to mind cream-cheese, onion-sauce, brown sherry, and 

 other incongruities. Then there is a rich glutinous smoothness in the pulp which 

 nothing else possesses, but which adds to its delicacy. It is neither acid, nor sweet, 

 nor juicy; yet one feels the want of none of these qualities, for it is perfect as it is. 

 It produces no nausea, or other bad effect, and the more you eat of it the less you feel 

 inclined to stop. In fact, to eat durions is a new sensation worth a voyage to the 

 East to experience. 



" When the fruit is ripe it falls of itself, and the only way to eat durions in perfec- 

 * Malay Archipelago, 85. 



