THE ISLAND OF CEYLON, 
3i r 
while it is covered with the outer coat. It is divided into 
different compartments, each containing a kernel or two of 
the size of a chesnut, but longer. When roasted or boiled, 
these kernels in taste very much resemble a potatoe. The 
pulp is not very agreeable to the palate of an European,, 
having a strong smell not unlike turpentine. The only way 
we could bring ourselves to cat it, was by first soaking 
it in a glass of salt and water. The natives eat it with 
much relish; and when they go upon a journey, they ge- 
nerally travel with a bag of the kernels roasted. 
Another species which is usually called the bread - fruit 
tree , in the appearance of the fruit, is quite similar to the 
jacka, only that it is much smaller. The leaves of this tree 
are large, and of a dark green colour. The fruit is dressed 
in a variety of different ways, and no less than fifteen differ- 
ent dishes are prepared from it. When sliced and roasted, it 
is eaten in place of bread; and is often scraped into flour 
by the natives, and then baked into cakes. These fruits are 
invaluable preservatives against famine, of which neither their 
own indolence, the terrors of their enemies, nor the tyranny 
of their governors are able to deprive the Ceylonese. By 
regular cultivation, however, their utility might be greatly 
extended, and their quality improved. 
The cocoa -tree is of such singular utility not only to the 
Ceylonese, but to all the natives of India, that I hope a 
full account of it, and its uses, will not be thought super- 
