subacid flavour, and may be fermented into a kind of wine, or distilled into arrack. The nut, of a kidney

shape, is attached to the end of the apple; it is inclosed in two shells, between which there is a native inflammable oil, which is so caustic that it will blister the skin. The kernel, contained in the second or inner shell, is of a very fine flavour, and used to give a pleasant taste to many products of cookery: it also greatly improves the flavour of chocolate.

This is one of the most extraordinary fruits of South America, which has been made familiar to us principally by the interesting description of Humboldt. It was first noticed in a geographical work published in 1633, by Laet, who says that the weight of this fruit is so enormous, that, at the period when it falls, the savages dare not enter the forests without covering their heads and shoulders with a strong buckler of wood. The natives of Esmerelda still describe the dangers which they run, when the fruit falls from a height of fifty or sixty feet. The triangular grains which the shell of the juvia incloses, are known in commerce under the name of Brazil nuts; and it has been erroneously thought that they grow upon the tree in the form in which they are imported.

The tree which produces the juvia is only about two or three feet in diameter, but it reaches a height of a hundred and twenty feet. The fruit is as large as a child's head. Humboldt justly observes that nothing can give a more forcible idea of the power of vegetable life in the equinoctial zone than these enormous ligneous pericarps. In fifty or sixty days a shell is formed half an inch in thickness, which it is difficult to open with the sharpest instrument.

The grains which this shell contains have two distinct envelopes. Four or five, and sometimes as many as eight, of these grains are attached to a central membrane. The Capuchin apes (Simia chiropotes) are exceedingly fond of the almonds of the juvia; and the noise of the falling fruit excites their appetites in the highest degree. The natives say that these animals unite their strength to break the pericarp with a stone, and thus to obtain the coveted nuts. Humboldt doubts this; but he thinks that some of the order of Rodentia, such as the Cavia aguti, are able to open the outer shell with their sharp teeth applied with unwearied pertinacity. When the triangular nuts are spread on the ground, all the animals of the forest surround them, and dispute their possession. The Indians, who collect these nuts, say "it is the feast of the animals, as well as of ourselves;" but they are angry with their rivalry. The gathering of the juvia is cele brated with rejoicings, like the vintage of Europe.

CHAPTER XI,

FRUITS OF INDIA, CHINA, AND JAPAN.-MANGO; MANGOSTAN; DURION; MALAY APPLE; JACA; LITCHI ; LONGAN; JUJUBE; KAKI; LOQUAT,

THE Indian archipelago is said to produce the most rich and curious fruits of any part of the globe. The greater number of the fruits of the Indian islands grow wild; and very little cultivation is given to any. Nature appears to bestow her bounty peculiarly upon fruits; for some of the fine sorts are produced upon land unfit for raising grain*. The Indian continent bears, generally, the same fruits as the Indian islands; with some peculiar to itself. In

China and Japan, the cultivated fruits, with a few exceptions, consist of the same natural orders as those of Europe; though, according to many travellers, far superior in size and flavour.

THE MANGO-Mangifera indica.

The mango, which grows abundantly in India, the south-eastern countries of Asia, Brazil, and some other places, is accounted one of the most delicious of the tropical fruits, and second only to the mangostan. The tree on which it is produced is large, with lancet-shaped leaves, bearing some resemblance to the walnut. The flowers are small and whitish, formed into pyramidal bunches; the fruit has some resemblance to a short, thick cucumber, and on the average of the varieties, of which there are many,

* Lindley on Tropical Fruits, Hort. Trans. vol. v.

about the size of a goose's egg. At first the fruit is of a fine green colour, and in some of the varieties it continues so, while others become partly or wholly orange. When ripe, the mango emits a smell, which, though faint, is very pleasant; and the flavour of it is then as delicious as can be imagined. Externally there is a thin skin; and upon removing that, a pulp, which has some appearance of consistency, but which melts in the mouth with a cooling sweetness, that can hardly be imagined by those who have not tasted that choicest of nature's delicacies. In the heart of the pulp there is a pretty large stone, resembling that of a peach, to which the pulp adheres firmly.

The mangos of Asia are said to be superior both in size and flavour to those of America; and so highly are some of the finer trees prized in India, that guards are placed over them during the fruit season. The mangos of Mazagong, which are thus carefully watched, are thought to be superior to any

other. The varieties of a fruit so much esteemed must be numerous, accordingly it is reckoned that there are upwards of forty in the island of Java alone, while those of some of the islands farther to the east, such as Amboyna and Banda, are said to be still finer. The Mango dodol is the largest variety, the fruit weighing upwards of two pounds,-generally about the size of a middling shaddock. Some of the others, which make up the five principal heads into which Rumphius (Herbarium Amboinense) arranges the whole, are of superior size and flavour: but the fruit, taken altogether, is one of the chief dainties of the vegetable world.

The mango is never brought from India to this country in any other state than the green fruit pickled, from which no idea of the flavour can be formed. The ripe fruit is very perishable; and when it begins to decay it is offensive, and tastes strongly like turpentine. It is not easy even to secure the vegetative power of the nut or kernel during the voyage from India, unless it be inclosed in wax; and the plants are with difficulty preserved as objects of curiosity.

In the Transactions of the Horticultural Society for 1826, there is an account of some mangos, raised by Earl Powis, at Walcot Hall, in Shropshire. "The mango," says Mr. Sabine, the secretary to the society, in his very able paper upon the subject, "is well known to all travellers who have visited the tropical parts of the world, as being by far the best fruit that is generally produced in those regions, and as that which is the most uniformly grateful to an European palate. In such climates, it is cultivated wherever the arts of civilization have penetrated; and it may there be said to hold the same station, among other fruits, as the apple possesses among those of northern regions. Like the apple, the number of varieties