est quality of the mangistan is its perfect harmlessness. The
patient suffering from fever, liver complaint, consumption, or any of
the numerous ills that flesh is heir to, may, with perfect impunity,
cool his parched tongue with a dozen of this delightful fruit; and no
one who has not been laid on a sick bed within the tropics, can
appreciate this blessing. The rind, when dried, and made into tea, is an
excellent tonic, and is often successfully used in cases of dysentery,
by Native as well as European practitioners. The durian is a favourite
fruit with most people who can overcome its smell, which certainly is no
very easy matter. Natives of all classes are passionately fond of this
fruit, and almost subsist on it when in plenty. Strange to say, goats,
sheep, poultry, and even the royal tiger, eagerly devour the durian, of
which I confess myself, notwithstanding the aforesaid smell, an admirer,
in common with many of my countrymen. Its size is that of a cocoa-nut,
husk and all; its rind is very thick, of a pale green colour, and
covered with strong sharp thorns; its interior is divided into
compartments, each of which contains three or four seeds about the size
of a pullet's egg; these seeds are covered, to the thickness of a
quarter of an inch, with a pale yellow pulp, which is the part eaten.
The taste resembles, according to the description of those who like the
fruit, that of a very rich custard, and, according to those who have
never succeeded in overcoming their antipathy to the smell, that of a
mixture of decayed eggs and garlic. This fruit cannot be eaten in large
quantities with impunity by Europeans, being of a very heating nature.
With me it never agreed; nor do I remember a single instance of its
agreeing with my countrymen, when eaten freely. Half a one is as much as
most people can manage at a time. The durian seeds, when roasted, make
an excellent substitute for chestnuts.

The shaddock of Java is a magnificent fruit, and surpasses those of any
other country with which I am acquainted. In addition to these three
prime fruits of Java, I may mention the pine-apple, soursop, rambutan,
rose-apple, guava, dookoo, and sixty different kinds of plantain and
banana. These, and many others, thrive and abound on this favoured
island. With poultry, butchers' meat, fish, and vegetables, Batavia and
Java generally are abundantly supplied; while the residents on its
mountains may enjoy strawberries and cream in perfect