ly of the size of a man's
head, and is of a spherical form. It consists of five cells, each
containing from one to four large seeds enveloped in a rich white pulp,
itself covered with a thin pellicle, which prevents the seed from
adhering to it. This pulp is the edible portion of the fruit. However,
a dish of _mangostine_ was more to my taste. It is one of the most
exquisite of Indian fruits. It is mildly acid, and has an extreme
delicacy of flavour without being luscious or cloying. In external
appearance it resembles a ripe pomegranate, but is smaller and more
completely globular. A rather tough rind, brown without, and of a deep
crimson within, encloses three or four black seeds surrounded by a soft,
semi-transparent, snow-white pulp, having occasionally a very slight
crimson plush. The pulp is eaten. We had also the well-known
Jack-fruit, a great favourite with the natives; and the _champadak_, a
much smaller fruit, of more slender form and more oblong shape. It has
a slightly farinaceous consistency, and has a very delicate and sweet
flavour. I remember several other fruits; indeed, the chief seemed
anxious to show to me, a stranger, the various productions of his
country. There were mangoes, shaddocks, and pine-apples in profusion,
and several other small fruits, some too luscious for my palate, but
others having an agreeable sub-acid taste.

We sat and sat on, waiting for the return of the messenger. I observed
that whereas a calabash of water stood near the guests, from which they
drank sparingly, a jug was placed close to the chief, and that as he
continued to sip from it his eyes began to roll and his head to turn
from side to side in a curious manner. Suddenly, as if seized with a
generous impulse, or rather having overcome a selfish one, he passed the
jug with a sigh over to me, and made signs that if I was so inclined I
was to drink from it. I did so without hesitation, but my breath was
almost taken away. It was the strongest arrack. I could not ascertain
how the chief, who was a Mohammedan, could allow himself to do what is
so contrary to the law of the prophet. I observed that his attendants
looked away when he drank, as they did when I put the cup to my lips; so
I conclude that they knew well enough that it was not quite the right
thing to do. All the inhabitants of Java are nominally Mohammedans,
but, in the interior especially, a number of gross and idolatrous
practices are mixed up