most disgusting odour to Europeans, but
the Dyaks appreciate it highly as a relish with their rice. There are in
the forest two varieties of wild Durians with much smaller fruits, one
of them orange-coloured inside; and these are probably the origin of
the large and fine Durians, which are never found wild. It would not,
perhaps, be correct to say that the Durian is the best of all fruits,
because it cannot supply the place of the subacid juicy kinds, such as
the orange, grape, mango, and mangosteen, whose refreshing and cooling
qualities are so wholesome and grateful; but as producing a food of the
most exquisite flavour, it is unsurpassed. If I had to fix on two only,
as representing the perfection of the two classes, I should certainly
choose the Durian and the Orange as the king and queen of fruits.

The Durian is, however, sometimes dangerous. When the fruit begins to
ripen it falls daily and almost hourly, and accidents not unfrequently
happen to persons walking or working under the trees. When a Durian
strikes a man in its fall, it produces a dreadful wound, the strong
spines tearing open the flesh, while the blow itself is very heavy; but
from this very circumstance death rarely ensues, the copious effusion
of blood preventing the inflammation which might otherwise take place. A
Dyak chief informed me that he had been struck down by a Durian falling
on his head, which he thought would certainly have caused his death, yet
he recovered in a very short time.

Poets and moralists, judging from our English trees and fruits, have
thought that small fruits always grew on lofty trees, so that their fall
should be harmless to man, while the large ones trailed on the ground.
Two of the largest and heaviest fruits known, however, the Brazil-nut
fruit (Bertholletia) and Durian, grow on lofty forest trees, from which
they fall as soon as they are ripe, and often wound or kill the native
inhabitants. From this we may learn two things: first, not to draw
general conclusions from a very partial view of nature; and secondly,
that trees and fruits, no less than the varied productions of the animal
kingdom, do not appear to be organized with exclusive reference to the
use and convenience of man.

During my many journeys in Borneo, and especially during my various
residences among the Dyaks, I first came to appreciate the admirable
qualities of the Bamboo. In those parts of South America which I had
previously visited, these giga