The tamarind tree (Tamarindus Indicus), a huge growth, with trunk a hundred feet tall and fifteen or more in circumference, has branches extending widely, and a dense foliage of bright green composite leaves, very nearly resembling those of the sensitive plant.  The flowers, growing in clusters, are exquisite, of a rich golden tint veined with red; while the fruit hangs pendent, like bean-pods strung all over the branches of the mammoth tree.  The diminutive leaves, blossoms and fruit are so singularly opposed to the stately growth as to appear almost ludicrous, yet the tout ensemble is “a thing of beauty” never to be forgotten.

It remained for us, on our return to Singapore, to see the spice plantations, with the beautiful clove and nutmeg trees, about which every new-comer goes into ecstasies.  Mr. Princeps’ estate, one of the largest and finest on the island, occupies two hundred and fifty acres, including three picturesque hills—­Mount Sophia, Mount Emily and Mount Caroline, each surmounted by a pretty bungalow—­and from these avenues radiate, intersecting every portion of the plantation.  Here were planted some five thousand nutmeg trees, and perhaps a thousand of the clove, besides coffee trees, palms, etc.  The nutmeg is an evergreen of great beauty, conical in shape, and from twenty to twenty-five feet in height, the branches thickly decorated with polished, deep-green foliage rising from the ground to the summit.  Almost hidden among these emerald leaves grows the pear-shaped fruit.  As it ripens the yellow external tegument opens, revealing the dark-red mace, that is closely enwrapped about a thin black shell.  This, in turn, encloses a fragrant kernel, the nutmeg of commerce.  Both leaf and blossom are marked by the same aromatic perfume that distinguishes the fruit.

The clove tree, though somewhat smaller than the nutmeg, is quite similar in appearance, and, if possible, even more graceful and beautiful.  The leaves are shaped like a lance, the blossoms pure white and deliciously fragrant, and they cluster thickly on every branch and twig almost to the summit of the tree.  The cloves—­“spice nails,” as they are often called—­are not a fruit, but undeveloped buds, the stem being the calyx, and the head the folded petals.  Their dark color, as we see them, is due to the smoking process through which they pass in curing.  The clove is a native of the Moluccas, and has been transplanted to many parts of the East Indies; but nowhere, not even in its picturesque Faderland, does it thrive better than in Singapore, Pulo Penang and other islands of the Malayan Archipelago.

One singular-looking fruit that I saw in China I must not forget to mention—­the flat peach, called by the Chinese ping taou, or “peach cake.”  It has the appearance of having been flattened by pressure at the head and stalk, being something less than three-fourths of an inch through the centre from eye to stem, and consisting wholly of the stone and skin; while the sides, which swell around the centre, are only an eighth of an inch in thickness.  Its transverse diameter is about two and a half inches.