A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 13 eBook

Robert Kerr (writer)
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 794 pages of information about A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 13.

A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 13 eBook

Robert Kerr (writer)
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 794 pages of information about A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 13.

32.  The Madja, or Limoni of Linnaeus, contains, under a hard brittle shell, a lightly acid pulp, which cannot be eaten without sugar; and with it, is not generally thought pleasant.

33.  Suntul.  The Trichilia of Linnaeus.  This is the worst of all the fruits that I shall particularly mention:  In size and shape it resembles the Madja, and within a thick skin contains kernels like those of the Mangostan, the taste of which is both acid and astringent, and so disagreeable, that we were surprised to see it exposed upon the fruit-stalls.

34, 35, 36.  The Blimbing, or Averrhoa Belimbi; the Blimbing Besse, or Averrhoa Carambola; and the Cherrema, or Averrhoa Acida of Linnaeus, are three species of one genus; and though they differ in shape, are nearly of the same taste.  The Blimbing Besse is the sweetest:  the other two are so austerely acid, that they cannot be used without dressing; they make, however, excellent pickles and sour sauce.

37.  The Salack, or Calamus Rotang Zalacca of Linnaeus.  This is the fruit of a prickly bush; it is about as big as a walnut, and covered with scales, like those of a lizard:  Below the scales are two or three yellow kernels, in flavour somewhat resembling a strawberry.

Besides these, the island of Java, and particularly the country round Batavia, produces many kinds of fruit which were not in season during our stay:  We were also told that apples, strawberries, and many other fruits from Europe, had been planted up in the mountains, and flourished there in great luxuriance.  We saw several fruits preserved in sugar, that we did not see recent from the tree, one of which is called Kimkit, and another Boa Atap:  And here are several others which are eaten only by the natives, particularly the Kellor, the Guilindina, the Moringa, and the Soccum.  The Soccum is of the same kind with the breadfruit in the South-Sea islands, but so much inferior, that if it had not been for the similitude in the outward appearance both of the fruit and the tree, we should not have referred it to that class.  These and some others do not merit to be particularly mentioned.

The quantity of fruit that is consumed at Batavia is incredible; but that which is publicly exposed to sale is generally over-ripe.  A stranger, however, may get good fruit in a street called Passar Pissang, which lies north from the great church, and very near it.  This street is inhabited by none but Chinese fruit-sellers, who are supplied from the gardens of gentlemen in the neighbourhood of the town with such as is fresh, and excellent in its kind, for which, however, they must be paid more than four times the market price.

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A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 13 from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.