The Memoirs of Bābur 932.11.5

932.11.5

The (Sans.) _jāman_ (_Eugenia jambolana_)[1845] is another. Its leaf, except for being thicker and greener, is quite like the willow's (T. _tāl_). The tree does not want for beauty. Its fruit is like a black grape, is sourish, and not very good. The (H.) _kamrak_ (Beng. _kamrunga_, _Averrhoa carambola_) is another. Its fruit is five-sided, about as large as the _`ain-ālū_[1846] and some 3 inches long. It ripens to yellow; gathered unripe, it is very bitter; gathered ripe, its bitterness has become sub-acid, not bad, not wanting in pleasantness.[1847] The jack-fruit (H. _kadhil_, B. _kanthal_, _Artocarpus integrifolia_) is another.[1848] This is a fruit of singular form and flavour; it looks [Sidenote: Fol. 284.] like a sheep's stomach stuffed and made into a haggis (_gīpa_);[1849] and it is sickeningly-sweet. Inside it are filbert-like stones[1850] which, on the whole, resemble dates, but are round, not long, and have softer substance; these are eaten. The jack-fruit is very adhesive; for this reason people are said to oil mouth and hands before eating of it. It is heard of also as growing, not only on the branches of its tree, but on trunk and root too.[1851] One would say that the tree was all hung round with haggises.[1852]