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Wallace devotes several pages to a description of its various qualities, remarking that "to eat durians is a new sensation, worth a voyage to the East to experience." Credat Judæus non ego. There is also a species of green orange, with a very thin skin and fine acid flavour, to be obtained in Java.
"She has brought you one of those horrible durians;" and as the Doctor's wife spoke Minnie caught up a little, bamboo-woven native basket, in which, carefully arranged among freshly gathered fern, was one of the peculiar-looking native fruits, the produce of one of the great trees so carefully planted and cared for in nearly every native village. "Don't!
Perhaps the deliberate development of the plant is gauged by eagerness and anticipation. Do I not occasionally indulge the hope of living long enough to sample the first fruits? When in such humour I long for the years to come, and thus does my good friend stimulate expectations: "I have been spending a small fortune in durians, they are relatively cheap and very good this season in Singapore.
But Dullah accepted it all in the calmest manner, smilingly removing the malodorous durians which Bob maliciously contrived to place near the seat Tom Long always occupied, and waiting upon the ensign as if he were a grandee of the first water.
We knew that the curry was coming, so we passed courses that were as expensive and rare in this equatorial land as the fruit of the durians would be in New York, mutton from Shanghai, turkey from Siam, beef from Australia, and oysters from far up the river Maur. We felt that besides being a pleasure to ourselves it was a compliment to our royal host to partake generously of his national dish.
At first my preparations seemed to make no impression whatever, but finally, when I was about to divest myself of the last of my few garments, they smiled and went away. This was the season for the durian fruit and we much enjoyed this delicacy, of which Mr. A.R. Wallace, fifty years ago, wrote: "To eat durians is a new sensation, worth a voyage to the East to experience."
"If you're bound to eat one of those nasty durians," said a friend living in the town, "please take it on the ship and have the captain anchor out farther at sea. If you attempt to open one here, you'll have the Sanitation Committee after you hotfoot!"
"Tell him I don't like durians, Bob Roberts," said Tom, nervously, "or we shall have another row." "Here, hi! old cockolorum!" cried Bob, with his mouth full, as he turned to the Malay, "tell Mr Abdullah there, that his durians are 'licious luscious 'licious, but Mr Long likes mangosteens better."
It is neither acid, nor sweet, nor juicy; yet one feels the want of more of these qualities, for it is perfect as it is. It produces no nausea or other bad effect, and the more you eat of it the less you feel inclined to stop. In fact to eat Durians is a new sensation, worth a voyage to the East to experience.
The Sakais are quite greedy over durians and Mr Wallace writes that its delicate flavour is so exquisite it would well repay the expense and disturbance of a journey Eastward on purpose to taste it. This assertion of the English writer may be somewhat exaggerated but for my own part, I must say that I have never tasted anything more delicious.
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