The Gardens of the Sun / A naturalist's journal on the mountains and in the forests and swamps of Borneo and the Sulu Archipelago

by F. W. Burbidge

The rambutan is a common fruit in Singapore, and is the produce of a pinnate-leaved tree, thirty to fifty feet in height, the hairy fruits being borne in clusters near the extremities of the branches. On the husk being removed the edible pulp is seen surrounding the solitary seed, and is of a white jelly-like consistency, with a brisk and refreshing sub-acid flavour. There are several varieties. The common one has a red outer husk, but there are yellow and purple skinned varieties of excellent flavour. The Malay name, “boi rambutan,” or hairy fruit, refers to the soft, thick hairs on the outer husk. Two other species grown in China afford fruits of a similar character, which, dried, are sometimes met with in this country under the name of “litchis.” The fruit is common in gardens or orchards throughout the Malay islands, and is quite wild in Borneo.

In Batavia it ripens in February and March, and is common in the streets of Singapore during July and August. In the forests of North-West Borneo it ripens in September, large basketsful of it being collected by the natives and brought in along with tampoe fruit, and occasionally mangosteen and fine durian. A basketful of this fruit at first sight reminds one of strawberries, it being singularly like them in size and colour.

The bread-fruit tree is frequently met with, but the fruit is not so much used by the Malays as it is by the natives of the South Sea Islands. Another member of the same group, the “nangka,” or Jack-fruit, is much more generally grown, and produces immense fruits, varying from ten to seventy-five pounds weight. Like the bread-fruit, it has a rough netted coating, the portion eaten being the golden pulp which surrounds the seeds. A smaller fruited, and altogether more delicate flavoured species, affords the “champada,” and the habit of the tree is much like the Jack-fruit, but the “champada” may be recognised by its leaves being hairy below, those of the Jack-fruits being smooth and glossy on both surfaces. This kind is liked both by Malays and Europeans.

The “tarippe,” or “trap,” is another allied fruit borne by a round-headed tree, having entire leaves much larger than the last, and hispid on both surfaces. They are also of a pale, rusty-green tint, and the fruits are borne near the extremities of the spreading branches, as in the bread-fruit, and not produced from the main branches or the bole of the tree, as in the case of the Jack-fruits and “champada.” This is the most palatable of all the bread-fruits, so far as my own experience goes, the pulp which surrounds the seeds being of a milk-white colour, and very soft and juicy. The husk consists of closely packed hispid spikes, pressed closely together, and amalgamated at the base around the pulp-coated seeds. In North-West Borneo this fruit is in perfection during August and September, and it is particularly abundant around the Dusun villages near Kina Balu.

The leathery coated seeds of all these species of bread-fruits are roasted and eaten by the natives in much the same way as are chestnuts here at home. All the species have india-rubber yielding tendencies, and their inner bark is tough and useful for various purposes.

The “jintawan,” or “manoongan” fruit, of which there are three kinds, is about the size of an orange, and very similar in colour, each containing from eight to twelve pulp-covered seeds.

The “tampoe,” or “tampui,” is another very common jungle fruit, of which but little appears to be known. There are three varieties—“tampoe shelou,” “tampoe putih,” and “tampoe baraja.” The two first named differ in the one having yellow pulp and the other white. The last is a smaller fruit, having four internal divisions instead of six, and the pulp is of a bright chestnut colour. The part eaten is the pulp surrounding the seeds, which is agreeably sub-acid and very refreshing, the pavia-like husks, and the seed themselves, being discarded. The tree is fifty or sixty feet in height, with dark green poplar-like leaves, and the fruits hang two or three together in lax clusters, the stalks being produced from the older branches. This fruit is eaten in large quantities by the natives; and the pulp mixed with rice and water, and afterwards fermented, affords them an intoxicating drink but little inferior to the “toddy” prepared from the cocoanut palm.

A fruit closely resembling the common “bilimbing” is found in the Lawas district, and is called “tampui bilimbing” by the natives. It is of a bright scarlet colour; and according to the native account it has large entire leaves, the fruits being borne on short few-flowered peduncles, which proceed from the main branches of the tree. The white pulp which surrounds the solitary seed is acidulous and pleasant.

Another jungle fruit, called “mandaroit” by the Kadyans, resembles a small “rambutan,” but the leathery husk is quite smooth. It may possibly be produced by a species of niphelium, and is very sweet and agreeable when perfectly ripe, the fruits being kidney-shaped, and but little larger than a blackbird’s egg.

“Rambeneer,” a still smaller, pale yellowish-green fruit, also has sweet flesh around a stone; but in this case the husk is mango-like, having a thin and tender skin, which may be eaten with the pulp.