This, he says, was found only in the
northern parts; and as Bong-ree, who was tolerably well acquainted with
the country as far as Port Stephens, never saw or heard of it before,
this was probably one of the most southern situations in which it would
be found.

[* Vide Hawkesworth's Voyages, Vol III p 624.]

The individual nuts were seen scattered about the fire-places of the
natives; and it was observed, that the lower end of them had been chewed
and sucked in the manner that artichokes are eaten. This method, on
procuring some that were ripe, was afterwards practised.

The taste was rather pleasant at first, but left an astringency behind
that scarcely tempted one to try a second time. The eatable part of the
nut in this way was so small, as to be not worth the trouble of sucking
it out from the fibres. They were about the size of a walnut; within the
outer skin was a hard shell like that of the cocoa nut; and within this,
two, or perhaps more, almond-like kernels. The nut, as taken from the
tree, was an assemblage of these kernels set into a cone, and was from
the size of a man's two fists, to that of his head. Its size, and the
furrows or indentations upon the surface, appeared on the first view like
the exterior form of the bread fruit, but a pine apple may be a better
object of comparison. The stem of the tree was short, and none were
observed to be two feet or even eighteen inches in diameter. The branches
did not ramify into twigs, but preserved their size to the extreme, where
the leaves were produced surrounding the fruit. One or two smaller
branches here and there struck off from the main branch, and produced
their leaves in the same way, without fruit. The height of the tree all
together might be from fifteen to twenty-five or thirty feet. Suckers or
branches of all sizes were seen shooting out below those bearing fruit,
and, growing downwards along the stem, entered the ground, where they not
only formed roots, but became supporters to the tree.

Mr. Flinders thought this fruit might be the mellori of the Nicobar
Islands. The description given of the mellori* in the third volume of
the Asiatic Researches corresponded with it in every particular, as far
as his examination went; but not having at that time any idea of the
value of the tree, and the subject being foreign to his pursuit, he did
not give it much attention.

[* The manner of cooking this fruit, mellori, is given in the description,
and may b