54 OUDE FRUIT.
celebrated, in true old English style—roast beef, turkey,,
and plum-pudding, to wit, washed down by very excellent
champagne, sent round at the expense of mine
host, who presided; and I need hardly say that it
added materially to the expression of good fellowship
amongst us, and the banquet ended with the usual
loyal toasts.
Lucknow is the prettiest and pleasantest place in
Northern India, and its climate excellent, whilst the
cost of living is much more moderate than, for instance,
at Bombay, where a good bungalow can hardly
be had under 250 rupees per month, whilst here 100
rupees is a fair rent. Provisions are plentiful and exceedingly
cheap ; beef, as good as any in England,
costs less than twopence the pound. There is also a
great variety of fruit in the bazaar, melon, guava, plantain,
prickly pear, loquat, and two other kinds I had not
seen before ; the one is called “kyta ” (Plate IY.) by the
natives, not unlike a large potato in appearance, of
brownish colour and perfectly round. I ventured to put
my teeth into it, but soon withdrew them again, for its
taste was most disagreeable, reminding one of gritty
soap. I have since been told that it is the “ avocado,
or alligator’s pear,” alias “ midshipman’s butter ”
(Persia gratissima), described by Charles Kingsley in
his “ At Last.” He met with it at St. Thomas, in the
PLATE W.
K A M A R E K . (Avarrhoa, cararribola.)
p . 55.
K A IT A . (Persia gratissima ?)
p. 54.