DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15173#0150
132
FRUITS OF CABOOL.
CHAP. V.
much grape syrup. A pound of grapes sells for a
halfpenny. I have already mentioned the " rhu-
wash," or rhubarb of Cabool: it grows sponta-
neously under the snowy hills of Pughman ; and
Cabool has a great celebrity from producing it.
The natives believe it exceedingly wholesome, and
use it both raw, and cooked as vegetables. They
tell an anecdote of some Indian doctors, who prac-
tised for a short time at Cabool, and waited for the
fruit season, when the people would probably be
unhealthy. Seeing this rhubarb in May and June,
these members of the faculty abruptly left the
country, pronouncing it a specific for the cata-
logue of Cabool diseases. This, at all events,
proves it to be considered a healthy article of food.
When the rhubarb is brought to market, the stalks
are about a foot long, and the leaves are just bud-
ding. They are red; the stalk is white: when it
first appears above ground, it has a sweet taste like
milk, and will not bear carriage. As it grows older,
it gets strong, stones being piled round to protect
it from the sun. The root of the plant is not used
as medicine. There are no date trees in Cabool,
though they are to be found both east and west of
it — at Candahar and Peshawur. There the people
are ignorant of the art of extracting an intoxicating
juice from them, as in India. Peshawur is cele-
brated for its pears; Ghuzni for its plums (which
are sold in India under the name of the plum of
Bokhara); Candahar for its figs, and Cabool for its
mulberries; but almost every description, particu-
larly stone fruit, thrives in Cabool. Fruit is more
FRUITS OF CABOOL.
CHAP. V.
much grape syrup. A pound of grapes sells for a
halfpenny. I have already mentioned the " rhu-
wash," or rhubarb of Cabool: it grows sponta-
neously under the snowy hills of Pughman ; and
Cabool has a great celebrity from producing it.
The natives believe it exceedingly wholesome, and
use it both raw, and cooked as vegetables. They
tell an anecdote of some Indian doctors, who prac-
tised for a short time at Cabool, and waited for the
fruit season, when the people would probably be
unhealthy. Seeing this rhubarb in May and June,
these members of the faculty abruptly left the
country, pronouncing it a specific for the cata-
logue of Cabool diseases. This, at all events,
proves it to be considered a healthy article of food.
When the rhubarb is brought to market, the stalks
are about a foot long, and the leaves are just bud-
ding. They are red; the stalk is white: when it
first appears above ground, it has a sweet taste like
milk, and will not bear carriage. As it grows older,
it gets strong, stones being piled round to protect
it from the sun. The root of the plant is not used
as medicine. There are no date trees in Cabool,
though they are to be found both east and west of
it — at Candahar and Peshawur. There the people
are ignorant of the art of extracting an intoxicating
juice from them, as in India. Peshawur is cele-
brated for its pears; Ghuzni for its plums (which
are sold in India under the name of the plum of
Bokhara); Candahar for its figs, and Cabool for its
mulberries; but almost every description, particu-
larly stone fruit, thrives in Cabool. Fruit is more