Meer Hassan Ali, B.: Observations on the Mussulmauns of India: descriptive of their manners, customs, habits, and religious opinions ; made during a twelve years residence in their immediate Society (Band 2) (London, 1832)

19C THE POMEGRANATE.

is pressed out, and boiled up with sugar or
honey to a syrup; thus prepared it keeps good
for any length of time, and very few families
omit making their yearly supply, as it con-
stitutes a great luxury in health, and a real
benefit in particular disorders. The Natives
make many varieties of sherbet from the juices
of their fruits, as the pine-apple, falsah, mango,
or any other of the same succulent nature, each
having properties to recommend it beyond the
mere pleasantness of its flavour.

An admirer of Nature must be struck with
the singular beauty of the pomegranate-tree, so
commonly cultivated in India. The leaves are
of a rich dark green, very glossy, and adorned
at the same time with every variety of bud,
bloom, and fruit, in the several stages of vege-
tation, from the first bud to the ripe fruit in
rich luxuriance, and this in succession nearly
throughout the year. The bright scarlet colour
of the buds and blossoms seldom vary in their
shades; but contrasted with the glossy dark
green foliage, the effect excites wonder and
admiration. There is a medicinal benefit to be
derived from every part of this tree from its