times for fifteen months, water-melons weighing from 15
to 70 Ibs. are not uncommon. Many a traveller's life
has been saved by finding a patch of these water-reservoirs
in the thirsty desert. It is said to be a native of the south
of Europe, the Levant, Egypt, and South America; but
several species abound in South Africa, and of one of them
Dr. Livingstone writes : —
' The most surprising plant of the Kalahari Desert is the
water-melon — kengwe or k&me. When more than the usual
quantity of rain falls, vast tracts of the country are literally
covered with these melons. Then animals of every sort
and name, including man, rejoice in the rich supply. The
elephant — true lord of the forest — and the different species
of rhinoceros revel in the fruit, although naturally so diverse
in their choice of pasture. The various kinds of antelopes
feed on them with avidity, and lions, hyaenas, jackals, and
mice, all seem to appreciate the common blessing. These
melons are not, however, all eatable, some being sweet and
others bitter. The natives select them by striking them
with a hatchet and applying the tongue to the gashes.'
In the East and in Egypt, melons serve also as food for
man and beast. Niebuhr, speaking of Arabia, says : — c Of
pumpkins and melons several sorts grow naturally in the
woods, and serve for feeding camels, but the proper melons
are planted in the fields, where a great variety of them is to
be found, and in such abundance that the Arabians of all
ranks use them for some part of the year as their principal
article of food. They afford a very agreeable liquor.
When the fruit is nearly ripe, a hole is pierced into the
pulp ; this hole is then stopped with wax, and the melon
left upon the stalk. Within a few days the pulp is, in con-
208 OUR VIANDS
sequence of this process, converted into a delicious liquor.'
We wonder whether this practice is still continued. It
sounds so simple that people in those favoured lands where
melons grow so abundantly might try it advantageously.
Here, although melons have been grown successfully on
hot-beds for some centuries, they are still articles of luxury,
and the crop cannot be depended upon, for one day's
neglect will often cause the loss of a promising bed of
melons. Nevertheless, at our flower shows may always be
seen numbers of varieties, reared with great care, and
brought to the highest perfection, from seed obtained from
all parts of the world. The chief varieties are the red
fleshed and the green, each of which has its vehement
admirers. They also vary considerably in size, some of the
very small kinds being greatly esteemed for their fineness
of flavour.
Pliny and Columella speak of the fondness of the Emperor
Tiberius for melons, and of the contrivances by which they
were provided for him at all seasons; whilst of another
Emperor, Frederick the Great, it is related that his physician,
finding him suffering greatly from indigestion during his last
illness, learned that he had eaten three or four melons
(small ones, we may suppose) daily for breakfast, and his
only reply to the physician's remonstrance was, that he
would send him some to taste, thinking the excellence of
the fruit would show the doctor the difficulty of abstaining
from so favourite a dish.
Our viands
1893Page 103
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times for fifteen months, water-melons weighing from 15
to 70 Ibs. are not uncommon. Many a traveller's life
has been saved by finding a patch of these water-reservoirs
in the thirsty desert. It is said to be a native of the south
of Europe, the Levant, Egypt, and South America; but
several species abound in South Africa, and of one of them
Dr. Livingstone writes : —
' The most surprising plant of the Kalahari Desert is the
water-melon — kengwe or k&me. When more than the usual
quantity of rain falls, vast tracts of the country are literally
covered with these melons. Then animals of every sort
and name, including man, rejoice in the rich supply. The
elephant — true lord of the forest — and the different species
of rhinoceros revel in the fruit, although naturally so diverse
in their choice of pasture. The various kinds of antelopes
feed on them with avidity, and lions, hyaenas, jackals, and
mice, all seem to appreciate the common blessing. These
melons are not, however, all eatable, some being sweet and
others bitter. The natives select them by striking them
with a hatchet and applying the tongue to the gashes.'
In the East and in Egypt, melons serve also as food for
man and beast. Niebuhr, speaking of Arabia, says : — c Of
pumpkins and melons several sorts grow naturally in the
woods, and serve for feeding camels, but the proper melons
are planted in the fields, where a great variety of them is to
be found, and in such abundance that the Arabians of all
ranks use them for some part of the year as their principal
article of food. They afford a very agreeable liquor.
When the fruit is nearly ripe, a hole is pierced into the
pulp ; this hole is then stopped with wax, and the melon
left upon the stalk. Within a few days the pulp is, in con-
208 OUR VIANDS
sequence of this process, converted into a delicious liquor.'
We wonder whether this practice is still continued. It
sounds so simple that people in those favoured lands where
melons grow so abundantly might try it advantageously.
Here, although melons have been grown successfully on
hot-beds for some centuries, they are still articles of luxury,
and the crop cannot be depended upon, for one day's
neglect will often cause the loss of a promising bed of
melons. Nevertheless, at our flower shows may always be
seen numbers of varieties, reared with great care, and
brought to the highest perfection, from seed obtained from
all parts of the world. The chief varieties are the red
fleshed and the green, each of which has its vehement
admirers. They also vary considerably in size, some of the
very small kinds being greatly esteemed for their fineness
of flavour.
Pliny and Columella speak of the fondness of the Emperor
Tiberius for melons, and of the contrivances by which they
were provided for him at all seasons; whilst of another
Emperor, Frederick the Great, it is related that his physician,
finding him suffering greatly from indigestion during his last
illness, learned that he had eaten three or four melons
(small ones, we may suppose) daily for breakfast, and his
only reply to the physician's remonstrance was, that he
would send him some to taste, thinking the excellence of
the fruit would show the doctor the difficulty of abstaining
from so favourite a dish.