The Durian is, however, sometimes dangerous. When the fruit
begins to ripen it falls daily and almost hourly, and accidents
not unfrequently happen to persons walking or working under the
trees. When a Durian strikes a man in its fall, it produces a
dreadful wound, the strong spines tearing open the flesh, while
the blow itself is very heavy; but from this very circumstance
death rarely ensues, the copious effusion of blood preventing the
inflammation which might otherwise take place. A Dyak chief
informed me that he had been struck down by a Durian falling on
his head, which he thought would certainly have caused his death,
yet he recovered in a very short time.

Poets and moralists, judging from our English trees and fruits,
have thought that small fruits always grew on lofty trees, so
that their fall should be harmless to man, while the large ones
trailed on the ground. Two of the largest and heaviest fruits
known, however, the Brazil-nut fruit (Bertholletia) and Durian,
grow on lofty forest trees, from which they fall as soon as they
are ripe, and often wound or kill the native inhabitants. From
this we may learn two things: first, not to draw general
conclusions from a very partial view of nature; and secondly,
that trees and fruits, no less than the varied productions of the
animal kingdom, do not appear to be organized with exclusive
reference to the use and convenience of man.

During my many journeys in Borneo, and especially during my
various residences among the Dyaks, I first came to appreciate
the admirable qualities of the Bamboo. In those parts of South
America which I had previously visited, these gigantic grasses