The sap is at first quite clear, and agreeably sweet, but begins, in
six or eight hours' time, to ferment, and then assumes a whitish
tint, while its flavour becomes disagreeably acid. From this, with
the addition of some rice, is manufactured strong arrack. A good
tree will yield above a gallon of this sap in four-and-twenty hours,
but during the year in which the sap is thus extracted, it bears no
fruit.
21st December. About 80 miles below Rajmahal, we passed three
rather steep rocks rising out of the Ganges. The largest is about
sixty feet high; the next in size, which is overgrown with bushes,
is the residence of a Fakir, whom the true believers supply with
provisions. We could not see the holy man, as it was beginning to
grow dark as we passed. This, however, did not cause us so much
regret, as that we were unable to visit the Botanical Garden at
Bogulpore, which is said to be the finest in all India; but as there
was no coal depot at Bogulpore, we did not stop.
On the 22nd of December, we passed the remarkable mountain scenery
of Junghera, which rises, like an island of rocks, from the majestic
Ganges.
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