138 ON THE DOUBLE COCOA-NUT OF THE SEYCHELLES, 
From fructification to full maturity a period of nearly ten 
years elapses. The fruit attains its full size in about four years, 
and is then soft, and full of a semitransparent jelly-like substance 
of an insipid, sweetish taste. The mesocarp is a leathery sub- 
stance of a brownish-green colour, adhering to the shell. As the 
nut ripens this gradually dries up into a white, horny kernel, 
about half an inch in thickness, and of no use whatever, supposed 
to be poisonous, but, probably, only quite indigestible. The nut 
in its perfect state is about eighteen inches long, and of the same 
breadth, something in the shape of a heart, with two separate 
compartments. It is enveloped, like the Cocoa-nut, in a fibrous 
husk ; but its texture is not nearly so thick or so strong, and it 
drops off soon after the nut falls from the tree. The nuts, sawn 
in half and divested of the kernel, form excellent calabashes, and 
are universally used for baling boats. The entire nut is fre- 
quently used as a water-keg, and holds three or four gallons of 
water. It has, however, to be “caulked " in the centre, where 
germination takes place, before it becomes completely water-tight. 
The arrangements provided by nature for the roots of both 
male and female trees are of a most peculiar nature, quite distinct 
from those provided for any other known tree. The base of the 
“ trunk is of a bulbous form, and this bulb fits into a natural bowl, 
or socket, about two and a half feet in diameter and eighteen 
inches in depth, narrowing towards the bottom. This bowl is 
pierced with hundreds of small oval holes about the size of a 
thimble, with hollow tubes corresponding on the outside, through 
which the roots penetrate the ground on all sides, never, however, 
becoming attached to the bowl; their partial elasticity affording 
an almost imperceptible but very necessary “ play " to the parent 
stem when struggling against the force of violent gales. 
This bowl is of the same substance as the shell of the nut, only 
much thicker. As far as can be ascertained, it never rots or 
wears out. It has been found quite perfect and entire in every 
respect sixty years after the tree has been cut down. At Curieuse 
many sockets are still remaining whieh are known to have be- 
longed to trees cut down by the first settlers on the island. 
This curious arrangement renders it impossible that the trunk 
could grow in a slanting position; and there is no known instance 
of its doing so, either on the flat, or on the steep sides of the 
mountains, in both of which situations the tree thrives equally well. 
The high price still fetched by the nuts will ultimately be the 
cause of their complete extinction in these islands. The growth 
