COOK—THE COCONUT PALM IN AMERICA. 317 
DISSEMINATION OF THE COCONUT PALM BY PRIMITIVE MAN. 
Without the recognition of human agency in its dissemination the 
history of the coconut would be likely to remain foreveras mysterious 
as it was to the eminent botanist Seemann, who traversed the subject 
in several of his books in attempting to solve the problem by means 
of natural agencies alone: 
. . And the great puzzle has been, whence did it originally spring? Though 
having paid considerable attention to this subject, I am not acquainted with any 
theory, nor have been able tostart one myself, which would be in unison with the part 
the Cocoanut plays in different countries. @ 
Seemann was inclined to believe that the coconut palm must have 
been a native of Polynesia because of its extreme economic importance 
in that part of the world. In suppert of this view, and in opposition 
to the idea of Asiatic or Malayan origin which previous writers had 
advanced, Seemann argued that the coconut could not have been 
brought to the Pacific islands from the west, because colonists from 
Asia would certainly have brought the Asiatic art of bleeding the 
sap from the palms by cutting the young flower stalks, to make 
toddy and sugar from the juice. Such facts tend to show that the 
original inhabitants of the Pacific islands did not derive their agricul- 
tural habits from Asiatic sources, and that the more modern contacts 
with Asia have also been very slight, since they have left the Poly- 
neslans in ignorance of the art of making toddy. 
.. . Had the Polynesians therefore once known the process, they would probably 
never have forgotten so easy a way of obtaining sugar, vinegar, yeast, and a pleasant 
drink, the strength of which may be regulated by time to any man’s taste. So either 
the Polynesians could never have come from eastern Asia, or else, after spreading over 
the South Sea, ages must have elapsed before the cocoa-nut made its appearance in 
these waters, so that the process of toddy-making (there being no other suitable Poly- 
nesian Palms to operate upon) had been entirely forgotten, and even disappeared 
from native traditions. Under such circumstances, it behooves us to suspend our final 
judgment whether Polynesia be or be not the native country of the cocoa-nut. ® 
If we admit Seemann’s argument, and there is no good reason for 
rejecting it, we can not suppose that the original settlers of the Pacific 
islands came from the Malay region, for the coconut is the one thing 
that they would have taken with them, if all else had been left behind. 
It not only furnishes in that part of the world the chief ration for 
native voyages, but is the only source of fresh water on many of the 
smaller islands, and is thus indispensable for human existence. 
The fiber of the husk of the coconut is equally necessary to the 
Polynesians in the building and handling of boats. The mystery 
@Seemann, B., Dottings on the Roadside, in Panama, Nicaragua, and Mosquito, 
p. 152. (London, 1869.) 
bSeemann, op. cit., p. 154; Flora Vitiensis, p. 276. (London, 1868.) 
