HISTORY OF THE SEA COCO A- NOT. 935 



the Seychelles Islands, such specimens as would enahle us to j)ubli.sh 

 more satisfactory delineations than had yet appeared. The Isle of Fra-noe 

 Palms had not yet fructified ; but Mr. Telfair lost no time in begging 

 his friend J. Harrison, Esq., of the Seychelles, to obtain the necessary 

 specimens. With the utmost promptitude and kindness that gentleman 

 devoted several days to visiting, with a dozen of blacks, the Isles of 

 Praslin and Curieuse ; and in the midst of those little known islands, 

 he not only made drawings from the living trees, but procured and 

 forwarded to us, through Mr. Telfair, the male and female spadices and 

 fruit, in different states, preserved in spirits, with leaves, a seedling 

 plant, and even a portion of the trunk. All these, except the fully 

 ripened fruit, arrived in safety. A perfect representation, therefore, of 

 the mature nut, is still wanting " 



This want has been supplied, in the meantime, by various botanists, 

 and the once so mysterious Sea Cocoa-nut tree is as well known as any 

 other palm. We are not going to give a detailed description of the tree, 

 as we are only concerned with its history, but we must mention a few 

 points of interest regarding its life-history and economic uses. 



This magnificent palm requires a great length of time to arrive at 

 maturity. The shortest period before it puts forth its flower-buds is 

 HO years, and 130 years elapse before it attains its full growth. From 

 the age of 15-25 years it is in its greatest beauty, the leaves at this 

 period being much larger than they are later on. The stem grows 

 quite upright, straight as an iron pillar, and in the male trees frequently 

 attains a hundred feet in height, the females being shorter. At the age 

 of oO it first puts forth its blossoms, the males fonning enormous catkins 

 about 3 feet in length, and 3 inches in diameter, while the females are 

 set on a strong zigzag stalk, from which hang four or five, or some- 

 times as many as eleven nuts, averaging about 40 lbs. weight each. 

 From the time of flowering to the maturation of the fruit, a period of 

 nearly 10 years elapses, the full size, however, being attained in about 

 4 years, at which time it is soft and i'ull of a semi-transparent jelly- 

 like substance. The arrangements provided by nature for the roots 

 of this tree, are of a most peculiar kind. The base of the stem 

 is rounded, and fits into a natural bowl or socket about 'i\ ieet in 

 diameter and 1 8 inches in depth. 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 jenetrate the 

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