928 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XIX. 



his book : " The ' Coccus de Malediva' is in such high esteem with 

 the natives of that Island and with the people of Malabar, not only 

 with the lower classes but also with kin^s and princes, that in all sick- 

 ness they confide in that fruit as in a sacred anchor. They make of it 

 drinking cups in which there is a piece of the kernel hanging from 

 a small chain and they are strongly convinced that whosoever has 

 drunk water from such a cup, is immune aaainst every poison and 

 disease. I saw, however, a good many that drank from those cups 

 and fell sick nevertheless. In spite of my careful observations I never 

 noticed that anybody was cured by such a drink. Some even assured 

 me that after a draught from such a cup the spleen and kidneys got 

 inflamed. The price of these nuts is, nevertheless, very great, a single 

 nut without any ornaments being sold for 50 and more gold pieces." 



The fame of the Sea Cocoa-nut was so great in the 16th century that 

 it found a place in Camoens' famous epic (X 136). 

 " Nas ilhas da Maldiva nace a pranta 

 No profundo das aguas soberana 

 Cujo pomo contra o veneno urgente 

 He tido por antidote excellente." 

 " O'er lone Maldivia's islets grows the plant, 

 Beneath profoundest seas, of sovereign might, 

 Whose pome of ev'ry Theriack is confest 

 By cunning leech of antidotes the best." (Burton). 

 Another account of the Sea Cocoa-nut and a description of the 

 Maldive Islands we find in the " Itinerario " of John Huyghen Van 

 Linschoten ( 1596 ), who had spent five years ( 1584-89 ) in Goa 

 and had seen a great part of Eastern Asia. The following 

 quotation is taken from the edition of the " Hakluyt Society" ^ : 

 " Right over against the Cape of Comoriin, 60 miles into the sea 

 westward, the Hands called Maldyva doe begin, and from this cape 

 on the north syde they lie under 7 degrees, and so reach south south- 

 east, till they come under 3 degrees on the south syde, which is 140 

 myles. Some say there are 11,0<)0 islands, but it is not certainely 



The Voyage of John Hughen Van Linschoten to the East Indies. From the old 

 English translation of 1598. The First Book containing his description of the East in two 

 volnmes. Vol. I. 74-76. London 1885. . 



Linschoten was born at Haarlem (Holland) about the year ISfiS and died on the 8th 

 Febroary 1611. 



