BY THE REV. J. E. TENISON-WOODS. 47 



where in this region, but most frequent in Java. The leaves are 

 over eighteen inches in diameter, folding and opening like immense 

 fans. The upper enamelled surface is written on with an iron 

 stylus, and forms the Balinese books, remaining in good preserva- 

 tion for hundreds of years. The ribs being of cane give great 

 strength to the leaf. Cut off at the stem, the thicker part of the 

 fan is bent round, making a powerful helmet used by fighting men, 

 and as a protection for those who force their way through the jungle, 

 for which the wedge-like form is admirably adapted. Further- 

 more, it serves as an umbrella. It is said to yield its fruit only 

 when the tree is eighty years old, when previously a flower, about 

 thirty feet long in large trees, bursts forth with a loud report. Its 

 perfume is overpowering, which causes the natives to destroy them. 

 This tree is used for the production of sago from its pith, but 

 only in times of scarcity. The leaf-stalks yield a wiry fibre about 

 two feet in length, made into rope occasionally. A fine down is 

 collected from the base of the leaves, valued for staunching wounds 

 and straining liquids. In Bengal the juice is fermented for toddy, 

 and is used for yeast and yields a sugar of grey colour. A more 

 common and more valuable palm is the Gomuti, Jaggery, Kabong, 

 Areng or Aju, known to Europeans as the Sugar-palm and to 

 botanists as Arenga saccharifera. It is a magnificent tree, with 

 close long pinnse on the leaves, less stiff and regular than the Cocoa- 

 nut Palm. There is more than one species of Areng extending 

 to nearly 3,000 feet above the sea level, but the Sugar-palm loves 

 low moist situations, and is quite content with the poorest soil. 

 It vies with the Cocoa-nut Tree in utility. In Java it is common 

 on the road-sides in the mountains, but not so common anywhere 

 as it ought to be. It produces valuable supplies of sugar, fibre, 

 spirit and sago, but the sugar is the great production. This is 

 yielded by the male spadix (in Malay Mayam), but not before the 

 tree has attained its seventh year, and even then male spadices 

 are rare or absent; but if absent the tree is abundantly rich in sago. 

 The Mayams, both male and female, have a handsome appearance 

 as they hang down in clusters or strings of rich-looking buds. 

 Curious things are related of them, such as, that each new sprout- 



