50 



THE SEYCHELLES - ISLANDS OF THE GIANT PALMS 



or as far away as Java. They were called cocos-de-mer (sea-coconuts), 

 or Maldive nuts because of their supposed place of origin. Nobody knew 

 for sure whether they were an animal, vegetable, or marine product. 

 According to one legend they grew under the surface of the sea on giant 

 trees which sprouted from the coral reefs near Java, and when sailors 

 dived for them their branches mysteriously bent down into the deep. 

 According to another, the tree grew out of remote tropical seas and the 

 fabulous animal the griffin lived in its branches, occasionally leaving 

 them to fly ashore and feed on elephants, tigers, and rhinoceroses. Sailors 

 had to watch out or they would be carried on the waves to the place 

 where the tree grew, and then this dreadful monster would devour them. 

 Credited with mysterious powers, these rare nuts were nearly worth their 

 weight in gold, and Indian and European princes would pay fabulous 

 sums for them because they were supposed to provide an antidote against 

 poison. Accustomed to employ poisons against their enemies, they them- 

 selves went in perpetual fear of assassination by the same means; but 

 they firmly believed that water when kept in a hollow double coconut 

 was purified and proof against all poison. There were even countries where 

 no person but the king might own one. The flesh was also believed to 

 possess miraculous properties; for example, as a remedy for snake-bite, 

 and by certain Indian sects as an aphrodisiac useful for hanging up in 

 temples in order to promote the fertility of the orthodox. But as soon as 

 the habitat became known and the market was flooded with the nuts 



Above, two giant coconuts with coir, and 

 an ordinary coconut with and without coir. 

 Below, six giant coconuts without coir. 



Hat woven from giant palm leaves, and 

 'boxes' made from hollowed and 

 polished nuts. 



