NATURAL HISTORY. 



575 



USE OF THE COCOA-NUT TREE. 



(Ftom the same.) 



A cocoa-nut planted in the sandy 

 shore of Ceylon, shews its first 

 shoots above the ground after 

 about tlu'ee monthsj and at the 

 end of six is fit for transplantation. 

 No particular care is necessary to 

 rear it ; planted in a barren soil, 

 and fanned by the bleak winds of 

 the ocean, it seems to gain 

 strength from neglect, and fecun- 

 dity from exposure : notwith- 

 standing these apparent disadvan- 

 tages, its hardihood surmounts 

 every obstacle, and at the end of 

 six years it begins to bear fruit 

 — and from that period becomes a 

 valuable source of wealth to the 

 possessor. While it continues 

 young, the fruit, or interior of 

 the nut, affords a palatable and 

 nutritive food to the native. The 

 watery liquid within, which we 

 term milk, is a beverage equally 

 pleasant and cooling, and is as 

 agreeable to the palate as invigo- 

 rating to the body. The juice of 

 the cocoa-nut when mixed with 

 chunam serves to strengthen it, 

 and to increase its adhesive quali- 

 ties. When older, the cocoa-nutj 

 as it is well known, is used in 

 making curry, and without it, the 

 Cingalese would find himself at a 

 loss for one of the principal in- 

 gredients of this his simple, but 

 constant and only food. The nut 

 grown older still, when pressed, 

 yield? that oil, which affords al- 

 most the only sort of light used in 

 Ceylon ; and the nut itself, after 

 the juice is pressed out, is con- 

 verted into flour, and forms the 



chief food of the poultry and other 

 domestic animals. 



AVhen the tree has grown to a 

 considerable height, one of the 

 sprouts, which forms what is call- 

 ed the flour, is cut off nearly at 

 its base, leaving, however, a 

 stump sufficiently long for a Chat- 

 ty (or earthen vessel) to be attach- 

 ed to it, into which the juices of 

 the tree drop and form the liquor 

 called toddy, which is not only a 

 pleasant beverage in its primary 

 state, but is used in making jag- 

 gery (coarse sugar) vinegar and 

 airack, which, after cinnamon, is 

 the chief article of merchandize in 

 this island. 



The inside or soft part of the 

 tree is used for fuel, while the 

 more solid external part is con- 

 verted into rafters, and the na- 

 tural net work which surrounds 

 the base of the branches, forms 

 sieves for straining medicinal oils, 

 &c. — The boughs which support 

 the fruit are used as brooms, as 

 well as the husk of the shell, whi^^h 

 is sometimes converted into 

 brushes for whitewashing, &c. ; 

 the shell itself makes fuel, and 

 the fibres of tlie husk which 

 encloses it, form coir, another 

 most valuable article of expor- 

 tation. 



The cabbage is fit for almost 

 every culinary purpose, but par- 

 ticularly for pickling ; the root is 

 useful in medicine, and the natives 

 occasionally mix it with betel for 

 chewing. The branches of tlie 

 tree the natives weave into hedges, 

 and sometimes burn for fuel The 

 ola or leaf is put to a great variety 

 of uses ; there are few natives who 

 dwell under any other covering 

 than that which an ola hut affords, 



and 



