and the Areca-mit Tree* 3ig 



characterizes, more than any thing that could be said, the 

 mild and humane disposition of the Hindoos. 



The coco-nut tree, indeed, has some resemblance to 

 man. Its development does not take place, like that of 

 other trees, by ligneous strata placed over each other; tlic 

 trunk is composed ot" an infinite number of needles of 

 greater or less length, all united and bound together in bun- 

 dles by a tender and spongy pith which surrounds them. 

 It grows only by the successive development of its palms, 

 all issuing from the body of rhe tree, which uhen the plant 

 dies is speedily reduced to dust. This observation, which 

 is very exact, destroys the assertions of most naturalists, 

 such as Thunbcrg, ilumphius, &c,, who have said that 

 the wood of the coco-nut tree is hard, and fit for a great 

 number of domestic purposes. 



I shall noa- give a short view of the methods of culture em- 

 ployed by the Hindoos to rear and propagate this useful and 

 beautiful palm, and to make it yield that lic|uoror wine which 

 distils from the spatlui; I shall describe the use they make, 

 either for food or in the arts, of the fruit, the leaves, and the 

 liquor of this vegetable ; and I shall speak of the diflerent 

 processes which ought to be pursued in order to obtain from 

 it its different products; details as interesting as curious, 

 which no traveller luis ever yet made known, at least in so 

 particular a manner as to satisfy curiosity, and to convey an 

 accurate knowledge of this palm to those who may be de- 

 sirous of cultivating it, and of deriving from it all those 

 advantages it is capable of affording. 



The coco-nut tree is called phcziaria in the Shamskrit, 

 the primitive lannuaee of the country. It is named ic7ie- 

 7n(tron in the idiom of Ccvlon, and in almost all the dialects 

 of that part of India called by the Hindoo geographers the 

 Df'cari ; that is to sav, the southern part, described, very 

 improperly, by the Europeans as a peninsula, under the 

 name of the Feninsida on this side the Ganges. 



Of all the great family of the palms it is that which at- 

 tains to the greatest height. It has a majenic and agreea- 

 ble appearance : it generally rises to the altitude of fifty feet, 

 and its conmion duration is eighty-five years : it never ex- 

 ceeds a century. Its growth is quicker till it attains to the 

 a<reof thirty-five years : when it reaches that period its deve- 

 lopment is slower: from it>; fiftieth to its sixtieth Near it pro- 

 duces less ; its beautiful and verdant crown loses its colour, 

 becomes thin, and its development till its death is almost 

 insensible. At tiiat age it has all the characters of the de- 

 crepitude of man ; its leaves grow yellow and drop; and if 



by 



