5-24 THE NORTHEEN FOEESTS. [rARX IX. 



On ascertaining that tlie first flow of the sap has taken 

 place, the todcly-di'awer again trims the wounded spathe, 

 and inserts its extremity in an earthen chatty, to collect 

 the juice. Morning and evening these vessels are emptied, 

 and for a period of four or five months the palmyra 

 Avill continue to pour forth its sap at the rate of three 

 quarts a day. But once in eveiy three years the ope- 

 ration is omitted, and the fruit is allowed to form, with- 

 out which the natives assert that the tree would pine and 

 die. 



The juice, if permitted to rest and ferment, is speedily 

 converted into toddy, a shghtly intoxicating and impala- 

 table di'iiik.^ It is not used for distillation at Jaffna; and 

 for that purpose is said to be inferior to that of the coco- 

 nut palm. If intended to be made into sugar, a httle lime 

 is added to the sap, and the hquor, after being boiled doAvn 

 to the consistency of sp^up, is poured into small baskets 

 made of the palmyi'a leaf, Avhere it cools, and a partial 

 crystaUisation ensues. In this state, and without under- 

 going any further process to discharge the molasses, it is 

 sold as jaggery in the bazaars, at about three fartliings 

 per pound. 



The quantity of toddy annually produced by a male- 

 palmyra is but one-thu'd or one-fourth of that obtained 

 from a female tree. Tliree quarts of toddy will yield 

 one pound of jaggery. Of the produce of Jaffiia, 

 about 10,000 cwt. are annually exported to the op- 

 posite coast of India, where it undergoes the process of 

 refining. The granulation is said to sm"pass that of 

 the sugar-cane ; and considerable quantities of palmyi^a 

 sugar are annually exported to Europe from Cuddalore 

 and Madras. As yet, no attempts have been made in 

 Ceylon to perfect the manufacture by refining jaggery 

 on a large scale, nor have the experiments hitherto 



^ The toddy is converted into [ earthen vessels, where it is peiinitted 

 vinegar by exposing it to the sun in I to ferment freely. 



