228 THE PALMETTO. 



hooks on the end of its leaf-stalks. The Date Palm develops two hun- 

 dred thousand flowers on a single spadix. Among its products are 

 starch, sugar, oil, wax, edible fruits, material for clothing, building, 

 paper-making, and fermented liquors. 



The Cocoanut Palm (cocos nuciferd) is perhaps put to a greater num- 

 ber of uses than any other tree in the world. Its wood, called porcupine 

 wood, takes a beautiful polish. The fibers of the outer covering of the 

 fruit are very durable, and are manufactured into cordage, matting, 

 door-mats, scrubbing brushes, etc. The inner shell is made into water- 

 dippers. The milk contained in the cavity of the albumen is a beverage 

 as delicious as the albumen is wholesome. The nuts by pressure yield 

 the rich oil of cocoa. From the wounded spadix flows a sweet sap, a 

 quart a day for several months. If boiled, it produces sugar. When 

 fermented, it is called palm- wine or toddy, and when distilled, the vile 

 liquor, arrack. The leaves furnish thatch for dwellings and material 

 for fences, hats, baskets and buckets, and even paper which is writ- 

 ten upon with a style. Potash in abundance is obtained from the 

 ashes.* 



The Sago Palm (sagus Rtimphii) of Malacca, and other Palms, afford 

 the starchy food called Sago. This exists in the cellular tissue of the 

 stem, whence it is washed out and granulated. A single tree will yield 

 six hundred to eight hundred pounds. 



The Date Palm (Phcenix dactylifera), of Northern Africa, supplies 

 that sweet and delicious fruit, the date, which furnishes the tribes of 

 Fezzan and Barbary nine-tenths of their living. 



* "After an abundant repast, the traveller inquires of his Indian host, Who in this 

 desert country furnishes you with all these luxuries ? My Cocoa-nut tree, is the reply. 

 The acidulous drink tasted on your arrival was drawn from the fruit before it was 

 ripe. This kernel, so delicate in flavor, is the ripe fruit. This milk which you find 

 so agreeable is drawn from the nut. This cabbage, so delicate in flavor, is the top of 

 the Cocoa-nut tree a costly dish, however, for it takes the life of the tree. This wine 

 is Palm-wine, drawn from the thick leaves sheathing the flowers. Exposed to the 

 sun, it becomes vinegar ; and by distillation we get this good brandy which you have 

 tasted. This juice also supplies the sugar for these sweetmeats. Out of the shell of 

 the nut we make these vessels and utensils. Nor is this all. This habitation itself I 

 owe to these trees. With their wood my cabin is constructed, and with their plaited 

 leaves it is thatched. Made into an umbrella I walk under their shade. My clothing 

 is spun from their leaf-fibers, and these mats so generally useful are made from them 

 also. This sifter was ready-made to my hands in the axils of the leaf-stalks. With 

 these same leaves we make sails for our ships, and for caulking them nothing is so 

 good as the fibers which envelop the nut. Of this, too, we make all sorts of strings, 

 cables, and cordage. Finally, the delicate oil which has seasoned many of our dishes 

 and that which burns in my lamp, is expressed from the fresh, ripe kernel." 



