112 PlIYHICAL GEOaRAniY. [Part I. 



The Jaggery Pali/i^, the Kitool of tlie Singhcilese, is 

 chiefly cultivated in the Kaiiclyaii hihs for the sake of 

 its sap, whicJi is drawn, boiled down, and crystalhsed 

 into a coarse brown suo'ar, in universal use amongst the 

 inhabitants of the south and west of Ceylon, who also 

 extract from its pith a farina scarcely inferior to sago. 

 The black fibre of the leaf is twisted by the Eodiyas into 

 ropes of considerable smoothness and tenacity. A single 

 Kitool tree has been pointed out at Ambogammoa, which 

 furnished the support of a Kandyan, his wife, and their 

 children. A tree has been known to yield one hundred 

 pints of toddy within twenty-four hours 



The Areca^ Palm is the invariable feature of a native 

 garden, being planted nea^r the wells and water-courses, 

 as it rejoices in moisture. Of all the tribe it is the most 

 graceful and delicate, rising to the height of forty or fifty 

 feet'^, without an inequality on its thin pohshed stem, 

 which is dark green towards the top, and sustains a crown 

 of feathery fohage, in the midst of which are clustered 

 the astringent nuts for whose sake it is carefully tended. 



The chewino; of these nuts with lime and the leaf of the 

 betel-pepper supplies to the people of Ceylon the same 

 enjoyment which tobacco affords to the inhabitants of 

 other countries ; but its use is, if possible, more offensive, 

 as the three articles, when combined, colour the saliva of 

 so deep a red that the lips and teeth appear as if covered 

 with blood. Yet, in spite of this disgusting accompani- 

 ment, men and women, old and young, from morning till 

 night indulge in the repulsive luxury.^ 



It is seldom, however, that we find in semi-civihsed 



' Caiyota urens. 



2 A. catechu. 



^ Mr. Fei'guson measured an areca 

 at Caltura which was seventy-five 

 feet high, and grew near a coco-nut 

 which was upwards of ninety feet. 

 Caltura is^ however, remarkable for 



the growth and luxuriance of its vege- 

 tation. 



4 Dr. Elliot, of Colombo, has ob- 

 served several cases of cancer in the 

 cheek which, from its peculiar cha- 

 racteristics, he has designated the 

 " betcl-chewer's cancer." 



