COCOA-NUT TREE. 333 



vents its being so important an article of traffic 

 as it might be in the South Seas. 



Sometimes the Tahitans, after the oil ceases to 

 collect in the vessel, put the kernel into a bag, 

 and submit it to the action of pressure by a rude 

 lever press ; but the oil thus obtained is con- 

 sidered inferior to that procured by the heat of 

 the sun. 



The Malabar method of extracting oil, is, by 

 dividing the kernel into two equal parts, which 

 are ranged on shelves made of laths of the Areka 

 palm, or split bamboo, spaces being left between 

 each lath of half an inch in width ; under them 

 a charcoal fire is then made, and kept up for 

 about two or three days, in order to dry them. 

 After this process they are exposed to the sun on 

 mats, and when thoroughly dried (then called 

 Koppera) are placed in an oil press, or Siccoor. 

 The Malabars have a caste of oil pressors, called 

 the Waany caste. 



At Colombo (island of Ceylon) there is a 

 government steam-engine, which was erected in 

 1815, for the purpose of extracting the oil from 

 the nut in much larger quantities, and with 

 greater facility than before. Ceylon furnishes 

 an abundance of cocoa-nut oil, much is used in 

 the colony, and a large quantity is also exported 

 to Europe. In Ceylon the average price is from 

 thirteen to fifteen pence per gallon. 



