MODE OF MAKING COCOA-NUT OIL. 83 



markets, but tlie Malays seldom or never think of 

 eating it in this condition, and only value it for its 

 oil. To obtain this the nut is broken, and the meat 

 scraped out with a knife. This pulp is then boiled 

 in a large pan, when the oil separates, floats on the 

 top, and is skimmed off. This oil is almost the only 

 substance used for lighting in the East, where far more 

 lights are kept burning, in proportion to the foreign 

 population, than in our own temperate zone, notwith- 

 standing our long winter evenings, it being the 

 custom there for each man to light his house and 

 veranda very brilliantly every evening ; and, if it is 

 a festive occasion, rows of lamps must be placed 

 throughout his grounds. 



The natives also are fond of such display. The 

 common lamp which they have for burning cocoa- 

 nut oil is nothing but a glass tuml)ler. This is 

 partly filled with water, a small quantity of oil is 

 then poured in, and on this float two small splints 

 that support a piece of pith in a vertical position for 

 a wick. When the oil is first made, it has a sweet, 

 rich taste, but in such a hot climate it soon becomes 

 extremely rancid, and that used for cooking should 

 not be more than two or three days old. The cool, 

 clear water which the young nuts contain is a most 

 refreshing drink in those hot climates, far preferable, 

 according to my taste, to the warm, muddy water 

 usually f^und in all low lands within the tropics. 

 Especially can one appreciate it when, exposed to the 

 burning sun on a low coral island, he longs for a 

 single draught from the cold sparkling streams 

 among his native New-England hills. He looks 



