PALM WLVE. 371 



property, however, of being nearly indestructible in 

 ^^ater, and tbe Resident tells me that tbis coir will 

 probably prove of mucb value in manufacturing tele- 

 grapb-cable. The quantity of fil^res tbat could be 

 gathered yearly would be very considerable if there 

 should be any demand for them. Among the flexi 

 ble, horsehair-like fibres are coarser ones, which the 

 natives use for pens and arrows for their blowpipes, 

 and interwoven with them is a mass of small fibres 

 nearly as soft as cotton, ^vhich are used as tinder. 

 The flowering part is cut off with a knife, and the 

 sap which exudes is gathered in a piece of l^amboo. 

 In this condition it has a slightly acid and very 

 bitter taste, resembles the thin part of buttermilk, 

 and is a very agreeable and refreshing beverage in 

 such a hot climate. As soon as it is allowed to fer- 

 ment it becomes tuah, a highly-intoxicating drink, of 

 which the natives are very fond This palm prefers 

 liigher lands tlian the cocoa-nut, which flourishes well 

 only on the low areas near the level of tlie sea. It 

 will be readily distinguislied from all the other palms 

 of this land by its large leaves and the rough ap- 

 pearance of its trunk. Gomuti is the Malay name 

 for tlie coir only, the tree itself they call anau. In 

 Amboina the native name for it is naiva^ and in other 

 parts of the archipelago it has local names, showing 

 tliat it is probably an indigenous plant. The soft 

 envelopes of the seeds, whicli are so numerous that, 

 when ripe, one bunch will frequently be a load for 

 two men, contain a poisonous juice which the natives 

 were accustomed to use on their arrows, and which 

 tlio Dutch have named "hell-water." 



