14G THE TOIJDY PALM. 



The Kerri estate, about 200 acres, covers a hill 

 forming a large plateau on the top, the old forest 

 having been cleared away to make room for planta- 

 tions, excepting a sufficient number of tall trees to 

 give shade ; for in Mysore, unlike Ceylon and the 

 Wynaad, coffee is invariably grown under shade, and 

 few are better for that purpose than some specimens 

 of the Ficus genus, specially selected for their bushy 

 crown, besides the Goney, the Busri, and the Howli- 

 gay, the Canarese names by which they are known 

 here to planters and natives. The Toddy palm, which 

 attams a considerable height, is also frequent here ; 

 these trees are hired out to men of a certain caste, 

 whose privilege it is to draw the liquid, by cutting 

 off the end of the young flower spike before it opens, 

 then fastening an earthenware chatty to the end, into 

 which the sap flows. The simple machinery, by 

 which the vessel is raised and lowered, consists of a 

 double rope passing through a loop, ingeniously 

 attached to the stem above, and a stone tied to the 

 other end keeps the chatty in its place ; when full 

 the stone is removed and the vessel pulled down by 

 the other rope. The toddy, when fresh, has a very 

 pleasant taste, not unlike that of the green cocoa-nut, 

 but it speedily ferments and becomes intoxicating ; 

 this is the stage in which natives like it best. When 



