84 THE PALMS OF ASIA. 



way as those from palm oil. It is also 

 employed in the east for making torches, and in 

 the composition of pharmacGUtical preparations, 

 and mixed with dammar (the resin of Shovca 

 robusta) it forms the substance used in India 

 for paying the seams of boats and ships. From 

 the kernel of the nut a pleasant kind of cake is 

 prepared, which is a good substitute for bread ; 

 puddings are also made of it. It is said that 

 each cocoa nut is equivalent as food to at least 

 three ounces of rice. A very interesting paper 

 on the cocoa palm, by an eye-witness, appeared 

 some months since in one of our periodicals, 

 from which we cannot do better than extract a 

 striking and graphic description of its mode of 

 culture and its enemies : — 



" This palm is assiduously cultivated in 

 Ceylon in ic^>es, or gardens ; and it was long 

 believed that the rude native system of culture 

 was the best, but experience has shown the 

 fallacy of this opinion. Hence the Cingalese 

 continue to find the manual labour, but the 

 Englishman provides skill and impalements. 

 The dry ditch and thorny fence that form the 

 boundary and protection of the estate were 

 at last reached, and the little gate and watch- 

 hut were passed. The watcher, or sasco'ipi, 

 was a Malay, moustachcd and fierce ; for the 



