THE PALMS OF ASIA. 95 



from tlieir stalks, M-ere flung to the ground. 

 Their companions below were busy removing 

 the nuts, which for young children is no easy 

 task, tlie nuts frequently weighing fifteen or 

 twenty pounds each, with the husk or outer 

 skin on them. The natives have a simple but 

 ingenious method of tying them together in 

 pairs, by which means boys can carry two of 

 them with ease, when otherwise one would be 

 a task of difficulty. The nuts have little, if 

 any, stalk ; the practice, therefore, is to slit wp 

 a portion of the husk, (which is the coir fibre 

 in its natural state,) pull out a sufficient length 

 without breaking it, and thus tie two together ; 

 in this way, the little urchins scamper along 

 with the nuts slung across their shoulders, 

 scarcely feeling the weight. 



" I followed the loaded carts. They were 

 halted at a large inclosure, inside of which were 

 huge pons formed of jungle sticks, about ten 

 feet in height ; into these the nuts Avere stored 

 and recounted ; a certain number only being 

 kept in each, as the pens are all of the same 

 dimensions. Adjoining was another and still 

 larger space, lying lower, with some deep ditches 

 and pits in the midst. Here the outer husk is 

 stripped off, preparatory to breaking the nut 

 itself in order to obtain the kernel, which has 



