THE PALMS OF ASIA, 101 



is then bruised along its whole length by means 

 of slight blows with the bat of hard wood. 

 This operation occupies a few minutes, and 

 requires to be regularly rejDeated every morning 

 and evening for six or seven days. In a few 

 days after the spathe has been tied, a few inches 

 of it are cut off by means of the broad knife. 

 From the wound, sweet juice begins to distil in 

 two or three days, and is received in an earthen- 

 ware vessel attached to the spathe. The liquor 

 issues drop by drop, and a good healthy blossom 

 will yield from two to four English pints in 

 twenty-four hours, and continue to afford that 

 quantity for a period varying from three to five 

 weeks. As the cocoa nut tree blossoms every 

 four or five weeks, two spathes on one tree will 

 sometimes be yielding sweet juice at the same 

 time. The toddy drawer generally ascends the 

 trees for the purpose of collecting the sweet 

 juice that has exuded into the toddy pots, both 

 morning and evening, and to cut off a fresh 

 portion of the flowering spathe. The toddy is 

 poured from the earthen vessels into the gourd, 

 which, when full, is conveyed to the ground by 

 means of a line. The gourd is emptied into a 

 large vessel by a person at the foot of the tree, 

 and is then drawn up by the toddy drawer for 

 the purpose of being refilled. When fresh, it 



