THE TALMS OF ASIA. 115 



easy' to read. The colouring matter is rendered 

 liquid by being mixed with cocoa nut oil, and 

 when dry is not easily effaced. On common occa- 

 sions, the Cingalese write on the leaf of another 

 species of palm, but the talipat is used in all 

 government despatches, important documents, 

 such as title-deeds of estates, etc., and in their 

 books. A Cingalese book is a bundle of these 

 strips tied together. Some of these books in 

 sir A. Johnstone's collection are supposed to 

 be between five hundred and six hundred years 

 old, and are still very perfect. Two fine speci- 

 mens of books written upon the leaves, now in 

 the library of the Royal Asiatic Society, are 

 considered invaluable. As even the lawyers and 

 the learned in Ceylon are very deficient in 

 chronological knowledge, great confusion some- 

 times occurs as to dates ; and it is very common 

 to see a Cingalese judge attempting to ascertain 

 the antiquity of a document by smelling and 

 cutting it. 



The oil employed in the writing imparts a 

 strong odour, which preserves it from insects ; 

 *but this odour is changed by age. The talipat, 

 however, appears to have in itself a natural 

 quality which deters the attacks of insects, and 

 preserves it from the decay of old age even 

 without the oil. We may also mention that 



