14 COCONUTS, KERNELS, AND CACAO. 



as fuel, and are also formed into drinking vessels and 

 numerous other articles of domestic use, as well as being 

 carved and polished for ornaments. The author has seen 

 Kru boys on the West African steamers using the natural 

 husk, cut into pieces, as a scrubber. 



:t Toddy " is obtained from the coconut inflorescence 

 before the flowers expand. The natives climb the tree 

 and bind the flower spathe in several places with strips 

 of palm leaf to prevent it expanding. The spathe is 

 then bruised by a club or mallet. The beating is peri- 

 odically repeated for ten or twenty days, a portion of 

 the spathe is cut off, and from the wound a quantity of 

 liquid exudes, which is collected in a vessel. This 

 " bleeding " continues for about a month, each day a 

 fresh slice being removed from the spathe to facilitate 

 the flow of the liquid. Six pints a day is sometimes 

 obtained from a single tree. In a fresh state this liquid 

 forms a sweet and pleasant beverage, and is drunk by 

 both natives and Europeans. After standing for a short 

 time it becomes a highly intoxicating beverage known 

 as " palm wine/' If allowed to remain for a few weeks, 

 palm wine becomes converted into vinegar. In a state 

 of fermentation toddy is sometimes used in bread-making 

 as a substitute for yeast. 



Desiccated coconut is now in considerable demand in 

 the confectionery industry, both for itself and as a sub- 

 stitute for almonds. The United Kingdom, Germany, 

 the United States of America, Belgium, France, and 

 Austria import this product, which consists of the fresh 

 kernel stripped or shredded and dried in ovens. Desic- 

 cated coconut will keep sweet for a long time, but its 

 preparation is confined to those countries where large 



