THE COCOA- PALM AND ITS USES. 



539 



contrary, loves to bend over the rolling surf, and to drop its fruits into the tidal wave. 

 Wafted by the winds and currents over the sea, the nuts float along without losing 

 their germinating power, like other seeds which migrate through the air; and thus, 

 during the lapse of centuries, the cocoa-palm has spread its wide domain from coast to 

 coast throughout the whole extent of the tropical zone. It waves its graceful fronds 

 over the emerald islands of the Pacific, fringes the West Indian shores, and from the 

 Philippines to Madagascar crowns the atolls, or girds the sea-board of the Indian 

 Ocean. But nowhere is it met with in 

 such abundance as on the coasts of Cey- 

 lon, where for miles and miles one con- 

 tinuous grove of palms, preeminent for 

 beauty, encircles the " Eden of the east- 

 ern wave." Multiplied by plantations 

 and fostered with assiduous care, the total 

 number in the island cannot be less than 

 twenty millions of full-grown trees; and 

 such is its luxuriance in those favored dis- 

 tricts, where it meets with a rare combina- 

 tion of every advantage essential to its 

 growth, a sandy and pervious soil, a free 

 and genial air, unobstructed solar heat, 

 and abundance of water, that, when in full 

 bearing, it will annually yield as much as 

 a ton's weight of nuts — an example of 

 fruitfulness almost unrivalled even in the 

 torrid zone. 



No other tree in the world, no other 

 plant cultivated by man, contributes in so 

 many ways to his wants and comforts as 

 this inestimable palm. Besides furnish- 

 ing their chief food to many tribes on the 

 coast within the torrid zone, the nut con- 

 tains a valuable oil, which burns without 

 smoke or smell, and serves, when fresh, 

 for culinary purposes. « 



The fibrous rind or husk of the nut fur- 

 nishes the coir of commerce, a scarce less 



important article of trade than the oil itself. It is prepared by being soaked for some 

 months in water, for the purpose of decomposing the interstitial pith, after which it is 

 beaten to pieces until the fibres have completely separated, and ultimately dried in the 

 sun. Hopes made of coir, though not so neat in appearance as hempen cords, are 

 superior in lightness, and exceed them in durability, particularly if wetted frequently 

 by salt water. From their elasticity and strength they are exceedingly valuable for 

 cables. Besides cordage of every calibre, beds, cushions, carpets, brushes, and nets 

 are manufactured from the filaments of the cocoa-nut husk, while the hard shell is 

 fashioned into drinking-cups, spoons, beads, bottles, and knife-handles. From the 



:i'»^«0>^ 



AVENDE OP PALMS — RIO DE JANEIRO. 



