THE RATANS. 141 



Sonnerat discovered in the Seychelles the home of the 

 Lodoicea Sechellai^m, which, like the cocoa, grows on the 

 strand of that small and secluded group, and drops its large 

 nuts into the sea, which then carries them along to the 

 east. The trunk of the lodoicea rises to the height of forty or 

 fifty feet, and bears a crown of immense fan-like leaves, upwards 

 of twenty feet long and fifteen broad, with foot-stalks seven feet 

 long. As soon as the origin of the nuts became known, they of 

 course immediately fell in price, so that a coco de mer which could 

 formerly not have been had for 400 rupees is now hardly worth 

 so much as ten. The lodoicea has been introduced into Ceylon, 

 ])ut Sir E. Tennent is not aware that it has yet fruited there. 



The Eatans, a most singular genus of creeping palms, luxuriate 

 in the forests of tropical Asia. Sometimes their slender stems, 

 armed with dreadful spines at every joint, climb to the summit 

 of the highest tree ; sometimes they run along the ground ; and 

 while it is impossible to find out their roots among the intricate 

 tangles of the matted underwood, their palm-like topes ex- 

 pand in the sunshine, the emblems of successful parasitism. 

 They frequently render the forest so impervious, that the 

 distinguished naturalist Junghuhn, while exploring the woods 

 of Java, was obliged to be accompanied by a vanguard of 

 eight men, one half of whom were busy cutting the ratans with 

 their hatchets, while the others removed the stems. These 

 rope-like plants frequently grow to the incredible length of four 

 or even six hundred feet, often consisting of a couple of hundred 

 joints two or three feet long, and bearing at every knot a feathery 

 leaf, armed with thorns on its lower surface. Sir. E. Tennent 

 mentions having seen a specimen two hundred and fifty feet 

 long and an inch in diameter, without a single irregularity, 

 and no appearance of foliage other than the bunch of feathery 

 leaves at the extremity. 



Though often extremely disagreeable to the traveller, yet the 

 ratans are far from being useless. The natives of Java and 

 the other islands of the Eastern Archipelago cut the cane into 

 fine slips, which they plait into beautiful mats, manufacture into 

 strong and neat baskets, or twist into cordage ; and they are also 

 extensively exported to Europe, where they are chiefly employed 

 for the making of chair bottoms. 



So great is the strength of these slender and seemingly 



