PART V. 



TAPPING. 



The usual articles required for this work consist of (1) a rope 

 (dara) 9 ft. long and 1 to 1 J inches thick, which is loosely tied round 

 the operator and the tree, and by means of which a man can climb 

 rapidly and safely ; (2) a plaited palmyra leaf bag (the thungi), 

 about 1 foot deep, in which are carried the daws, spouts and other 

 articles and to which are attached a wooden hook and two loops of 

 string, the loops going round the waist of the man, and being tied 

 in front and the hook suspending an earthen pot; (3) a piece of 

 canvas or goatskin (the Jcolach), 1 ft. wide, which is tied on the man's 

 back to protect him from the rubbing action of the climbing rope, 

 and (4) three daws (bill hooks), one heavy and two lighter ones. 

 All the above are shown in Plate III. 



The tapping is a delicate operation commenced in October and 

 done in several stages. With the heavy daws, all the old leaves are 

 cut off below the crown, and all the leaves from one side of it leaving 

 only a few at the top, the bases of the petioles and the sheaths 

 being carefully removed (See Plate IV). Then with the lighter daws 

 the outer zone of the loose soft tissue is pared off in long slices 

 leaving only a thin covering of it over the sap-supplying inner zone 

 which corresponds to the woody zone in the older wood of all palms. 

 Very great care must be taken not to expose this inner tissue at 

 this stage ^otherwise the tree is sure to rot and die, as often happens 

 when the operation is entrusted to inexperienced hands. The 

 experts at this work are called Siulis or Gachis. After this first 

 operation the trees are given about 8 days rest, by which time the 

 fine covering of soft tissue gets a little hardened and begins to crack. 

 The second operation consists in removing this covering, great care 



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