38 THE COCOA-NUT. 



to them that, like the fruit trees, those which are planted 

 in the vicinity of their villages, are individual property. 



Next in order of the vegetable productions, and 

 equal to either of the above in the estimation in which 

 it is held by the natives, is the cocoa-nut, which has 

 been so often and so weh 1 described that I shah 1 not here 

 repeat its well-known uses ; though in countries where 

 cordages of other kinds abound, and where better 

 thatch for their houses can be easily procured, the 

 husk of this fruit is not used for the one purpose, nor 

 its leaves for the other. The wars of the inhabitants 

 have almost exterminated this useful plant from the 

 western coast of Borneo ; it is, however, abundant to 

 the northward ; and the Natunas on the west, and the 

 Sooloo islands on the east, are said to be covered with 

 these palms. The supply of Sarawak and the west 

 coast is drawn entirely from the Natunas islands, the 

 inhabitants of which trust principally to this commerce 

 for their supply of rice, which they do not themselves 

 produce. About fifty of their boats, carrying from six 

 to twenty tons each, arrive annually at Sarawak, during 

 the fine monsoon, loaded with nuts, oil, and sugar, 

 the productions of this tree. The sugar is a coarse 

 kind, resembling molasses, and is made by boiling 

 the sap extracted from the flower stem of this palm ; 

 it also may be procured in less quantities from the 

 gomuti, nipah, and many others. 



The sago palm (Metroxylon) is grown in great per- 

 fection in some parts of the island, and the rough sago 

 is exported in large quantities from the west coast to 



