112 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



[PART I. 



The Jaggery Palm 1 , the Kitool of the Singhalese, is 

 chiefly cultivated in the Kandyan hills for the sake of 

 its sap, which is drawn, boiled down, and crystallised 

 into a coarse brown sugar, in universal use amongst the 

 inhabitants of the south and west of Ceylon, who also 

 extract from its pith a farina scarcely inferior to sago. 

 The black fibre of the leaf is twisted by the Eodiyas into 

 ropes of considerable smoothness and tenacity. A Kitool- 

 palm was pointed out to me at Ambogammoa, which 

 furnished the support of a Kandyan, his wife, and their 

 children. A single tree has been known to yield one 

 hundred pints of toddy within twenty-four hours. 



The Areca 2 Palm is the invariable feature of a native 

 garden, being planted near the wells and water-courses, 

 as it rejoices in" moisture. Of all the tribe it is the most 

 graceful and delicate, rising to the height of forty or fifty 

 feet 3 , without an inequality on its thin polished stem, 

 which is bright green towards the top, sustaining a crown 

 of feathery foliage, in the midst of which are clustered 

 the astringent nuts for whose sake it is carefully tended. 



The chewing of these nuts with lime and the leaf of the 

 betel-pepper supplies to the people of Ceylon the same 

 enjoyment which tobacco affords to the inhabitants of 

 other countries ; but its use is, if possible, more offensive, 

 as the three articles, when combined, colour the saliva of 

 so deep a red that the lips and teeth appear as if covered 

 with blood. Yet, in spite of this disgusting accompani- 

 ment, men and women, old and young, from morning till 

 night indulge in the repulsive luxury. 4 



It is seldom, however, that we find in semi-civilised 



1 Caryota urens. 



2 A. catechu. 



3 Mr. Ferguson measured an areca 

 at Caltura which was seventy-five 

 feet high, and grew near a coco-nut 

 that was upwards of ninety feet. 

 Caltura is, however, remarkable for 



the growth and luxuriance of its vege- 

 tation. 



4 Dr. Elliot, of -Colombo, observed 

 several cases of cancer in the cheek 

 which, from its peculiar characteris- 

 tics, he designated the "betel- 

 chewer's cancer." 



