THE COCO-2JUT PALM. 



561 



become rancid and dissolved. It hasTecently been shipped to 

 England in this state for the purpose of converting into oil. 

 The exports of copperah from Ceylon were, in 1842, 115 cwts. ; 

 in 1843, 2,194 ; in 1844, 2,397 ; and in 1852, 39,174 cwts. 



The returned value of the copperah or kernels exported from 

 Ceylon, as entered in the Custom House books, is 



1840 2,508 i 1847 . 6,503 



1841 

 1842 

 1843 

 1844 

 1845 

 1846 



1,460 

 3,022 

 5,795 

 6,194 

 3,282 

 5,517 



1848 

 1849 

 1850 

 1851 



1852 



12,639 

 7,819 

 4,166 

 9,678 



13,325 



G32 cwts. of poonac (being the refuse or cake, after expressing 

 the oil) were exported from Ceylon in 1842. It is worth there 

 about 10 the ton. 



The oil from the nut is obtained for culinary purposes by boiling 

 the fresh pulp, and skimming it as it rises. That for exportation 

 is usually obtained by pressing the copperah in a simple press 

 turned by bullocks. Eecently, however, steam power has been 

 applied in Colombo, with great advantage. About 2f gallons of 

 oil per 100 nuts, are usually obtained. It is requisite that care 

 should be taken not to apply too great and sadden a pressure at 

 once, but by degrees an increasing force, so as not to choke the 

 conducting channels of the oil in the press. 



In many of the colonies the oil is expressed by the slow and 

 laborious 'hand process of grating the pulp. 



The quantity shipped from Ceylon was 2,250 tuns, in 1842 ; 

 3,985 in 1843 ; 2,331 in 1844 ; 1,797 in 1845. The quantity in 

 gallons shipped since, was 101,553 in 1846 ; 197,850 in 1847 ; 

 300,146 in 1848 ; 867,326 in 1849; 407,960 in 1850; 442,700 

 in 1851 ; nnd 749,028 in 1852. 



The duty on importation is of and from British possessions, 

 7d. and 7-8ths. per cwt. ; if the produce of foreign possessions, 

 Is. 3f d. per cwt. In the close of 1852, the price of coco-nut oil 

 in the London market was, for Ceylon, 32, 33, to 33 10s. per 

 ton ; Cochin, middling to fine, 34 to 35. 



The following return shows the Custom House valuation of 

 the oil shipped from Ceylon for a series of years, and which is of 

 course much below its real value : 



1839 

 1840 

 1841 



1842 

 1843 

 1844 

 1845 



... 7,939 



... 19,142 



... 24,839 



... 34,831 



... 35,03-5 



... 31,444 



... 58,045 



Among the coco-nut oil exported from Ceylon, in 1849, there 

 were 47,4274 gallons, valued at 3,595, the whole of which, I 

 believe, was Cochin oil; the raw material of this kind not being, like 

 the copperah generally in Ceylon, subjected to the action of fire, 



2 o 



