'9-50 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXI. 



and the rmmber of years they are likely to last, are somewhat 

 conflicting. Ferguson does not doubt that Palmyra-leaf manu- 

 scripts 400 or 500 years old exist in Ceylon. He says that they 

 are certainly of a more durable quality than paper, and resemble 

 parchment in their texture, when well prepared. 



We read in an article written by Brande^ in 1849 on 'The 

 language and literature of the Island of Bali ' : " The time at 

 which the manuscript was composed, which I made use of, is the 

 year of Saka 1724 (corresponding to the year of Christ 1802). 

 To judge from the outward appearance I should have taken it to 

 be much older; in 46 years the lontar- leaves (Palmj'ra) have 

 already become much injured and it seems to prove what is said 

 also of Indian manuscripts, that they can't survive 100 years. 

 This probably is also one of the causes that in Java, in so short a 

 time, almost the whole of the ancient literature was lost, and that 

 when the desire for the old literature was revived, hardly any of 

 the old manuscripts could be discovered. In Bali also we must 

 not look for old manuscripts ; however those which are guarded 

 ^nd transcribed in the families of the priests, may almost be 

 ■considered as original, since in these families the knowledge of 

 language and religion is preserved with the minutest care.'' " 



The Palmja-a books are never much beyond two feet in length 

 and two inches in breadth, as the size of the webs between the 

 little ribs will not admit of their increase in size.' 



Cultivation in India. — " This grand palm is not much used in 

 gardens, and perhaps rightly so. It takes up much space, and 

 generally looks unhappy compared with the same species on hill 

 sides near Bombaj^, where its tall cylindrical stem crowned with 

 immense fan-shaped leaves is a grand feature in the landscape. 

 But in the Botanical Gardens at Calcutta a special use has been 

 found for which it is well adapted. On the outskirts of the 

 garden a gently winding path, about 12 feet in width, has this 

 palm planted near the sides about 10 feet apart ; the effect of the 



^ Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia, Vol. Ill, No. \, April 1849. 

 '" Cf. also some notes of Lombok in the ' .Journal of the Indian Archipelago', 

 etc., Vol. II, No. 3, p, 161. 

 ' Ferguson, 1. c. p. 26. 



