THE PALMS OF BRITISH INDIA AND CEYLON, 959* 



ascended a Palmja-a-tree, and descended without touching the 

 blossom." — The habit of drinking todd}^ cannot be concealed r 

 " He who drinks milk will belch milk and he who drinks 

 todd_y will belch toddy." — Eating a Palmja^a-tree — eflfects of 

 perseverance : " B}^ eating slowty, even a Palmyra-tree may be- 

 eaten." How the fruit falls : " The fruit of the tree will falL 

 at its foot. " — Young trees — to save jouv property jou must 

 take care of it : " Preserve young Palmyras by cutting, and 

 buffaloes by tying." — Turning the tree to a bad use : " Is it to- 

 drink toddy you have reared the Palmyra-tree ? '' — Witchcraft and 

 basket -making easy arts : " Witchcraft is the easiest of all arts, and. 

 the common ola basket is the easiest of all plaits." 



THE 'TALA VILASAM \ 



There are many descriptions of the Palmyra Palm and its useS' 

 written in the various European languages, and nearl}^ all of them 

 mention a Tamil poem, entitled ' Tala Vilasam ', which is said to- 

 enumerate no fewer than 801 different purposes to which the- 

 Palmyra may be applied ; and if the writer is possessed of a good 

 imagination, he invariably adds, that the poem in question by no- 

 means exhausts the catalogue. 



I searched a long time for that poem, of which nothing but the- 

 title seemed to be known, and when I foitnd it at last, I was 

 astonished that I had not discovered it sooner. William Ferguson 

 had given a first translation of it about 60 years ago in the appendix 

 of his interesting little volume on the Palmja-a Palm of Ce3''lon. 



The poem was written by " Arunachalam, a Poet of Terruk— 

 kudantei, the same with Combaconam in the Province of Tanjore." 



As the poem is a truly oriental production with the merits and 

 defects of eastern conception, we trust that our readers will not 

 object to our reproducing the poem in extenso, though it may 

 contain a good many repetitions of what has been said above. The- 

 fact that it has been translated by a Tamil native accounts suffi- 

 ciently for the peculiarities of its English style and wording. As we 

 could not procure a copy of the original, we prefer to give it as it 

 stands. 



