instantly disappeared when they dived down to see it. The negro 

 priests were firm in the belief that it grew near the island of Java, 



strous bird had its home, from which it made nightly sorties to 

 the land, killing tigers, elephants and other large animals : they 

 further asserted that ships were attracted by the waves which 

 surrounded the tree, an attraction from which there was no escape, 

 and that the sailors fell an easy prey to this voracious bird. One 

 can well understand with what care the poor superstitious sailors 

 of the Indian Archipelago must have avoided this spot. 



Not only did these tales serve to bring the fruit into notice, but 

 its reputed value as an antidote to poisons made its acquisition 

 greatly to be desired by the princes of Hindoostan, who, prone 

 to use such poisons on others, were constantly in fear of being 

 made victims themselves of some wily poisoner. It is not strange 

 that they were willing to pay large sums for these mysterious 

 objects which would protect them from their enemies. They 

 firmly believed that water which had been kept in one of these 

 was purified from all harm, and could be drunk with impunity, 



liquid. The sovereign of the Maldives was not long in turning 

 this to his own advantage as a means of increasing his wealth, for 

 he made it a matter of death for anyone to have in his possession?.; 

 one of these nuts — all were his property, which he disposed of 

 at a high price or used in making royal presents. But in 1743, 

 upon the discovery of the tree which bore these fruits, this value 

 and repute quickly subsided, for, so they must have reasoned, 

 where there is no mystery how can there be any virtue ! 



One of the earlier accounts of this palm occurs in a book of 

 voyages published in 1776 at Paris.* A plate illustrating the 

 Seychelles themselves and several other plates depicting features 



of the sea, most of the fruit 



