THE ALCOHOL INDUSTRY. PART I. 115 



THE WORK IN THE NIPA SWAMPS. 



The best managed nipales, or nipa groves, are divided into sections 

 of about 1 hectare, containing from 700 to 800 producing plants in every 

 hectare,^® each of which is assigned to the care of one or more men. 

 Usually two men are required to handle 1 hectare and the work of 

 cutting the plants, gathering and transporting the tuia to the distillery 

 and the general care of the grove is divided between them. Since the 

 sap not only has a recognized commercial value at the distillery, but is 

 also greatly prized by the natives as a beverage, a close watch by the 

 guards is necessary. 



The sap, as it drops from the flower stalks, is collected in hollow joints 

 of bamboo. Each plant is visited daily and the sap brought to the 

 distillery in bancas ^^ of light draught which the natives paddle in and 

 out of the waterways. Sometimes the tuba, is emptied into large earthen- 

 ware jars and these are transported to the distillery, and, again, it is 

 emptied directly into the boat. A nipa leaf is cut and placed in the banca 

 over the tuba to prevent undue slopping, and thus, more or less immersed 

 in the partially fermented tuba, the boatmen make the trip. The time for 

 gathering the sap is in some measure dependent upon the tides, for many 

 of the small waterways are navigable only with difficulty or else are 

 impassable at low tide, even for such a light draught vessel as the native 

 canoe. The collection in some localities begins at 1 o'clock in the morning 

 and is completed within 6 hours. 



The laborer in the nipa groves builds himself a house of nipa leaf 

 thatch with bamboo framework, on the bank of a stream on the nipa 

 estate. Fish, the principal article of food, are easily caught in these 

 places. Here, usually with a large family, he lives in peace and 

 contentment. 



THE SAP. 



Historical. — It is probable that the natives of this Archipelago fer- 

 mented beverages from the nipa sap before the arrival of Europeans 

 in 1521. 



The historians of Magalhaes's expedition continually mention the use of palm 

 wine without specifically referring to the nipa, although the coconut palm is 

 mentioned. Oliver van Noordt^' reported (1598 to 1601), "All these islands 

 * * * produce abundance of rice and wine made from nypa." Mereado,^' prior 

 to 1698, writes that the natives of Pampanga Province made an intoxicating 

 beverage from the nipa sap. 



'" The total number of plants in this area is more than double this number. 

 This is explained later under the heading "Yield of sap." 

 "A Philippine canoe, hewn out of a single log. 

 '' Blair & Robertson. Loc. cit. 11, 302. 

 ''Log. cit. 



