598 Miscellaneous. 



rarely, qixintuple specimens are found. When green they contain a 

 sweetish jelly-like substance of a refreshing quality. But when ripe 

 the kernel is as hard as dry beach wood, quite white, and of a some- 

 what silky grain. They are left in a marshy spot to rot, a process 

 which requires six or eight months before the shell can be emptied. 

 They are applied to various uses, being very strong and Light. Simply 

 bored at the end they serve as very convenient buckets and kegs, 

 which are in general use among all the inhabitants of the group of 

 islands in which they are found; many of them hold upwards of 

 three gallons. Many thousands of the shells, sawed in half, are sent 

 to Mauritius and Bourbon, where they are universally employed by 

 the blacks for holding food and water ; they form also the best vessels 

 that can be devised for baling out boats. The leaves are as good a 

 covering for a house as shingle; a roof well thatched with them lasts 

 ten years without any repair. They are also employed, when young 

 and white, for a great many purposes ; hats, bonnets, baskets, fans, 

 flowers, and many other articles being manufactured from them. 



It is a very remarkable fact that this plant will not flourish on any 

 of the surrounding islands. Many have been planted on other islands, 

 but they merely vegetate, and are widely different in appearance from 

 the plants of Praslin and Curieuse. 



Propagation by Hybrids. 



In the autumn of 1838, a male bird, the produce of a Goldfinch and 

 a hen Canary bird, escaped from my aviary, and was not seen again 

 until the following spring, when we were agreeably surprised by the 

 reappearance of our lost favourite, in company with a Goldfinch. As 

 the pair were inseparable, we at once suspected that they had mated, 

 and in a few days our suspicions were confirmed by seeing them feed 

 each other, and collect materials for building. By watching their 

 movements we soon discovered their nest in a cedar-tree near the 

 aviary. In due time four eggs were laid, which I carefully removed 

 and placed under a Canary bird; they however all proved abortive. 

 In a few days after this disappointment a second nest was built by 

 them in the same tree, which we left undisturbed, and the result was 

 favourable ; five birds were hatched, which I took from the nest when 

 about ten days old and brought up by hand; of this number two cocks 

 and two hens are still living. 



I am aware that hybrids in a state of captivity and restraint have 

 not unfrequently proved prolific when brought to pair with a mate 



