THE COCOA NUT TREE. 



247 



tribe, perhaps the date tree — palm wine. In 

 several of the Oriental languages there appears 

 to he an intimate connection between the words 

 which designate honey, sugar, sweetness, and 

 the juice of plants of the palm family. Mee, in 

 the Singhalese language, means honey, sweet; 

 and the toddy or juice extracted from palm trees 

 is called mee-ra. Juice drawn from the flower 

 of the sago palm, is by the Malays denominated 

 aer (water) saguer. As the word saguer appears 

 to be only a slight alteration from the Sanscrit 

 adjective implying sweet, aer saguer will there- 

 fore literally mean sweet water, or the sweetest 

 water. In the Javanese language, the juice of 

 the-gomuti palm is called lagen, which means 

 the sweet material by distinction. We learn 

 from Shaw, that the Hebrew word rendered 

 hone!/ in scripture, is by some commentators sup- 

 posed to denominate the sweet juice procured 

 from palm trees, as well as the honey of bees. 

 He tells us that, in Barbary, the sweet juice ex- 

 tracted from date palms is called dipse; and 

 that dibse or dipse, which is a Hebrew word, is 

 generally translated honey in the Old Testament. 

 Dr Moseley, in his Treatise upon Sugar, &c., 

 says, that the strong drink of the scripture was 

 called shecar, a word which likewise means in- 

 toxication. This word shecar does not differ 

 much in enunciation from the Sanscrit adjective 

 implying sweet; and it very closely resembles 

 the Malay name of the intoxicating toddy of the 

 sago palm Caer saguer. J Dr Moseley concludes 

 his disq^uisition on the strong drink of the Old 

 Testament by saying, " What sottish liquor she- 

 car was, no person knows. It was probably 

 made from grain, perhaps from honey. Our 

 term cyder, which exclusively implies the fer- 

 mented juice of apples, is supposed by Dr Clarke 

 to be derived from the Hebrew word shecar, de- 

 signating " strong drink." St Jerome says, any 

 intoxicating liquor obtains the denomination of 

 siker or shecar, whether it be made of corn, 

 apples, honey, dates, or fruits of any kind. She- 

 car seems to have become sicera (Latin), after- 

 wards corrupted into sidera, hence cyder. 



" It is usual for persons of respectability in 

 Barbary to entertain their guests on festive oc- 

 casions with the honey or dipse of the palm tree. 

 This they procure by cutting off the head or 

 crown of one of the more vigorous plants, and 

 scooping the top of the trunk into the shape of 

 a basin, where the sap in ascending lodges itself 

 at the rate of three or four quarts a-day during 

 the first week or fortnight ; after this the quan- 

 tity daily diminishes; and at the end of six 

 weeks, or two months, the juices are entirely 

 consumed; the tree becomes dry, and serves only 

 for timber or fire- wood. This liquor, which has 

 a more luscious sweetness than honey, is of the 

 consistence of a thin syrup, but quickly grows 

 tart and ropy, acquiring an intoxicating quality ; 



and giving by distillation an agreeable spirit. 

 This is called Araky by the natives, and is the 

 palm wine of the ancients." 



The suri pots are sometimes visited, and the 

 contents carried off duiing night. To detect the 

 thief, the leaves of a species of datura are occa- 

 sionally put into some of the pots. By means 

 of the highly intoxicating eifect of this com- 

 pound, the marauder is often discovered. On 

 the Coromandel coast the retailers of toddy some- 

 times nib the inside of the pots with the seed 

 vessel or leaves of this highly poisonous plant, 

 to increase the intoxicating influence of toddy. 



AiTack may be distilled from suri the same 

 day it is drawn ; but sometimes this operation is 

 delayed for a few days, without diminishing the 

 quantity, or injuring the quality of the spirit. 

 The process of distillation is carried on, in the 

 maritime provinces, in copper stills ; but, in the 

 Kandyan provinces, earthen vessels are chiefly 

 employed. Suri yields, by distillation, about 

 one-eighth part of proof spirit. Arrack, when 

 well prepared, is clear and transparent: gene- 

 rally, however, it is slightly straw-coloured. It 

 has a peculiar flavour, no doubt depending upon 

 an essential oil which rises from the suri during 

 distillation. Many of the small distillers allow 

 the toddy to run into acetous fermentation be- 

 fore the process of distillation commences, to 

 which circumstance may be attributed the fre- 

 quent existence of a small portion of acetic ether 

 in the Ceylon arrack. Arrack is issued to the 

 soldiers in India as part of the established ration ; 

 and the seamen belonging to the Royal Navy in 

 the Indian seas are furnished with this spirit in 

 place of ram. 



Ceylon exports annually, and, for the most 

 part to the presidencies of Bengal, Madras, and 

 Bombay, from 5000 to 6000 leaguers of arrack, 

 each containing 150 gallons. The custom duty 

 on the exportation of arrack amounts to twenty 

 per cent, ad valorem,; and in 1818, the Madras 

 government imposed an excise duty of 440 per 

 cent, upon Ceylon manufactured spirits. The 

 prime cost of arrack in Ceylon varies fi-om 8d. to 

 lOd. per gallon. It is stated by Mr Bartolacci, 

 that arrack distilled at Batavia, is sold in India 

 fi-om ten to fifteen per cent, cheaper than that 

 brought from Colombo, the Ceylon arrack being 

 considered superior to the Javanese. In Eng- 

 land, this spirit has brought as high a price as 

 from five to six shillings per gallon. 



Rajah Sri Wickreme Rajah, the king of 

 Kandy, who was deposed in 1815, like his pre- 

 decessors, prohibited the distillation of arrack in 

 the interior of the island of Ceylon, except a 

 small quantity, which was prepared in the royal 

 laboratory, for the use of sick elephants belong- 

 ing to the maha mhare, or great temple, and to 

 be employed in the manufacture of gunpowder. 

 Spirits is a favourite remedy in India for ele- 



