152 THE COCONUT TREE 



and symbol, it is always about him, spanning the 

 sunshine and shower of life with bows of hope. 



The coconut tree is a palm, and has nothing to 

 do with cocoa of the breakfast table. That word 

 is a perversion of " cacao," and came to us from 

 Mexico : the other is the Portuguese word " coco," 

 which means a nut. It is what Vasco da Gama 

 called the thing when he first saw it, and the word, 

 with our English translation added, has stuck to 

 it. The tree is, I need scarcely say, a palm, one of 

 many kinds that flourish in India. But none of 

 them can be ranked with it. The rough date palm 

 makes dense groves on sandy plains, but brings no 

 fruit to perfection, pining for something which only 

 Arabia can supply ; the strong but unprofitable 

 " brab," or fan palm, rises on rocky hills, the beauti- 

 ful fish-tailed palm in forests solitarily, while the 

 "areca" rears its tall, smooth stem and delicate 

 head in gardens and supplies millions with a solace 

 more indispensable than tobacco or tea. But the 

 coconut loves a sandy soil and the salt breath of the 

 sea and the company of its own kind. The others 

 grow erect as a mast, but the gentle coconuts lean 

 on the wind and mingle the waving of their sisterly 

 arms, casting a grateful shade on the humble folk 

 who live under their blessing. 



To the mariner sailing by India's coral strand 

 that country presents the aspect of an endless beach 

 of shell sand, quite innocent of coral, on which the 

 surf breaks continually into dazzling white foam 



