284 THE ECONOMIC PRODUCTS OF THE PALMYRA PaLM. 



fit for the " scalping knife," and if they have not dropped the foot 

 stalk of the leaves, the first operation, if the trees are valuable, is to 

 wrench them off. This done, the tGddy-d rawer, armed with his leathern 

 protector for his breast, his raceme-batten of wood, his small thongs, 

 straight and crooked knives, with the side leather pouch to contain 

 them, procures a piece of tough jungle vine, or a strip of the stalk of a 

 young palmyra or cocoa-nut tree, which he converts into a sort of loop, 

 of such dimensions as to admit of his feet getting through to a 'space 

 large enough to allow them to clasp the tree. This done he puts his 

 feet in this thong, stands close to the tree, stretches himself at full 

 length, clasps it with his hands, and pulls his feet up as close to his 

 arms as possible ; again he slides up his hands, and repeats the process, 

 until by a species of screw process, he ascends to the summit of the tree. 



An expert climber can draw toddy from about forty trees in a few 

 hours. In Jaffna a distinction is made between toddy and sweet toddy, 

 the former called by the Tamils " culloo " is the fermented, the latter 

 the unfermeuted juice. 



Toddy serves extensively as yeast, and throughout Ceylon no other 

 is employed by the bakers ; large quantities of it are also converted 

 into vinegar, used for pickling gherkins, limes, the undeveloped leaves 

 of the cocoa-nut, and palmyra trees, and other substances ; but by far 

 the greatest quantity is boiled down for jaggery or sugar. About 1,000 

 tons are said to be manufactured of it in Ceylon. 



According to Forbes three quarts of toddy will make 1 lb. of jaggery. 

 Malcolm remarks that jaggery resembles maple sugar, and that in the 

 neighbourhood of Ava, one pound sells for the third of a penny. In Jaffna 

 3 lbs. are sold for 2d. The usual process of making jaggery, as pursued 

 at Jaffna is exceedingly simple. The sweet toddy is boiled until it 

 becomes a thick syrup, a small quantity of scraped cocoa-nut kernel 

 is thrown in that it may be ascertained by the feel if the syrup 

 has reached the proper consistency, and then it is poured into small 

 baskets of palmyra leaf, where it cools and hardens into jaggery. In 

 these small plaited palmyia baskets it is kept for home consumption ; 

 sent coastwise, chiefly to Colombo, or exported beyond seas to be re- 

 fined. To make vellum or crystallised jaggery, which is extensively 

 used as a medicine, the process is nearly the same as for the common 

 sugar, only the syrup is not boiled for so long a period. 



The pot which contains it is covered and put aside for some months, 

 at the end of which period the crystals are formed in abundance. The 

 juice of the palmyra is richer in saccharine matter than that of most 

 other palms, in consequence, perhaps, of the tree more generally growing 

 in dry sandy soil and in a dry climate. The great fault of the jaggery 

 made at Jaffna seems to arise from the too free application of lime, a 

 small quantity of which is absolutely necessary to prevent fermentation. 

 Jaggery forms an article of commerce from the upper to the lower 

 provinces of Burmah, and is also of importance in some of the islands 



