266 



THE PALMYRA PALM. 



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

 months, at the end of which period the crystals are formed in abun- 

 dance. 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. J aggery forms an article of com- 

 merce from the upper to the lower provinces of Burmah, and is also 

 of importance in some of the islands of the Indian Archipelago. 

 Besides being exported in large quantities from Ceylon, it forms a con- 

 siderable portion of the food of the Tamil people of Jaffna. Amongst 

 a variety of purposes to which it is put, is that of being mixed with 

 the white of eggs, and with lime from burnt coral or shells. The 

 result is a tenacious mortar, capable of receiving so beautiful a 

 polish that it can with difficulty be distinguished from the finest 

 white marble. 



Timber. — A fuU-gro-wn palmyra is from sixty to seventy feet high, 

 its trunk at the bottom is about five and a half feet in circumference. 

 The wood is generally known in Ceylon and the maritime ports of 

 India. Large quantities of it are exported from Point Pedro, and 

 other ports of Jaffna, to Madras and Colombo. At certain seasons of 

 the year the felling, splitting, dressing, and exporting of it give work 

 to thousands of the Tamil people of the northern peninsula of 

 Ceylon. The trees have to arrive at a considerable age before they 

 are of use for timber ; when a hundred years old they are excellent. 

 The wood of this palm near the circumference, when of sufficient 

 age, is remarkably hard, black, heavy, and durable, and universally 

 used for rafters in pent-roofed houses, for which purpose Roxburgh 

 states it is the best wood in India. The centre is soft and spongy, 

 containing little else than a coarse kind of farinaceous matter, inter- 

 mixed with some soft, white woody fibres, and is cut out, as the black 

 exterior hard part only is employed. The wood is capable of taking 

 a fine polish. Its specific gravity is, according to Mr. Mendis, 

 65 lbs. per solid foot. For house building, and various domestic 

 purposes, the timber is the most generally used of the palm tribe. 

 Pillars and posts for the verandahs of houses, well sweeps, joists, and 

 reepers, or laths, &c., are made from it. The trunk is split into four 

 for rafters, into eight for reepers or laths, and these are dressed with 

 an adze. From the structure of the fibres, it splits easily in the 

 direction of its length, but supports a greater cross strain than any 

 other wood ; iron nails, however, will rust rapidly in it. 



Palmyra trunks split into halves, with the heart scooped out, are 

 used as spouts for various purposes, but more especially for carrying 

 away the water from the eaves of houses. The dark outside wood of 

 very old trees is used to some extent in Europe for umbrella handles, 

 walking canes, paper rulers, fancy boxes, wafer stamps, and other 

 articles. 



Kelingoes. — The nuts are collected and buried in heaps in the 

 ground. When dug up after the space of three months, the young 

 shoots called kelingoes supply the inhabitants with a nourishing ali- 



