42 JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. XIX. 



die if the village, where it had previously thriven, became 

 deserted." — Tennent, vol. p. 119, fifth edition. 



Then again Sir Samuel Baker, after eight years of wander- 

 ings in Ceylon jungles, remarks : - 



"Groves of coconut trees towering over the thorny jungles 

 often become monuments sacred to the memory of an exter- 

 minated village, and wild elephants generally overturn 

 (ownerless) coconut palms, luxuriating in the succulent 

 tops." * 



De Candolle — I suppose, the greatest authority on the 

 subject— places the original habitat of the coconut palm in 

 the Eastern Archipelago, somewhere in the neighbourhood 



* On the other hand, Simon Casie Chitty (in his "Ceylon Gazetteer," 1833) 

 has no doubt about the coconut palm being indigenous. Here is how he 

 introduces the subject : — 



" Among- the trees indigenous to the Island (if we except cinnamon, 

 which furnishes the greatest item of its commerce) the claims of the 

 coconut tree appear to predominate. Such is the benefit which this tree 

 confers on the natives, that it is celebrated in song by the ancient bards ; 

 and one of them [whether Sinhalese or Tamil is not mentioned] thus 

 elegantly expresses the quality of its fruit in a Sanskrit stanza 



Usaggra uase nacha pakshi raja [1] 



Jalanta tari nagato na megha 



Subbrahma chari nacha chandro maya 



Trmetr dhari nacha Iswaranam. [2] 



It resides on high — yet it is not the king of the birds ; 



It yields water — yet it is not the raining cloud ; 



It is white — yet it is not the moon ; 



It has three eyes — yet it is not Iswara. 

 [1] The G-aruda, a bird sacred to Vishnu, and consequently worshipped 

 by his votaries. It is the Pondicheri eagle of Brisson, and its origin and 

 history form the subject of one of the eighteen Puranas. 



[2] Iswara is one of the mystical names of Siva, who is represented 

 with three eyes." 



Mudaliyar Gunasekara reminds us that the coconut is mentioned in the 

 great Indian epic Mahdbhdrata ; and the Sanscrit ddhshindtya — one of the 

 names of the palm — literally means " native of the south." The " Materia 

 Medica" of the Hindus compiled from Sanscrit medical works makes 

 mention of various medicinal properties and uses of the coconut. The 

 Mudaliyar adds that the name of the coconut tree in Tamil (tennei) seems 

 to mean the southern tree, this tree having been brought, according to 

 tradition, from Ceylon. So also says Dr. Caldwell in his grammar the 

 Dra vidian languages ; but this is quite consistent with the view that the 

 coconut originally came to Ceylon from the farther south-east. 



