No. 57. — 1906.] coconut cultivation. 



45 



in the Ceylon Miscellany for July, 1842. A much more 

 concise statement (which I give as a note) was sent to me 

 some years ago by the late Mr. W. N. Rajapakse, Proctor of 

 the Supreme Court.* 



lapse of centuries, the coco palm has spread its wide domain from coast to 

 coast throughout the whole extent of the tropical zone. It waves its 

 graceful fronds over the emerald isles of the Pacific, fringes the West 

 Indian shores, and from the Philippines to Madagascar crowns the atolls 

 or girds the sea-border of the Indian Ocean. But nowhere is it met 

 with in such abundance as on the coast of Ceylon, where for miles 

 and miles one continuous grove of palms, pre-eminent for beauty, encircles 

 the ' Eden of the Eastern Wave.' Multiplied by plantations and fostered 

 with assiduous care, the total number in the Island cannot be less than 

 twenty millions of full-grown trees [the estimate of 50 years ago. — J. F.]; 

 and such is its luxuriance in those favoured districts, where it meets with 

 a rare combination of every advantage essential to its growth — a sandy and 

 pervious soil, a free and genial air, unobstructed solar heat, and abundance 

 of water — that, when in full bearing, it will annually yield as much 

 as a ton's weight of nuts— an example of fruitfulness almost unrivalled 

 even in the torrid zone." 



* The Tradition Respecting the Introduction of the 

 Coconut into Ceylon. 



(By the late Mr. W. N. Rajapakse, Proctor, Supreme Court.) 



1. Kusta Raja (so called because he was afflicted with a cutaneous 

 distemper) is the first person whose name is associated with coconut 

 cultivation. He was a provincial king or prince in the midland parts 

 of the Island. His disease having baffled the skill of his physicians, 

 he was going about seeking a cure. On the beach of the sea coast 

 somewhere near Weligama he found a coconut tree growing there and 

 bearing fruit. The tree is supposed to have grown from a nut washed 

 on shore from some foreign land. He drank the water of the nut 

 either out of curiosity or by advice, and probably repeating the dose he 

 got cured. This induced him to make a plantation of coconuts in'the 

 vicinity of Weligama. The result having proved beneficial to man, 

 his image cut out of the solid rock was placed by the people of the place 

 to perpetuate his memory. 



2. Kusta Raja is believed to have lived after the conquest of the 

 Island by Wijaya, and there are reasons to suppose that the coconut 

 was known in Ceylon in the time of our first king. 



3. The worship of certain gods, devil-dancing, and bali or invocation 

 of the flowers were observed in Ceylon in the time of Wijaya and before 

 that, and in all these three things the coconut plays an important part. 

 In worship of gods the oil of the nut is used for lighting the lamps, and 

 it is preferred to all other oils, except scented oils. In devil-dancing 



