62 



JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). 



[Vol. XIX. 



There is not much more to learn respecting coconut culti- 

 vation in the time of the Portuguese ; and yet there is one 

 reference dating from 1644-1649 — seven to nine years before 

 their final expulsion by the Dutch — which goes to show 

 that if not valued by the historian or foreign merchant, the 

 supreme importance of the palm as a food producer was 

 duly recognized by the Portuguese occupants of the Island. 

 We quote from Johann von der Behr's account of his 

 experiences in Ceylon from 1644 to 1649* (he was a Cadet in 

 the Dutch Service, and was attached to an invading army). 

 It is where he describes the landing at Negomboandan island 

 in front of it "on which stand more than 3,000 cocos or 

 kochers trees," each tree bearing ten, twenty, or thirty small 

 and large nuts, and later on he adds that from the branches, 

 &c, of the palms, houses were made to accommodate 600 of 

 the troops. The palm was for all uses, and he adds that 

 " the Portuguese esteem the tree very highly, and say that if 

 one shot a bullet through a tree and struck the heart (in 

 consequence of which it would dry up) it was as if he had 

 put a man to death." 



Baldseus in his account of Ceylon, printed in 1672, should 

 be able to show how the south-west and especially the north 

 of Ceylon stood for palms at the time the Dutch arrived. 

 He gives a very particular description of the different divi- 

 sions, parishes, and churches in the Jaffna peninsula and 

 islands ; often refers to gardens with " Indian fruits " and 

 " delicious vineyards," but seldom mentions the coconut. 

 Of Mannar island, he only tells us it abounds in fish, so that 

 here, as at Negombo, is a great industry in drying and 

 sending large quantities to other parts. He refers to the 

 fertility of the Mantota district in rice crops, and to the 

 great mischief done by elephants which used to cross the river 

 (lagoon) into Jaffna to feed upon the fruits of the palm 

 trees, knocking these trees down. Recurring to the Jaffna 

 churches, we are told of those at Changane, Paneteripo, and 



* "Ceylon Literary Register," vol. VI., 1891-1892, page 82. 



