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Archipelago. It is so useful, that it is extensively cultivated, es- 

 pecially in hilly districts. It grows to a height of 30 or 40 feet. 



At the base of the leaf-stalks is produced a fibrous material like 

 coarse black horse hair which makes an excellent and durable cor- 

 dage, resisting the action of water. Used as thatch, the roof never 

 requires renewal. The coarse parts are used by the natives as pens. 

 The gossamer-like substance underneath the fibre is exported to 

 China for tinder. 



But this palm is grown chiefly for the production of sugar 

 and palm -wine. Wallace gives the following account : — 



" The sap which pours out of the cut flower-stalk of several spe- 

 cies of palm when slightly fermented, forms palm-wine or toddy, a 

 very agreeable drink ; and when mixed with various bitter herbs 

 or roots which check fermentation, a fair imitation of beer is pro- 

 duced. If the same fluid is at once boiled and evaporated, it pro- 

 duces a quantity of excellent sugar. The sugar-palm of the Malay 

 countries, is perhaps the most productive of sugar. A single tree 

 will continue to pour out several quarts of sap daily for weeks 

 together, and where the trees are abundant this forms the chief 

 drink and most esteemed luxury of the natives. A Dutch chemist, 

 Mr. De Yry, who has studied the subject in Java, believes that 

 great advantages would accrue from the cultivation of this tree in 

 place of the sugar-cane. According to his experiments it would 

 produce an equal quantity of sugar of good quality with far less 

 labour and expense, because no manure and no cultivation would 

 be required and the land will never be impoverished as it so 

 rapidly becomes by the growth of sugar-cane. The reason of this 

 difference is, that the whole produce of a cane-field is taken off the 

 ground, the crushed canes being burnt ; and the soil thus become 

 exhausted of the various salts and minerals which form part of the 

 woody fibre and foliage. These must be restored by the applica- 

 tion of manure, and this, together with the planting, weeding, and 

 necessary cultivation, is very expensive. With the sugar-palm, 

 however, nothing whatever is taken away but the juice itself ; the 

 foliage falls on the ground and rots, giving back to it what it had 

 taken ; and the water and sugar in the juice being almost wholly 

 derived from the carbonic acid and aqueous vapour of the atmos- 

 phere, there is no impoverishment ; and a plantation of these palms 

 may be kept up on the same ground for an indefinite period. 

 Another most important consideration is, that these trees will grow 

 on poor rocky soil and on the steep slopes of ravines and hill-sides 

 where any ordinary cultivation is impossible, and a great extent of 

 fertile land would thus be set free for other purposes." 



The juice of the fleshy covering of the fruit is so corrosive that 

 it causes inflammation of the skin. When the natives of the 

 Moluccas were defending their forts against the attacks of the Dutch, 

 they employed a liquor prepared by steeping the fruit in water, 

 iihI so powerful was its effects, that the Dutch gave it the appro- 

 priate name of " hell- water." 



The young kernels of the fruit are made with syrup into preserves. 

 When the last flower-stalk has appeared and the tree dies, tlie 

 stem is found to be almost hollow ; it is particularly well adapted 



