7^ 
SUMATRA. 
The price of this necefTary of Ufc^ differs throughout the iHand, ac- 
cording to the general demand at the place where it is purchafed, and 
the circumftances of the feafon. At a northern port called Soofoo, it 
is feldom under thirt}' bamboos (gallons) the Spanifh dollar. In the- 
fouthern diftrtdts, where the cultivation is more confined, and the foil 
lefs productive, it varies from twelve to four bamboos, according as the 
harveft is more or kfs plentiful, or the market better or worfe fuppUed 
with imported nc€,. 
Cocomic Tl^e Coco-nut tree may be efteemed the next important objed of cul- 
tivation, from the ufes to which it's produce is applied by the natives 
of India i though on Sumatra it is not converted to fuch a variety of 
purpofes» as in tliofe iflands where nature has been lefs bountiful in other, 
gifts. It's value here confifts principally in the kernel of the nut, 
of which the conlumption is prodigious, being a principal ingredient 
in all their diflies. The ftem is in buc little eftimation for building^, 
where the fincft timber fo much abounds. The hulk is* not twifted into 
ropes,, called ci^ar^ as on the other fide of India,, rattans and ejoo being 
ufed for that purpofe. The Ihell is but little employed as a domeftic 
utenfil, the lower clafs of the people preferring the bamboo and the 
laboo, and the better fort being poflclfed of coarfe earthen ware* The 
filaments which furround the ftem are probably manufadured into cloth 
in thofe countries alone, where cotton is not produced, which is a ma- 
terial infinitely preferable : befides, that certain kinds of trees, as before - 
obferved, afford, in their fofc and pliable bark, a fpecies of cloth ready 
woven to their hands. Of the coconut, however, they make oil for the 
hair, and for burning in lamps ; though, in the interior country, the light 
moft commonly ufed, is from the dammar or turpentine, of which links- 
are formed. Toddy, a liquor efteemed for various pur poles, and parti- 
cularly in the man\ifa£ture of arrack, is drawn from this, as well as. 
other fpecies of the palm : from the head they procure a kind of cab- 
bage ; and of the fibres of the leaves they compofe their brooms. Every 
doofoon or village is furrounded with a number of coconut trees, where 
the foil and air will fuffer them to grow, and near the bazars^ or fea- 
port 
