640 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST- [March i, 1889. 
A TBIP THEOUGH COCHIN AND 
TEA^ANCORE. 
By David Hoopeb, F.C.S , Quinologist to the Madras 
Government. 
Leaving the Madras Railway at Shoranur station, a 
ride of twenty miles takes the traveller to Trichoor, 
a convenient place to engage a boat for a journey 
down the back-water of the western coast. The ride 
is accomplished in a country bullock-cart or in a 
vehicle called a " tonga." The latter was chosen as 
being more expeditious, but to be in something like 
a large packing-case placed on four wheels without 
springs, carried along by two rat-tailed ponies going 
at their fastest pace, is not, even on the best of roads, 
a comfortable mode of transport. The whole distance 
we passed under an avenue of Ficus and Portia trees 
(Thespesia populnea), from which hung festoons 
of ipomceas with their blue flowers, and creepers of 
Trichosanthes palmata with their scarlet fruits. Hedges 
of jatropha, occasionally relieved by the attractive 
inflorescence of curcumas and wild ginger, lined the 
way and bordered the small gardens of the natives. 
Beyond these the broad fields of freshly-transplanted 
paddy, bright and green in the mid-day sun, told of the 
industry of the agriculturist in preparing the new sea- 
son's crop of staple food. 
Trichoor is a town in Cochin territory noted for its 
large Hindu temple. The surrounding country is well 
cultivated, and the green lanes leading to neighbouring 
villages recall many a picture of English scenery. 
From this town a succession of lagoons or backwaters, 
connected by artificial canals, extend southwards to 
the principal ports of Travancore. A cabin-boat with 
ten oarsmen and a marakan, or captain, had been sent 
to the landing-stage to meet me, and I embarked 
late in the afternoon for the town of Cochin, forty- 
five miles off. The boat was soon in the middle of a 
wide channel, and banks of vegetation fringed the 
rippling sheet of water as it reflected the rich, ruddy 
hues thrown on the western sky by the setting sun; the 
horizon was defined by a long row of coconut palms, 
to which divers birds betook themselves to rest ; the 
darkness hastened over the eastern heavens, but its 
progress was arrested by the evening star, shortly 
followed by a four days' moon, taking up their position 
to guard the first watch of the night. 
Ooebin, a quaint little town, a relic of Portuguese 
and Dutch history, was reached next morning at 
daybreak, and here I enjoyed the hospitality of Mr. 
A. F. Sealy, the Director of Public Instruction to the 
State. The town is remarkable from an industrial 
point of view for its coconut produce. The fibre from 
the husk is being sorted, pressed, and baled, and 
merchants' yards are stored with coir matting, twine, 
rope, and cables. The copra, or dried fleshy portion 
of the nut, is pressed for its oil, the residue, if fresh, 
is food for animals and the poorer class of natives; 
if stale, it is used for manure. Barrels of oil were 
waiting for shipment. On account of the temperature 
the oil is always in a liquid state, colourless and trans- 
parent, different to the white fat usually met with in 
England. Cochin is known by druggists all over the 
world for its large exports of nux vomica. The firm 
of Messrs. Volkart Bros, are the principal dealers in 
the seed, and I was interested in visiting their premises, 
especially this month (October), when the season for 
collecting was at its height. The tree grows in the 
dry deciduous forests at the foot of the hills and 
soirutiflws at 2,000 feet elevation. The wood is hard, 
close grained, and bitter, and is not attacked by 
white ants. It is not, however, adapted for timber, 
as it, warps and cracks. The root is used by the 
natives as a febrifuge. The nux vomica is sold by 
the collectors at a low price to small native dealers, 
who send it in to the merohants. A large quantity 
of seed is brought rouud from the eastern coast of 
the Madras Presidency to mix with the better kind 
obtained from the Travancore and Cochin forests. 
This is known as Cocanada nux vomica, and is much 
smaller than the Cochin. From whatever source 
they come, the seeds are throughly washed with water, 
to remove tho mud and other impurities, and are 
laid in the sun to dry for a few hours ; they are then 
sorted by women into bags of about a cwt. each, the 
larger nuts being separated from the small Cocanada 
variety. The exports of nux vomica from Cochin are 
generally sent direct to Europe and New York, but in 
18S5-6 — an unusually heavy season — out of 10,787 cwt., 
2,498 cwt. were sent to Bombay, Burma, and Arabia. 
It is probable that the 6mall nux vomica from Cocanada 
forms the bulk of the Madras seed, as the latter is not 
only inferior in appearance, but also gives a lower 
yield of alkaloids than other commercial samples of 
Indian seeds. There is such a sharp distinction be- 
tween those from the eastern and these from the 
western coasts that it is still an open question whether 
they are yielded by different species or varieties of 
strychnos. 
Ginger is dealt in under the nimes of white and 
black. White ginger is the rhizome, scraped, dried, 
and bleached in sulphur vapour. Black ginger is that 
collected in the monsoon when the sun is not avail- 
able for drying purposes, and dried artificially in hot 
ashes ; this kind shows a charring on the surface 
which slightly diminishes its value in the trade. 
Turmeric is an important article of commerce on the 
coast, and a considerable portion is exported from 
Cochin. The finger turmeric is richer in aromatic and 
colouring matters than the sliced roots, or bulb turmeric, 
as it is called, and commands a higher price in the 
market. The trade in turmeric is somewhat declining 
on the western coast. Of the shipments from Cochin 
only about half reach European ports, owing to the 
large consumption in Asiatic couutries. An arrowroot 
made in the country from one or more species of 
curcuma is used by the Malayalums, and occasionally 
sent to Bombay. A large trade is carried on in 
verbena or lemon-grt.ss oil, distilled from Andropogon 
citratus. The oil is obtained in a rough-and-ready 
way by means of small portable stills which are car- 
ried out to the lower slopes of the hills where the 
grass is abundant. The oil is sent out in flat square 
boxes containing a dozen bottles, each guaranteed to 
contain at least 23 oz. The trade in lemon-grass 
oil is decidely on the increase, as is shown by com- 
paring the exports of the past four years: — In 1884-5, 
228 cases of 1-doz. bottles; in 1885-6, 497 cases; 
in 1886-7, 1,158 cases, and in 1887-8, 1.756 cases. 
London and New York received nearly the whole of 
these shipments. This oil is not very liable to adulter- 
ation. Coconut oil is occasionally mixed with it, but 
this is detected by the smell. Fixed oils, as a rule, 
interfere with its brightness, a defeot which cannot 
be remedied by filtration. 
Among the domestic medicines used by the inhabi- 
tants of Cochin are the sliced roots of Kamferia rotunda, 
a favourite aromatic stimulant, called Kutcholum in 
the bazaars. This little plant is often seen in the 
gardens, throwing up a delicate spray of pink flowers, 
which dies down, and is followed by the appearance of 
large radical heart-shaped leaves. The roots of 
Curculigo orchioides are used both in a fresh and dried 
state as a diuretic and demulcent, under the name of 
nelapanna. The Samadera indica is a fine tree, the 
wood of which is made into sandals ; the bark is bitter 
and tonic. It belongs to the same natural order as the 
quassia, and the bitter principle is similar to quassin. 
The oil of the seeds is used for rheumatism. The herb 
Anisomeles malabarica makes a t»a fnr pacipn + « suffer- 
ing from fever ; it is called Carintumba Vyamiu, a 
fragrant species of acorns, keeps oil fleas ana other 
small insects when placed in clothes. 
I left Cochin by oai>in-boat in the afternoon of Oct. 12 
for a row of 30 miles to Alleppy, the chief port of 
Travancore. During the night the Cochin-Travancore 
boundary was passed, and the custom-house officer 
waded out to the boat to ascetain if any contraband 
goods were on board ; but his suspicions were at once 
removed on seeing a sleepy sahib the sole occupant 
of the cabin. The boat reached the ghdt» of the 
Alleppy canal early next morninc, and in making 
my way to the public bungalow I found all the town 
was mfete. This happened to be a very important 
day in the Dutsera festival, and was kept relig ously 
by all Hindus. Offices were closed, Uade was suspendr-l 
