io8 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
made  fioiu  the  fibre.  From  the  stem  the  natives 
obtain  a ssveet  lic^uid  called  " llarafa,”  and  the  shells 
of  the  fruits  are  employed  as  receptacles  for  various 
small  articles  ami  as  snuff  boxes.  (Widely  spi’ead  in 
the  island,  but  always  in  valleys.)  Jiofu'i  or 
The  above  is  a reference  to  tiie  palm  which  is  said 
to  yield  the  ordinary  lallia.  The  “fibre”  referred 
to  in  this  cutting  must  of  course  be  <juite  distinct 
from  the  material  known  as  “ itaffia,”  and  is  no 
doubt  of  the  same  nature  as  “African  Bass”  the 
product  of  Jitijildii  cinifem  or  “ Bamboo”  palm, 
noticed  on  page  H of  the  accompanying  Kern  BuUttin 
I which  please  return)  and  also  on  page  248  of  the 
Trujiical  Aijncultui-iat  of  October,  1894,  under  the 
title  of  Piassava  fibre. 
Dr.  Trinien  mentions  llai/hiii  Jinflia  on  page  18  of 
his  “Hand-guide,”  and  again  refers  to  it  on  page  25 
thus Worthy  of  special  notice  are  the  Raphia 
palm  of  JIadagascar  i Jt’ajiliia  Umihi,)  &c." 
THE  “ BODIKI  ” SBECIES  OE  COCO^■UT 
AND  IIE.AVV  BEARING. 
Sin, — If  the  species  of  tlie  coconut  reported  at  Galle 
be  the  Jlodiri,  che  gathering  of  so  many  nuts  as 
reported  by  your  correspondent  is  no  unusual  thing, 
as  trees  of  this  species  of  coconut  are  known  to 
yield  more  than  the  number  mentioned  at  one  crop, 
even  when  planted  with  coconuts  of  different  species. 
The  llodiri  IS  a small-sized  coeonut.  D.  A. 
THE  TRAVELLER’S  BALM  WATER:  A 
TIMELY  WARNING. 
Dk.vII  Sill, — It  will  be  as  well  to  warn  your 
readers  against  imbibing  the  w ater  from  the  above- 
mentioned  palm,  for  1 yesteiday  drew  of!  some 
of  the  water  from  one  of  them  into  a tumbler, 
and  found  it  to  be  infested  with  a number  of 
t'lrcad-like  worms.  These  “ iioochies”  Jiiay  or  may 
not  be  inimical  to  humanity,  but  it  would  be  as 
well  to  a\'oid  the  chance  of  their  being  so.  The 
warning  is  not  unnecessary,  for  1 have  frequently 
seen  [tersons  [mt  down  their  heatls  and  partake 
of  the  water  as  it  gushed  from  the  stem  of  the 
tree.  E.  E.  T. 
THE  FIRST  INTRDDL'CTION  OF  COFFEE 
INTO  BIiri’ISH  CENTRAL  AFRICA  : 
iioxori:  I'o  WHOM  iioxoui;  is  duk. 
Dk.M:  Si!!,  In  your  Issue  of  IMay  there  is  a 
statement  re  “the  introduction  of  the  collee  plant 
into  Nyassaland  whicli  I cannot  allow^  to  pass 
witliout  contr.'idiction,  as  I am  in  a ])Osition  to 
ilo  so,  being  well  ac(|uainted  with  the  facts.  Al- 
though not  personally  acquainted  with  Mr.  John 
Buchanan  c.M.c.  of  Zomba,  still,  he  has  been 
known  to  me  for  at  least  1,5  years,  and  from 
all  accounts  I ha\  e heard,  1 am  certain  he  is  too 
much  of  a gentleman  )o  take  the  credit  of  being 
the  lirst  to  iutioilucc  the  collee  plant  into 
Nyassaland,  w hen  the  credit  belongs  to  a brother 
|danter.  .Mr.  .lohnslon  must  lia\e  been  mis- 
informed as  the  parent  plant  of  the  thousamls 
now  nourishing  there,  was  the  survivor  of  three 
lilanis.  < ^\mljirii  w hich  wane  taken  out  by 
^Ir.  .lonalhan  Duncan  from  I he  BoCanical 
Gaiden-  Eilinburyb  in  I,s78.  'I’hi  plant  I Ixdiexe 
is  still  alive  at  Blantyre.  1 may  also  inform 
you  tliat  this  same  statement  was  made  by  Mr. 
,'lohnston  when  in  Scotland  last  year,  but  wa.s 
coniradicted  in  a local  paper  by  a corresjmndent 
in  N\'as.--aland  who  no  doubt  like  myself  was 
in  possession  of  the  leal  f.aets.  By  gi\'iim  this 
a corner  inyoiir  next  issue  you  will  greatly  oblige. — 
Yours  v'vc.,  I).  B.  CAMERUN, 
youth  SyUiet,  India. 
[Aug.  t,  1895. 
CINNAMON  PEELERS  AND  THE  DIEPi- 
CCLTY  OF  GETTING  THEM  HONESTLY 
TO  FULFILL  CONTRACTS  : 
Tilt:  oriNIOX  OF  ax  KX-CIXXAMOX  PLANTElt. 
Sir:,—  I was  greatly  interested  in  reading  in 
the  (Jh-'icrver  of  the  22nd  inst,  a record  of  some 
recent  proceedings,  in  tlie  Police  Court  of  Ne- 
gombo,  in  certain  cases  instituted  by  the  Supers 
intendent  of  Goluwa  Pokuna  estate  against  de- 
faulting cinnamon  peelers  ; the  Magistrate’s  deci- 
sions thereon  ; and  your  editorial  upon  the  'wlujle 
matter.  Having  suHered  myself  from  the  mis- 
conduct of  “peelers”  my  .sympathies  went  out 
at  once  to  the  Cinnamon  Planters  who,  by  the 
decision  of  the  (Magistrate,  are  left  helpless 
against  the  wiles  of  the  unscnqmlons  peeler. 
Their  position  hitherto  has  not  been  an  ea.sy 
one,  .and  now'  it  is  made  more  diflicnlt ; if,  in- 
deed, it  will  not  make  cinn.amon  cultivation  on 
estates  so  prec.arious  as  to  render  it  prolitle.ss. 
To  any  one  acquainted  with  the  preparation  of 
cinnamon  it  will  be  apparent  that  the  first  re- 
quisite is  the  certainty,  as  far  as  it  can  be  made 
so,  of  the  command  of  a suliicient  force  of  .skilled 
peelers  at  the  times  when  the  bark  is  in  a fit 
condition  to  peel  from  the  sticks.  But  if  with 
the  dread  of  a criminal  prosecution  and  im- 
prisonment for  breach  of  contract  hanging  over 
them  m.any  now  evade  their  responsibilities,  what 
may  -ve  not  expect  will  be  the  state  of  affairs  when 
it  becomes  known  that  by  breach  of  the  con- 
tract and  being  once  ]mnished  they  can  go  free ; 
or  by  evading  the  notice  to  come  to  work  they 
can  defy  the  .Superintendent?  I need  not  enter 
into  a description  of  the  conditions  under  which 
cinnamon  cultivation  and  jireparation  have  hitherto 
been  conducted,  as  that  has  been  done  in  a 
full  ami  accurate  m.anner  by  the  gentleman  who 
supjilied  you  with  that  information  in  your 
editorial  of  the  22nd.  I will  only  briefly 
narrate  a few  of  my  experiences  with  reference  to 
defaulting  jieelers  and  make  one  or  two  ob.serva- 
tions.  As  Siqierintendent  of  Goluwa  Pokuna 
estate  for  nearly  .six  years  I had  a surfeit  of 
this  kiml  of  work  : the  most  ilistasteful,  and  yet 
the  most  inqierative,  I was  ever  called  ujton  to 
perform. 
When  I iiist  entered  upon  my  duties  I 
I knew  next  to  nothing  of  cinnamon  cultiva- 
tion and  nothing  at  all  of  jireparation  ; and 
worst  of  all  I was  quite  ignorant  .as  to  the 
character  of  the  cinnamon  jieelers  as  a class : 
but  knowledge  came  in  time  ! My  liivst  enlight- 
ment  was  on  the  occasion  of  giving-  out  fresh 
advances.  I had  been  instructed  to  increase  the 
jieeling  force  .so  as  to  make  cei-tain  of  having 
more  than  suliicient,  allow’ing  for  a fair  propor- 
tion of  absentees,  ami  gave  orders  to  the  kan- 
ganies  to  look  out  for  men.  .\s  far  as  numbers 
went  I had  no  reason  to  be  dissat-istied  ; but 
when  Jieeling  time  came  not  half  of'  the  new- 
hands  turned  nji.  After  a reasonable  lime 
I took  out  warrants  against  these  men  ami  then 
learnt  that  a good  many  were  lictitious  names, 
others  thosi-  of  cliildn'ii,  and  of  men  who  lunl 
in‘\('r  jieelcd  a cinnamon  stick.  'I’he  kanganies 
to  get  money  for  themseBcs  had  hired  men,  al 
•50  cents  a jdece,  to  aj.jioar  and  sign  the  eon- 
tr.act,  receive  the  advance,  .and  tlien  h.and  it 
over  to  them.  Kanganies  and  men  thus  com- 
bined to  defraud  the  estate,  and  also  to  jeojiard 
the  croji.  In  time  this  slate  of  affairs  imjirovetl 
by  the  needing  out  of  notoriously  bail  workers, 
but  to  the  end  there  were  always  a certain 
number  of  men  who  took  advances  with  ijo 
intention  whatever  of  working  them  off. 
