134 
A. F, R. Hoernle — Epigraphical Note on Palm-leaf, etc. [Ko. 2, 
Indians tala, and there grows on them, just as on the tops {Kopv(pyj) of 
the date palms something like halls of wool'' (olaTrcp ToAvTras). 
It is commonly assumed that the tala tree is the Borassus, and that the 
“ something ” means its fruit. But Megasthenes cannot have referred 
to the fruit of the tree ; he clearly meant something, the nature of 
which he did not know ; it was neither fruit nor flower, hut could only 
he described hy its resemblance. Anyhow the whole description of the 
tree fits neither the Borassus nor the Corypha palm. The only Indian 
palm which agrees with some items of the description is the Garyota 
urens. The pith of it yields sago ; and tufts of a kind of woolly stuff 
grow at the points where the leaves join the stem (see Rule’s Friar 
Jordanus, p. 17, Hackluyt Soc., 1862). These may have been intended 
hy the “inner bark ” and the “ something” of Arrian. But neither the 
tufts, nor the fruit of this palm — and, indeed, of any palm — grows on 
its “ top,” and the reference to the date-palm remains unintelligible. 
One thing is clear. The common assumption in all the dictionaries 
(Sanskrit or Pali) and translations that tala always means the Borassus 
or palmyra, and tall the Corypha, is quite unfounded. Tala is simply 
the generic name of any palm, and the context must show which palm 
is intended in any particular case. This is certainly the case with the 
older Indian literature, whatever the modern usage may be. 
With reference to page J24, I may now add that the earliest 
evidence that I can find of the existence of the Borassus palm in India, 
occurs in Friar Jordanus’ Mirahilia descripta, in 1328 A.D. He calls the 
tree tdrl (or tall), and says that it “ gives all the year round a white 
liquor pleasant to drink.” (See Yule’s Modson Johson, s.v. Toddy). 
The reference to the “ toddy ” shows that the Borassus palm is meant. 
