236 Vegetables of Ceylon. 
soldiers wiio use it in large quantities, when they cannot pro- 
cure the arrack distilled from it. Arrack in Ceylon is solely 
made from toddy, and whole woods of the cocoa-tree are em- 
ployed for the purpose of procuring it. A barm or yeast arises 
from this process, equal to that which is procured from our malt 
liquor employed in the preparation of whisky. The toddy is 
likewise made into vinegar, and yields a species of coarse black 
sugar known by the name of jaggery. 
Nature seems to delight in making the cocoa-tree serve as 
many useful purposes as possible. At the foot of the tree, and 
likewise among the branches at the top, grows a coat or web 
of a very light and porous substance, which is manufactured 
into a very coarse cloth called grmjaklten or gunny cloth. It 
is used for bags to hold rice, and also for coverings to the 
cinnamon bales. The grinjakken is also made into a coarse 
species of paper. 
The utility of the cocoa-tree does not end here. When cut 
down, the trunk furnishes posts to support, and the branches raf- 
ters to roof, the bungaloes or huts of the natives ; while the 
leaves are employed to cover them, and repel the inclemencies 
of the sun and the storm. Various other purposes are served 
by the wood of this valuable tree. Besides many domestic uses, 
it is much employed also in the construction of canoes ; and 
with it the Mosula boats of Aladras are built. In some parts 
of India this wood is applied to the construction of larger 
vessels. I have been assured that the king of the Alaldive 
islands sent his ambassadors to the Dutch governor at Columbo, 
in a small ship which was entirely built and rigged from the 
cocoa-tree, v/hile those employed in fitting it out were fed 
upon the nuts. 
It is surprising to see with what dexterity the natives climb 
