330 
Vegetahles of Ceylon. 
been raised in the plantations with the greatest success, and pre- 
sents a very beautiful appearance. 
The palm or palmira tree resembles the cocoa, but is much 
inferior to it in utility. The leaves are thicker and shorter 
than those of the former, and fold up like a fan, in which 
form they are used by the natives to write on, A tough whitish 
skin, like that found on the betel, covers the body of the tree, 
and is also employed by the natives to hold their liquor. The 
nut contains a sort of milk; and by incision the body of the 
tree aftbrds a very pleasant liquor, not so strong or intoxicating 
as toddy. 
The sugar-tree is a species of the palm found in several parts 
of the island. It is a very tall tree, and has around its trunk 
a number of rings, which increase with its growth. It bears a 
llower distinguished by the variety of its colours. On cutting 
off the flower, and making an incision in the place from which 
it sprung, a juice distils, which by a slight process of boiling 
and straining yields as good a sugar as that extracted from the 
cane, and far superior to the jaggery. The commercial advan- 
tages to be derived from the proper cultivation of this plant 
need not be insisted upon; and experiments will no doubt 
speedily be made to ascertain whether this tree might not be 
made a substitute to the cane. 
But it is not sugar alone that Ceylon seems destined to afford 
to the general use of the western world ; the tea-plant has also 
been discovered native in the forests of this island. It grows 
spontaneously in the neighbourhood of Trincomalee and other 
northern parts of Ceylon. General Champagne informed me 
that the soldiers of the garrison frequently use it. They cut 
the branches and twigs, and hang them in the sun to dry ; they 
