Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1878-08-14
Letters to the Children---NO Z.

far to see some of them, for the country is
few miles from home we can find place
where you cannot see any other trees. Some
rich men in England have bought large
tracts of land out here in Ceylon, and have
cleared away the woods and made cocoanut
farms. To-day we will go and visit one of
them 1t is farm of about eight hundred
acres, all planted with cocoanuts. Here we
come up to the house. 1t is a very beauti-
full place in the early spring morning. In
front of it is magnificent flower garden,
such as none of you children ever saw in
Vermont. In it are all the beautiful flowers
of this beautiful country, and many from
England and other countries. Such flowers
as grow only in the Conservatives of New
England grow out of doors here, and, if they
are only well watered, will grow and bios
som all the year around. Everything in
and around the house, too, shows that the
people who live here do not live exactly as
the missionaries do.
Here comes the gentleman of the house
to welcome us, as we drive up. He is an
Englishman-the agent of the company, who
lives here and takes care of this great cocoa
nut farm. lie lives all alone, with none but
native servants around him. There is no
other white man for long distance on every
side of him. Rather lonely life, isn't it ?
Yes, but men will do more than that for
money. saw little light just on the
waters edge, one dark night at sea. /
pointed it out to one of the officers of the
ship, and he told me it was the light from
lighthouse, upon little rocky island. He
said that a man from England lived there
alone, and took care of the lighthouse. 1t
was many miles, think, to the nearest
land, and he never left his little island home.
Twice year passing vessel stopped there
to give him food for six months, but the
rest of the time he was there alone. Ships
came in sight, and disappeared again, but
there he lived with nothing to do but to
keep the lamp burning at night, and sleep
and eat during the day. When | expressed
my surprise that any one could be found to
live in such way, the reply was "Oh, men
will do anything for money" A hearty
welcome the gentleman gives us. He is al
ways glad to see visitors, and he gives us
such an entertainment as you have never
had before-both in sightseeing and in the
variety and richness of the food he sets
before us.
And now for sight at the cocoanut trees,
A horse, ready saddled, is at the door for
each of us, if there are not too many ladies
in the company. Don't be afraid, Nellie.
These Ceyon horses, if they are trained for
the ladies to ride, as yours is, are very kind
and gentle. Perhaps he would throw Tom
if he tried to ride him, but he wouldn't let
you fall off for whole bushel of oats. The
sun shines very brightly, but we will soon be
in the shade. Away we go, down the smooth
gravelled road and into the woods. No, not
woods, Tom. This is the orchard. Now we
are in it-stop and look around you. Tall
smooth, crooked trunks of trees in rows. You
can see through them ahead for long dis
lance. The rows are so straight, and the
ground is so level, that if they were all as large
| as these ! am not sure but you could see five
miles-as far as you can on the ocean. But
look at the trees. How tall they seem. They
| have no branches. Palm trees never have
branches. One verse in the Bible (see if you
can find iD speaks of branches of palm trees
but it means leaves instead of branches
| Now look up. Oh, how beautiful it is; wha
does it look like ? Perhaps Tom says, 4" like
tent made of beautiful green basket work.
Nellie says, like great glossy green ferr
leaves interviewer together so as to make {
perfect shade" Gigantic fern leaves, Nellie
but they are up so high they do look delicate
and don't know how you could describe il
any better. See, the trees are so far apar
that there is room between them for goot
Vermont road; yet the leaves reach across
the whole space, and shut out the sun com
pletely. And see the nuts up among tn,
leaves, in great clusters. There are littl,
ones, not larger than walnuts, and on tn,
same tree others as large as oranges, an,
some as big as Nelie's head, and others big
ger than Toms head. What beauties thos
great ones are-great golden pumpkins, the,
look like, dozen of them hanging on on
little stem. They are ripe, and they do lool
like cluster of great oranges on one stem
You thought you had seen cocoanuts up il
| O. haI hut thax f,,o
like these-in great husk, or shuck, like
walnut. What load of nuts some of thes
trees bear. Some of them bear a bunch eacl
month of the year, and perhaps twenty o
these great nuts in bunch.
But now for gallop along this nice shad
lane. Here we come to where the trees ar
smaller, and there is no road for us, so W
must turn off. Those small cocoanut tree
are beautiful. The leaves come out littl
above the ground, and bend over toward tn
ground all around most gracefully. Their
is one perhaps only four feet high, but tn
leaves cover all the ground for circle Q
forty feet in diameter And now you motto
how the great leaf is fastened to the tire,
The leaf stem seems to spread out into
broad piece of canvas, which clasps tn
trunk of the tree. That canvas, or sheatl
is made of very tough fibres, almost lik
steel wires. They are woven together yer
wonderfully, and their each fibre goes int
the tree, and seems to become a part of tn
wood itself. Yes, Tom, you may see if 20
cannot break down that leaf. Jump on /
if you please; it will not break. Two me
couldn't break it off, Indeed the only wa
to get it off whole is to cut each one of thos
fbres as they go into the tree, and thel
must be more than five hundred of them fC
each leaf. In these young trees that sheat
of the stem is beautiful thing. II is jul
like cloth made of silver thread. ha,
read that in some of the islands of IL
Pacific Ocean the ladies' use it for an orn
ment on their heads. 1t must look vel
prettily on their glossy black hair. We
here we go-now to the right and again
the left, and then straight ahead. No gat
to open, or trees or brush to turn us asid