The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-01-31

poses. The contrast between the cocoa palm
which generally bends toward the neareki
water with the unwavering uprightness OF the
| nreca. Ia noted In native proverb. which AYERS
that he who can find n straight Cocoa palm. q
crooked nreca. or white crow. shall never die.
Another interesting shrub or plant found on
the seacoast. and often carelessly described
as palm. is tho hugo fan-shaped travel
| lers tree" 1t has the long. broad leaves oil
| the banana. but they are stifny arranged cx-
| actly like o great feather fan. and instead OF
bearing nourishing fruit. they collect water
which fllters into the tightly plated sheaths at
| the base Of the leaves. whence CLINT Of pure
water can always DO drawn by stabbing the
sheaths. 1t is also on tho seaboard that cinna-
mon trees have been for centuries carefully
cultivated In gardens. Left to itself. the aro-
matte cinnamon laurel grows to u height OF
| about forty feet. but when under cultivation
it is kept pruned to about fifteen feet. As
is the case with mAny singhalese trees. its
foliage Is scarlet. which gradually changes
to dark. glossy green. Dingy white bios
SONS aprear in January. which by May
have developed into small purpish berries.
from which is extracted u fragrant oil. used
sometimes for amounting and sometimes
for burning. From this oil can be made a
thick white wax that used to be In great
request for Buddhist temples and Roman
Catholic candles. Oil OF camphor. also. can be
distilled from the roots OF tho cinnamon
laurel and an oil sold under the name Of Glove
oil may be extracted from the leaves. But, Of
course. the highly priced thing In the Gin
namon laurel is the aromatic inner bark. To
obtain this tho bark is slit from end to end
and carefully removed in long pieces, which
are hcaped up and left to become sodden.
SO as to facilitate stripping or the outer rind.
When this has been removed the inner bark ia
left to dry in the sun. when 1t rolls itself up
into tight quilts. These are then neatly
sorted and packed. three or four inside OF one
another. and are made up into bales covered
with cloth. which are then ready for export.
Broken quilts are either sold as chips or re-
served for the distiller. who extracts from
them oil OF cinnamon. which Is Of rich yellow
or red color. Cinnamon is 80 singularly sens-
tive that great care has to be taken with re-
gard to its surroundings on board ship. To
prevent deterioration recourse has been made
to various exredients. but It Is found
that tho only effective safeguard Is to pack
bags OF pepper between the bales. It is we'll
known that from the end Of the fifteenth GEN.
fury to the middle Of the nineteenth Ceylon
supplied almost all tho cinnamon used in
Europe. and the history OF the island is a rec
ord of desperate struggle to control the ship
ments OF the bark. In the days Of Portuguese
and Dutch monopoly. when the export was
restricted to 5000 bales Of 100 pounds each.
the price in the European market for CHINA
mon Of the finest quality was twelve shillings
per pound. while between A. D. 1853 and
17S7 the price rose to seventeen shillings
4nd eightpence. Now. when about 1900
Bales are annually shipped. one shilling per
pound Is the highest price that can BIO OBJ
tanned for the best bark.
The fall in price is due partly to the fact that
cinnamon has In many countries been super
seeded by the coarser and more pungent ASIA,
WHILE on the other hand. Java. Madras, Mauri-
thus. Guinea. and Martinique have all succeed
ed in growing coarse varieties Of the bark.
1t was in the hill country that the author en-
countered the kitool or jageery PALM which to
her seemed the most attractive Of the palm
family. The leaves arc like gigantic fronds Of
the maidenhair fern OF hothouses. Its mode Of
Towering is remarkable. Up to the last year
OF its life. by which time it has obtained
height OF fifty or sixty feet. it bears leaves
only. Then from tho axil Of the topmost
leaf it throws out large cluster OF flowers.
and as this fades another and another cluster
energies all tho way down the tree. alternately
male and female. until tho lowest leaf axil is
reached. when the mass Of fruitage becomes
80 great that the exhausted tree dies. The fruit
is as unique as the leaf. tor instead Of bearing
like other palms. about hundred large nuts
In clusters. tho ja2.ery produces an innumer-
able multitude Of juicy berries about the size
Of GRAPES. growing in festoons several feet in
length. These berries the author was one day
tempted to taste. but the experiment was fol- |
lowed by n burning pain in the lips. which con- |
t1nued unabated for some hours The berries |
can scarcely be poisonous. however,. inasmuch
as tho natives manufacture both sugar and |
palm wine from the saccharine sap obtained BY |
bruising the undeveloped blossoms. good |
jagGery tree sometimes yields 100 pints OF |
this sweet sap. or toddy. In twenty-four hours.
Moreover. when the tree dies good sago is |
obtained from the pith; its hard. black timber
Is valuable for house building. and the leaf |
stalks yield black fibre from which are pre-
pared at once fine lines for fishing and ropes |
stout enough to bind elephants.
The palm Of Singhalese palms. however, Is |
the TALBOT, or great fan palm. the stately |
monarch OF the palm kingdom. whose huge |
green crown far overtops oil its fellows. For |
the first thirty years Of its life it grows only |
magnificent fan-shaped leaves like those OF |
the palmyra but much larger. being on an av-
erage eighteen feet in length. and sometimes
twenty-five. Tho natives turn these leaves to
a thousand uses. domestic and literary When
On journey. or pilgrimage each man carries
. poktlOh III tuesN kEenC IrOnuS Tightly
folded up like gigantic closed fan. This
serves as q sunshads or rain cloak by
lay and at night several friends con-
ribute every man his palm leaf. three
'r four OF which. stuck in the ground
with the pointed ends upward. form a bell
shaped toni. In former days the exact grade
II every Singhalese noble was shown by the
number OF such sunshades which he WAS a.
tiled to have carried before him. The leaves.
moreover. when carefully prepared. are the
Of vellum. Tho most precious an
'ient manuscripts We're all inscribed with q
'hnrp-pointed metal stylus on long narrow
strips OF TALBOT leaf number OF these strung
ogether forming a volume; these would then
20 carefully tied between two long narrow
overs which might be only painted wooden
'oards. or. again might be OF gold or embossed
silver. enriched with precious stones One
should not take leave Of the TALBOT palm with
tut referring to the extraordinary phenom ena
which attend its Towering. For forty years
he tree grows steadily till its white stem
overs straight as n mast to height
II upward OF n hundred feet. sustaining
he magnificent crown OF gigantic leaves.