People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1894-03-30
cocoANUTs OF THE SEA. v
A Fruit Which Grows only in the Islands
OF the Seychelles Group.

A Fruit Which Grows only in the Islands
of the Seychelles Group.
The coco-de-mer or double. cocoa
nut palm tree is one OF the largest
and most remarkable palms 1t is a
native Of and only found on a small
group of islands called the Sey-
chelles. These form an archipelago
in almost the middle OF the Indian
ocean consisting Of about eighty
islands. Seychelles are the home OF
the so-called sea cocoanut or Maldive
double cocOanut-the cocO-de-mer. 1t
Is the fruit OF a peculiar and remark
ably fine species of the palm tribe,
indigenous to and only found on
certain smaller islands of the group,
and nowhere else in the world.
BOtanists give it the name Lodoicea
Sehchellarum
The fruit is large, double, oblong,
kidney-shaped nut, covered with Il
thin husk. After the removal Of
this the fruit has the appearance OF
two oblong nuts firmly joined
together for over half their length,
and which often weighs from thirty
to forty pounds. They are borne in
punches, each consisting Of nine or
ten nuts, so that a whole bunch will
often weigh 400 pounds. 1t takes
ten years to ripen its fruit, the al
bumen Of which is similar in appear
ance and lines the inner surface Of
the nut, but, unlike that OF the COM
mon cocosnut, is too hard and horny
to serve as food. The she'll is con-
verted into many useful and orna-
mental articles BY the island natives.
But the most important part is the
leaves, which are made into hats
and baskets
So great has the demand been oil
late years for these that to obtain
them the trees were cut down. and,
no care being taken to extend new
plantations, in 1864 the leading bot
anists in England petitioned the gov
ernment for protection against this
waSteful destruction, for fear that
the slow growing, unique species
would eventually become extinct 1t
appears, however, from recent in
formation that in one Of these islands
alone there are many thousands Of the
trees.
1t is true that for many centuries
the fruit of this palm tree was
known only from specimens Of it,
which, floating out to sea from the
islands, were borne to and cast upon
the Maldiye and other coasts, the
islands, the home of the tree, being
at that period unknown. So rare,
curious and mysterious a fruit was
held in high regard and esteemed.
not only for supposed religious
significance, but in medicine it was
believed to be Il sovereign antedote
to poison. From its rarity it com
manded good price in the Orient
The husk OF the nut is a black. rind
like substance, a quarter OF an inch
thick Under this is a shell some
thing in character and thickness,
like the ordinary edible cocoanut
The kernel of the nut lines the in
terror of the shell to a thickness o
about an inch.
The coco-de -mer was of old be
lieved by the superstiuous Oriental
to be the fruit OF some submarine
palm tree. Rare finds OF such nut
as were thrown up on the seashort
were valued By the Brahmin ant
H:adOo fakirs or mendicant priests
who, cutting them apart, would dec
crate the polished halves with band
OF carving in low relief of inscrip
tions from the Hindoo scriptures
SO finished, these formed valued an,
sacred begging bowls, in which men
dicant priests received aims of none
or food.