ÜLii
I
property, however, of being nearly indestructible in
water, and the Resident tells me that this coir will
probably prove of much value in manufacturing tele-
graph-cable. The quantity of fibres that could be
gathered yearly would be very considerable if there
should be any demand for them. Among the flexi
ble, horsehair-like fibres are coarser ones, which the
natives use for pens and arrows for their blowpipes,
and interwoven with them is a mass of small fibres
nearly as soft as cotton, which are used as tinder.
The flowering part is cut off with a knife, and the
sap which exudes is gathered in a piece of bamboo.
In this condition it has a slightly acid and very
bitter taste, resembles the thin part of buttermilk,
and is a very agreeable and refreshing beverage in
such a hot climate. As soon as it is allowed to ferment
it becomes tv/ik, a highly-intoxicating drink, of
which the natives are very fond This palm prefers
higher lands than the cocoa-nut, which flourishes well
only on the low areas near the level of the sea. It
will be readily distinguished from all the other palms
of this land by its large leaves and the rough appearance
of its trunk. Gomuti is the Malay name
for the coir only, the tree itself they call cmau. In
Amboina the native name for it is na/wa, and in other
parts of the archipelago it has local names, showing
that it is probably an indigenous plant. The soft
envelopes of the seeds, which are so numerous that,
when ripe, one bunch will frequently be a load for
two men, contain a poisonous juice which the natives
were accustomed to use on their arrows, and which
the Dutch have named ? hell-water.”