fond, and which they collect into pots suspended at the extremity
of the branches. To fix these vessels is an operation
which appears to be attended with no small degree of danger
: rather than to take the trouble of ascending the high
stem of each individual tree, the usual method is to lay poles
horizontally from one to the other, and to crawl along these
poles. The liquid that exudes through the footstalk of the
young nut, or rather the germ out of which the nut is produced,
is called by the Dutch, after passing the first stage of
fermentation, palm wine; but it is seldom used by them,
having a strong and disagreeable flavour. In the second
stage, it becomes a pleasant vinegar. The uses, indeed, to
which this liquid is applied are very various : it is a material
ingredient in the distillation of arrack ; if slowly evaporated
over the fire, or in the open air, the residue is a coarse brown
sugar. The pulpy substance of the nut, when ripe, is sweet
and nutiitive, the liquid it then contains agreeable and refreshing,
and an oil of very extensive use is expressed from
thè kernel. This tree is, in fact, to the natives of Java what
the bamboo is to those of China. Their humble dwellings are
almost entirely constructed from the materials which it supplies.
The principal posts or standards, the poles of the
roof, the rafters and the laths, are hewn out of its stem ; and
its leaves are used for thatch. I t furnishes them with various
implements, utensils, and domestic furniture. The shell of
the nut is converted into cups, whose surfaces are carved
with great skill and neatness into a variety of figures and
devices, exhibiting curious specimens of what may very properly
be called “ the laborious effects of idleness." The
fibres of the husk, which covers the nut, are manufactured
7