P h o e n ix .
CO R YPH A .
.and beiides are three defier nuts, of the-fize of a goofe's cgg,
. containing when young, a foft kernel, when old, a.very palatable
liquor, A bread, or cake is made frora the kernel, which requires
a confiderable preparation; .and a liquor greatly in,ufe
called Sura, is extraiied from the body, with the ufual procefs
o f tapping the tree. From that again is got, by boiling, a rich
fyrup, and a iort o f fugar. The-timber is elegantly veined,
and ftriated, and often made into chefts.
T he afcent to the fummit of the tree is performed by a man,
who attains the height by the afiiftance o f a girdle, which fur-
rounds his waift and the tree; his knees are fixed againft the
body, and he gains the height by alternately removing the girdle,
which fupports his body, and -then with his knees gaining
a new advance:: A .moft dangerous operation; for ihould the
girdle break, his life is loft.
.DaBylifera has been fpoken o f before in vol. vi, p. 366. 4x0.
and vol. yii. p. 209, o f the M.S. outlines. It is io amply treated
.of by the learned Koempfer., in his Aman. Exotica, page 661,
that it is difficult to give any thing in addition. It grows not
•only in Ceylon* but in many parts of the peninfula of India, and
is called £in Ceylon at left) Indi zn& Mahaindi. As the plenty
and harveft o f India confifts in fuccefs of the palm trees, it is
fuppofed by Linnaus that India might derive its name from that
which thefe trees bear in that country. It muft be the gene-
rical name, for Mr. Ives fays that the dates do not ripen to perfection
in the peninfula o f India,
T h e b e a u t i f u l C o x y p h a Umbraculifera, i . ta b . 8, is t h e m o f t
.e le g a n t fp e c ie s o f t h e p a lm k in d , f r o m t h e r e g u l a r e x p a n f e o f
the leaf, which is quite circular, and terminating in the moft
beautiful rays, refembling a glory, like that o f the fun, fur-
rounding the whole. ; They are about three feet and a half in
diameter, and. are the fineft umbrellas in nature, and in univer-
fal ufe in Ceylon, to proteit againft the rays o f the fun, or the
fury of the rains. Knox, at page 14, ihews the Ceyloneje man
under the protection of one o f the leaves. They alfo ferve for
paper for the lapping of parcels. The wood is hard, and
veined with yellow, and Verves to make chefts, like the preceding.
The fruit is in the form o f a cannon ball, containing
within two other nuts, o f the fize o f a mrufquet ball, which are
eaten by the poor. Thefe are o f the richeft faflron color, and
give a moft brilliant appearance to this elegant tree, and hang
down in clufters three feet long.
T h i s palm is the Tal o f Bengal, the Brab of Bombay, and the
Talaghas, and Tala of Ceylon. Arrian, i. p. 522, mentions the
bark o f the Tala as a food ufed by the Indians, a particular not
noted by modern writers.
Sylvejlris, Rbeed. Malab. iii. tab. 22, et feq. This grows only E l a t b .
to the height ô f about fourteen feet ; is covered with a greyiih
cruft, inftead of a bark. The fruit, o f the fize and form o f a
fmall plumb, is fometimes made ufe of, by the poorer people,
to chew with Betel, inftead o f the Areca• The ftalks o f the fruit
are greedily fought after by the elephants, for the fake o f the
fweet pith they contain.
Urens, Rumpb. Amboin. i. tab. 14, .grows to the height of a C a b yo t a .
middling coco palm. Thé fruit grows in vaft clufters, adhering
• V o l. I. K k to