C. R. Low

“ It is curious that while in this moribund state the famous "porcupine-wood" of commerce is obtained from its trunk; so that even in death the cocoa-nut palm is man's faithful friend, and ministers to his wants. ”

“ Pipes, bottles, and drinking-vessels for native use, oftentimes polished and handsomely mounted, are made of cocoa-nuts, from which the white meat is extracted, without injuring the shell, by pouring out the milk, filling it with salt, and burying it in the hot sand until the kernel is decomposed, when it is removed from one of the three holes in the "monkey's" face. Thus countless are the benefits conferred on man by the palm, forming, as it does, one of the most useful of all the gifts of Providence. ”

“ To ascend the lofty palm various methods are employed, and often has the writer watched the agile natives swarming up with rapidity by inserting the great-toe into a series of notches cut into the bark. Another method is by casting a band round both tree and toddy-drawer, who then plants the soles of the feet against the trunk, and literally walks up, "hand over fist." ”

“ The palm bearing the common cocoa-nut attains, in situations favorable to its growth, a height of from 60 to 80 feet, but rarely exceeds a diameter, at the base, of from one to two feet. The roughness of the bark is caused by the progressive falling off of the fronds, as the tree shoots upward. ”

“ In favorable seasons these spathes or plumes of flowers are shot forth every four or five weeks, and as the blossoms drop off the young nuts are formed, affording a store of food and drink all the year round. When the sap of the palm is sought for the manufacture of toddy, or some other products, the young fronds, together with the flower-spathe, are bound together with ligatures, in order to prevent the development of the blossoms ”

“ Large quantities of this are exported, and used for sweetmeats, in the manufacture of which in great variety the natives of India are consummate adepts.
The cocoa-nut is consumed in a greater variety of ways than even the sap, and not a portion of it, or of the palm on which it grows, is without its special use. Besides the refreshing drink extracted from the young undeveloped nut, which is also made into a dye, the pulp inside the soft crust is considered a delicacy, and is used in the preparation of various dishes. ”

“ At the present day, when these cocoa-nuts are exported from the Seychelles Islands, cups made from the shells are mounted by the wealthy natives of India with gold and precious stones; the religious mendicants of Ceylon also set a high value on the shells, and use them as alms-boxes to attract the contributions of the faithful. ”

“ Toddy, when fermented, is made into arrack, a liquor which, being cheap and fiery, is greatly consumed by the poorer class of Europeans at Bombay, and is the bane of our soldiers and sailors in the presidency town. ”

“ In moderately favorable situations, says a writer, this species of the palm commences bearing fruit at from ten to thirteen years of age, and remains at full maturity for between sixty and eighty years, producing, on an average, about 100 nuts annually. ”