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THE 
 
 PALM TREE 
 
 Bv 
 
 S. MOODY, 
 
 Author of " What is your XaimV " The Fairy T;-ee'' &»c. 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE AUTHOR. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 T. NELSON AND SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW; 
 
 EDINBURGH, AND NEW YORK. 
 
 1S64. 
 
There is a stream whose troubled breast 
 Beareth to eternal rest 
 Countless vessels on its wave 
 Speeding daily to the— grave ! 
 Varied form and varied size, 
 Varied as their destinies. 
 Ships of war with stately pride. 
 Ponderous colliers float beside. 
 Pleasure-yachts and steam-barques trim, 
 Hastening to the horizon dim. 
 
 'Mid the turmoil and the din 
 Softly floats a green leaf in 
 In business struggle, pleasure race, 
 Wishful she may find a place, 
 Whispering 'mid each bustling scene 
 Of resting places cool and green — 
 Quiet spots where birds and flowers 
 Gladden the sweet summer hours — 
 Where afar from snares and strife 
 There may see the end of Life. 
 
 A whisper too from worlds unseen 
 Hath the bright leaf of evergreen 
 Of realms beyond the setting sun 
 Where, when Life's busy day is done. 
 Crown and palm branch shall await 
 Each conqueror at Heaven's gate. 
 
 ltd. 
 
€anitni$. 
 
 IXTEODL-CTIOIf, 
 
 Talms of the East— 
 Date Palm, 
 
 "Wild Date of India or Toddy Palm 
 Dwarf Fan Palm, ... 
 Rattan or Caue-Palm, 
 Betel-Xut Palm, ... 
 Palmyra, 
 
 Great Fan Palm or Talipat, ... 
 Sago Palms and Cycadacise, 
 Caryota Urens or Great Wine Palm of the East, 
 
 Ceylon, 
 Nipa Fructicans or Water Coco Nut, 
 African Oil Palm, ... 
 Doum Piilm of Egypt or Gingerbread Tree, 
 Double Coco Nut or Coco do Mar, 
 Coco Nut Palm— other species of Cocos, 
 
 Palms of the West— ' 
 Opening Remarks, 
 Miriti or ltd Palm, 
 Jac't^ra, 
 
 Wax Palm of the Andes, 
 The Iriarteas, 
 
 Copernicia Cerifera-AVax Palm of Brazil, 
 Oil Palms of the West, 
 Fruit Palms of the West, 
 Palms of the West yielding Fibre, 
 
 Palms of the West, principally valued for their Leaves-plaiting, 
 Ivory Palm, 
 The Oreodoxas, 
 Miscellaneous, 
 
 
 
 Pnga 
 
 
 
 17 
 
 
 43 
 
 ... 
 
 
 64 
 
 
 
 70 
 
 
 
 74 
 
 
 
 S3 
 
 
 
 95 
 
 ... 
 
 
 111 
 
 ... 
 
 .. 
 
 119 
 
 or Sugar Palm 
 
 of 
 
 134 
 137 
 140 
 155 
 159 
 169 
 
 
 225 
 
 
 
 237 
 
 
 
 251 
 
 
 
 255 
 
 ... 
 
 
 261 
 
 ... 
 
 
 267 
 
 ... 
 
 
 271 
 
 ... 
 
 
 277 
 
 ... 
 
 
 287 
 
 es-plaiting, 
 
 
 295 
 29S 
 304 
 3U 
 
X 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 scmsiart, 
 
 List of Pkoducts, 
 
 Alphabetical List of Talm Trees Noticed, 
 
 ScRiPTrRE Notices of Palms — 
 Introduction, 
 Succotli— the Covert, 
 Elim— the Trees, ... 
 Jericho— the City of Palm Trees, 
 The Palm Tree of Deborah, ... 
 The Similitude of the Righteous, 
 The Stature of the Beloved, ... 
 The Temple of Solomon, 
 The Temple of Ezekiel's Vision, 
 Bethany— House of Dates, 
 The Palm Branch of Earth, ... 
 The Palm Branch of Heaven, 
 
 rag. 
 
 319 
 325 
 
 32(5 
 
 333 
 335 
 339 
 345 
 356 
 3G2 
 393 
 403 
 416 
 423 
 431 
 43S 
 
'^XtfKCt. 
 
 Ji^^^g I HE Contents will show that the writer, 
 |i)y|S||'|^ in selecting only some of the principal 
 members of the family of Palms, has no 
 idea of placing her little work beside 
 the more complete and scientific histories 
 of palms. She has not ventured to 
 write for the botanical student; her aim has been to 
 interest the general reader. 
 
 For those who have not time, or perhaps inclina- 
 tion, to make botany a study, she wishes simply to 
 unfold one green leaf from Nature's glorious book, 
 and so tempt them on, perhaps, to explore for them- 
 selves the countless wonders of the veofetable world. 
 While acknowledging her obligations to many 
 authors, whose names are mentioned in her pages, 
 the writer wishes to mention that " The Palm Tree" 
 was begun some years ago, before she was aware that 
 
XU PllJtFACE. 
 
 a " Popular History of Palms/' by Dr. Berthold See- 
 man, had been published the very year before. 
 
 Should it seem to any that her enthusiasm for 
 the crowned tree has carried her at times too far, and 
 made her over fanciful, she would plead in excuse 
 that her birthplace was the " region of palms," and 
 that her earliest recollection of the face of nature is 
 of the sea-coast of a West Indian island fringed with 
 Coco-nut Palms. That scene daguerreotyped by the 
 glowing sun upon her infant brain, was revisited in 
 older years, when she became acquainted with some 
 of the most distinguished members of the royal race 
 of palms. 
 
 She would also pra}' her judges to remember that 
 her book is not called a history of palms. It differs 
 from all that have gone before on the same subject, 
 in that it was expressly written to illustrate the 
 psalmist's similitude, and to include all the Scripture 
 notices of palms. It has been the writer's earnest 
 aim throughout to endeavour, by unfolding the 
 countless lovely analogies suggested by her subject, 
 to interest the reader in The Pahn Tree — Servant of 
 God and friend of man. To do justice to her 
 theme she felt was impossible, but she has striven to 
 do her best. 
 
 Her heart's desire is that her green leaf may help 
 to impress on others, as it has on herself, the bound- 
 
TREFACE. Xiii 
 
 le3s love of the Great Creator of all things^ as it 
 speaks to us throughout all creation. Oh, would it 
 not be Paradise partly regained while yet upon earth 
 could we, as we w^alked in garden, forest, and field, 
 hear "the voice of the Lord God" and not "be 
 afraid." 
 
 Pilgrims and palmers all, the heavenly Zion should 
 be the goal of all baptized in Christ. Type of 
 Jerusalem on earth, Jerusalem abo\'e, has her palm 
 branch too. 
 
 May God's blessing so rest on her little w^ork that 
 pleasant memories of earthly palms may be sug- 
 gestive to her readers of the Tree of Life — the Palm 
 of Victory which in the eternal Paradise awaits all 
 who, as conquerors through Christ, pass through its 
 gates of pearl. 
 
 Clixton Lodge, Boitrnemouth. 
 December 1863. 
 
THE PALM TREE 
 
 one only tree can it be said that, given 
 to be man's delight upon earth, it is men- 
 tioned by name in the word of God, as 
 hereafter to be given in heaven also. Of 
 this one only tree can it also be said, that 
 encircling the globe for a width of four 
 thousand eight hundred and sixty geographical miles, 
 it is there found in every varied locality — on desert 
 sands — in luxuriant forests — on mountains, fourteen 
 thousand feet high — and on wave- washed coral reefs 
 in the middle of the ocean. 
 
 The branches of this tree were the only offering 
 Judea, as a people, ever made to the Messiah. 
 
 This tree, devoting to man's service its every part, 
 furnishes liim with food, shelter, clothing, and every 
 domestic want. 
 
 Must not the palm tree have glorious tales to tell? 
 It was this tree that Avas chosen by the royal 
 2 
 
 (I) 
 
18 THE PALM TREK. 
 
 psalmist as the similitude of the righteous. In the 
 heavenly vision of the disciple whom Jesus loved, it 
 was the branches of this tree that he saw carried as 
 the ensign of victory in the hands of the redeemed. 
 In sacred chronicles the name of this tree occurs, a 
 landmark as it were, in some of the most striking por- 
 tions of the history of God's ancient people the Jews. 
 
 Must not the palm tree be rich in religious associa- 
 tions, in spiritual lessons, in poetical analogies ? 
 
 In both hemispheres palm trees are known amongst 
 men as " sacred trees," as " trees of life," for the lives 
 of the people depend on them — they feed, and clothe, 
 and shelter them — they give cradles to infants, and 
 coffins to the dead. 
 
 Must not palm trees have stories of interest to re- 
 late t Must they not be eloquent of the goodness of 
 God, of the ingenuity of man ? 
 
 The palm tree has been in all ages the poet's 
 theme, the traveller's delight. In all times it has 
 been an object of interest to the learned and scien- 
 tific, from its apparently illimitable capabilities of 
 usefulness. To practical men of the present day the 
 family of palms have become a necessity from the 
 countless needs they suppty. 
 
 The palm tree is of royal race. Before the Chris- 
 tian era, in their native East, they were crowned 
 " Kings among grasses," by the Hindu poet and 
 scholar, Amara.singa. In Europe, and in later 
 times, the diadem was confirmed to them by Liu- 
 
THE TALM TREE, 19 
 
 nsens, who proclaimed them " Princes among vege- 
 tation." 
 
 Their title is no unmeaning one — they are kings 
 not only in name. Their claim to such distinction 
 rests not alone on chronicles and title-deeds of old. 
 Year by year their honours are awarded to them 
 afresh, by acclamation of the nations among whom 
 they dwell. Each freshly springing leaf bears the 
 very impress of ro3-alty, — weaving itself instinctively 
 into the mighty diadem of green, the weight of which 
 no meaner tree could support. In beauty, strength, 
 and worthiness pre-eminent, the palm tree wears its 
 crow^n right royally. 
 
 Kingly indeed are their attributes ; stately and 
 strong, upright and unchangeable, — with majestic 
 grace dispensing, as from an inexhaustible treasury, 
 the richest gifts unsparing]}^ 
 
 Their royalty acknowledged by man, their crown- 
 ing is from an almighty hand. The unfading leaves 
 that encircle the head of the upright tree are its great 
 Creator's gift : and in the inspired word we find ne- 
 culiar honours assigned to the palm. 
 
 The glorious similitude which connects the palm 
 tree with the righteous, who are as "kings" before 
 God, is only one among many Scriptural notices, 
 which show how^ ^^iglily esteemed has ever been, 
 amongst God's peoj)le, the tree of which it may truly 
 be said that it is the 
 
 SERVANT OF GOD AND FRIEND OF :MAN. 
 
20 THE PALM TREE. 
 
 In all ages, and amongst all people, lias the palm 
 tree been loved and honoured. The heathen, the 
 Mohammedan, and the followers of Christ alike in 
 this, have chosen the palm branch as the emblem of 
 victory. With us the word is synonymous, not only 
 with victory, but with all that is pre-eminent. In 
 the landscape before ns, where the sun shines 
 brightest is the " palmy '' side ; in the story of our 
 lives, the gladdest time we call our " palmy " days. 
 
 The heathens of old saw in the circular form of 
 the palm tree's leafy crown a representation of the 
 solar rays; — this idea, combined with the unchanging 
 beauty of the foliage, the longevity of the tree, and 
 its extraordinary fecundity, caused them to select the 
 palm as the emblem of light. A palm branch, a 
 circle, and the number seven, were, as religious em- 
 blems, characteristic of Phoenician worship. 
 
 Bej'Ond the perfection of its outward form, beyond 
 the value of its useful gifts, the 8esthetic Greek, in 
 one of the more hidden properties of the palm tree, 
 perceived another charm. It was the same which, 
 in its exquisite significance when fully understood, 
 illustrates, and with singular completeness connects 
 together the various notices of palms which the Chris- 
 tian finds in the word of God. 
 
 The upright and uprising palm, which is said to be 
 of more vigorous growth the stronger the downward 
 pressure it has to resist, was chosen in Greece as a 
 type of the true athlete — one never to be cast down. 
 
THE PALM TREE. 21 
 
 Not only, therefore, for their gi-aceful form, but 
 for the incomparably higher beauty of the lesson that 
 they taught, were the sculptured columns in temples 
 of old so frequently representations of the palm tree. 
 
 In Egyptian temples are yet to be seen the exact 
 resemblance of their slender reed-like stems, their 
 feathery crowns, and hanging clusters of fruit. 
 
 In a beautiful cathedral of later days, that of Las 
 Palmas in the Canary Islands, the foundations of 
 which were laid in the time of Ferdinand and Isa- 
 bella of Spain, the exquisite pillars, characteristic of 
 the city, are representations of palm trees. 
 
 But the tall straight stems of the trees themselves 
 in their natural state, furnish fit pillars for houses of 
 God. Both in the east and west travellers constantly 
 notice churches built of palm trees, the pillars are of 
 unwrought palm trunks, their leafy crowns are also 
 there, forming part of the sacred buildings, not in 
 the form of plumed capitals, but roofs and walls are 
 described as made from plaited palm leaves. Amongst 
 many such the little Protestant Church of Jangera in 
 the midst of wide marshy paddi-fields to the south of 
 Calcutta, was noticed in the letters of Bishop Daniel 
 Wilson of Calcutta. Humboldt describes a small 
 Roman Catholic chapel similarly built amidst the 
 magnificent scenery of a granitic chain of mountains 
 in South America, near the great waterfalls of May- 
 pures and Atures. 
 
 From the stem of the only palm tree indigenous 
 
£2 THE PALM TREE. 
 
 to Europe, the fan-leaved Ghamcerops humilis, the 
 architects of old may have learned another secret — 
 tliat delicate and almost imperceptible swelling 
 toward the centre, which, in the pillars of the Par- 
 thenon, perfects their grace. The eye rejoices in their 
 fulness of beauty, unconscious, perhaps, of the hidden 
 but completing charm.* 
 
 Curiously exemplifying how universally the palm 
 tree affords a type of grace, we find in the Hebrew 
 language that one word Tamar signifies alike the 
 Date Palm — uprising — and the beautiful effect of a 
 column of smoke rising into the air and expanding 
 in graceful curves. 
 
 By various ancient writers is the palm of the East, 
 the Date Palm, spoken of Herodotus records, as one 
 of the wonders of Babylonia, '' the palm producing 
 bread, wine, and honey." As one of the marvels of 
 India its praise is chronicled by Nearchus, commander 
 of Alexander's fleet, and by others, companions with 
 him. 
 
 In strange accordance, joined by their mutual love 
 and reverence for this tree, we find, in liistories of 
 old, the Christian and the heathen continually unit- 
 ing their homage to the palm. 
 
 To it was given, by the Greeks, the name of Phoe- 
 nix — the wondrous bird with ruby breast and golden 
 wings — because it in truth fulfilled the marvel of the 
 
 • This outline, also observed in Egyptian and Roman columns, Is in the former 
 often much exaggerated. The Greek entasis is the most delicate and subtle of all. 
 
THE PALM TREE. 23 
 
 fable, when the tree was burned down young plants 
 sprang up from the ashes of the old. 
 
 Associated with their sacred flower, the Lotus, the 
 Egyptians have ever reverenced the palm as the em- 
 blem of life after death. Up to the present day it 
 is the custom of their women to break a palm branch 
 over the grave of those they love ; the broken branch 
 is left upon the tomb. In Cairo, every Friday, palm 
 branches are carried by the Arabs and laid upon the 
 graves of the household. 
 
 The early Christians beheld in the uprising palm 
 the emblem of " the victory that overcometh the 
 world," and therefore a martyr's death was spoken 
 of as " winning the palm." But they also saw in the 
 never-dying tree a type of the resuri-ection, and there- 
 fore a palm branch was laid on the breast of every 
 one who died in the foith. It was buried with them, 
 a pledge, as it were, of their rising again. 
 
 The Cathedral at Seville, alternateh^ Moorish Mosque 
 and Christian Church, has for its chief ornament the 
 Tower of the Giralda or weathercock. It is a colossal 
 bronze statue of Faith carrying her palm branch, so 
 delicately poised as to turn with the slightest varia- 
 tion of the wind. 
 
 ''The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree/' 
 were the words of the inspired psalmist. 
 
 In the Koran we find that Mahomet, the false pro- 
 phet of the East, looked also to the noble tree to 
 typify the character of a generous and virtuous man. 
 
24 THE TALM TREE. 
 
 "Like the palm tree he stands erect before his 
 Lord, in every action he follows the impulse received 
 from above, and his whole life is devoted to the wel- 
 fare of his fellow creatures." They hold a tradition 
 at Medina that to illustrate this saying by the living- 
 example of its beauty and fruitfulness a Date Palm 
 in full bearing sprang from the seed on the instant 
 at the voice of Mahomet. 
 
 From time immemorial the Date Palm, the " Tree 
 of the Desert," has been loved and reverenced beyond 
 all other trees by the children of Hagar. Crowned 
 as a queen by traditions of old, as a mother she is 
 endeared to them by the positive benefits of every 
 day, supplying their almost every want from the 
 cradle to the grave. To the Christian also, and to 
 the Jew, the Date Palm ranks first of her royal race, 
 eloquent as she is of the Holy Land, of Bible his- 
 tories and sacred scenes of centuries ao-o, and to her 
 especially as the Syrian palm was the psalmist's 
 similitude applied. 
 
 But the exquisite analogies which are true in her 
 are equally true in her sister palms. 
 
 Looking first, therefore, to the East as the dwelling 
 place of the Date Palm, which has been the theme of 
 poets and historians of every nation of old, her his- 
 tory shall be followed by those of other eastern palms, 
 and then we will turn to the western world, which, 
 in proportion to its extent, outnumbers the old in the 
 number and variety of palms indigenous to its soil. 
 
THE PALM TREE. 25 
 
 Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australasia, contain three 
 hundred and seven known species, America alone 
 boasts of two hundred and seventy-five, while new 
 ones are constantly being discovered. The Coco-nut 
 Palm alone grows spontaneously in both hemi- 
 spheres. Although for centuries naturalized in the 
 East, tradition and historj^ both point to the western 
 world as the original home of the Coco Palm. 
 
 But though the New World, when discovered, 
 lacked the voices of poet and historian to tell of her 
 glories to far ofi* lands, adventurous travellers and 
 indefatigable men of science have since then been 
 continually going forth to her from Europe, and for 
 many years such inquirers have been springing up 
 amongst her own children. From them we learn the 
 descriptions and histories of her magnificent produc- 
 tions ; in many cases the rich things themselves are 
 brought away to delight stayers at home with their 
 foreign beauty. The Crystal Palaces of our own and 
 other European nations contain the crowned captives 
 of South American forests, side by side with those of 
 Indian islands and Arabian deserts. English ears 
 may catch, amid the rustling leaves of imprisoned 
 palms, whispered memories, proud recollections in- 
 terchanged between the Date Palm of the Arab, the 
 sacred Talipat of the Singhalese, and the beloved 
 Miriti, or Ita Palm, of the South American Indian. 
 
 It was from the fruit of this palm {Maiiritia 
 flexuosa) that a tradition amongst the Tamanaks of 
 
26 THE PALM TREE. 
 
 the Orinoco, supposes the world was re-peopled after 
 the " age of water/' One man and woman having 
 taken refuge on the high mountain of Tamanacu on tlje 
 banks of the Asiveru, they are said to have thrown 
 over their heads tlie fruits of the Mauri tia Palm, from 
 the kernels of which sprung men and women who 
 re-peopled the earth. 
 
 This wondrous tale of the Indians of the Brazils, 
 with many another wild fable, cherished both in 
 the East and West, are significant to the lovers of the 
 palm tree. 
 
 As in the old sagas of the north, we smile at tlie 
 incredibJe achievements of their vikings, but we feel 
 that the groundwork of those dazzling romances was 
 in truth the mighty deeds of those who had won for 
 themselves a place in the hearts of their people. 
 
 And we who are love-blinded everj' hour — in the 
 home scenes of every day — can we wonder that for 
 the Arab's Date Tree and the Indian's Miiiti, centuries 
 of love and gratitude should have evolved some golden 
 mists of imagery about the objects of their reverence ? 
 
 It is of this Mauritia Palm, a native of the Brazils 
 and Guyana, that Humboldt exclaims, " Strange spec- 
 tacle to behold, in the lowest stage of human civili- 
 zation, the existence of a whole race depending upon 
 a single species of palm, in a similar degree with those 
 insects which subsist but on one species of flower." 
 More than t\ro centuries ago Sir Walter Raleigh's 
 admiration and wonder burst forth in this enthusias- 
 
THE PALM TREE. 27 
 
 tic tribute, " This tree alone giveth unto man what- 
 soever his life beggeth at nature's hand." 
 
 Can we wonder that by the poor ignorant Indians 
 this palm tree was almost worshipped, and that tlie 
 name of "Arbol de la Vida," the ''Tree of Life,'' 
 was bestowed on it by Padre Gumilla, one of the 
 early Jesuit missionaries. 
 
 Linnaeus paid his homage to the whole race in de- 
 claring " that the human race should be classed as 
 palmivorous^, as those wliose birthplace was the land 
 of palms." " Man dwells naturally within the tropics," 
 he exclaimed, '' and lives on the fruit of the palm tree; 
 he exists in other parts of the world, and there makes 
 shift to feed on corn and flesh." 
 
 In their strong affection for the palm the Arabs 
 liken it to a human being; some of the resemblances 
 are over fanciful. One striking peculiarity there is : 
 unlike all other trees, if the head of the palm is cut 
 off" it dies. But the tie of gratitude which binds the 
 Arab to his beloved tree rests not on fancied simi- 
 larities or beautiful analogies discovered in it ; most 
 real are the benefits which they and ourselves derive 
 from almost every individual of this noble race. 
 
 Of the Date Palm the Arabs reckon as many uses 
 as there are days in the 3'ear. Without taking all 
 their grateful enumeration now into account, we may 
 at once refer to a few of the gifts which we receive 
 from the kingly treasury of palms. 
 
 Is it not like one of the Arabian genii tales to tell 
 
28 THE PALM TREE. 
 
 of a tree wliicli produces bread and wine, milk, honey, 
 and oil ? 
 
 Yet is this strictly true — with, more, much more, 
 beside. 
 
 The sago oi- bread of the Papuas is abundantly 
 supplied by two species of Metroxylon, and by many 
 other palms of the East and West. 
 
 The palm wine of past and present times is pro- 
 duced by many species of palms. Humboldt, in his 
 travels in South America, speaks of "the vine of 
 the country," Pahna dulce (cocos hutyracea). In 
 the valley of the Magdalena it is called the Wine 
 Palm. 
 
 To every traveller on the sea-coasts of tropical 
 regions is known the delicious milk of the coco nut 
 {Cocos nucifera). 
 
 The honey of the Date Palm {Phcenix dactylifera)^ 
 has been used from time immemorial.* A superior 
 kind, obtained from Jid)ce spectahilis, called " Miel 
 de Palma," is in domestic use in Chili, and also forms 
 an article of commerce. 
 
 Oil to burn, or to be used in cooker}^, is afforded 
 by the coco nut, and man}^ American palms, Attalea 
 cohune, and others. 
 
 The orange-coloured unctuous mass called palm oil, 
 the produce of an African palm, Elceis guineensis, is 
 
 • The Hebrew word which is rendered honey throughout our Scriptures, many 
 commentators suppose, in some instances, to mean the sweet sap of palms or the juice, 
 of their fruit, the word beiiiK dibse or dijise, whicli last word is still used in Barbaiy 
 to express the sweet juice of dates. Rabbins affirm that honey from dates, and dates 
 themselve?, were offered to the Lord as the first fruits of honey. 
 
THE PALM TREE. 29 
 
 used in the manufacture of candles and soap, and for 
 other purposes. It is an article increasing in import- 
 ance every day. In Liverpool alone, no less tlian 
 twenty thousand tons of shipping are employed in 
 importing this one article into England. 
 
 These invaluable gifts are not obtained from one 
 species only, but from many: in some instances two 
 and three of these distinct products are afforded by 
 the same tree. 
 
 But bread, wine, milk, honey, and oil, are by no 
 means the only treasures palm trees bestow on man. 
 Products the most singular and diverse are numbered 
 amongst their gifts : wax, ivory, sugar, salt, and 
 vinegar, medicines, vegetables and fruits of infinite 
 variety, with all kinds of articles for domestic comfort. 
 Not only do they afford fibre from which cloth as 
 well as cordage is manufactured, but some trees be- 
 stow cloth ready made. Men and women are clothed 
 by them, houses are built and furnished by them, and 
 the kindly trees will also cradle the infant and coffin 
 the dead. 
 
 The first popular account of palms was given to 
 the world about fifty 3'ears ago, by Alexander von 
 Humboldt. 
 
 A poet and a philosopher, a scientific, literary, and 
 accomplished man, his matchless sketches glow with 
 a vivid reality. Not only had his subjects been studied 
 with the careful exactitude of a learned writer, but 
 as a traveller he had looked upon them in their native 
 
30 THE PALM TREK. 
 
 homes, and thus inspired by their living beauty, pahn 
 trees, the glory of the trojoics, are brought before us, 
 by him, in all the rich colouring of an enthusiastic 
 painter.* 
 
 In his work entitled " Ansichten der Natur," the 
 chapter " Physiognomy of Plants," was commenced by 
 Humboldt with a notice of palms. " We will begin," 
 he says, " with palms, the loftiest and noblest of all 
 vegetable forms, that to which the prize of beauty 
 has been assigned by the concurrent voice of nations 
 in all ages. 
 
 He pi-oceeds to show that next to conifer?e (cone- 
 bearers or pines), and a species of eucalyptus, (gum- 
 trees of Australia) belonging to the family of myr- 
 taceae or myrtle-blooms, examples of the greatest 
 loftiness of stature attained by any of the members 
 of the vegetable kingdom are to be found in the 
 kingly race of palms. 
 
 The stems of the Cabbage Palm, {Areca oleracea), 
 a native of the West India Islands and Guayana, — 
 known in the Mauritius as the '' Chou Palmiste," — 
 have reached from one hundred and sixty to one 
 hundred and seventy, and even two hundred feet. 
 
 The Wax Palm of the Andes {Ceroxylon andicola), 
 so named by Humboldt, by whom it was discovered, 
 attains the height of from one hundred and seventy 
 to one hundred and ninety-two feet. The prostrate 
 
 * Since this was written Humboldt has died. The aged philosopher, the pride of 
 Prussia, was carried to his grave in all the pomp of a public funeral; the students of 
 Berlin most appropriately carried palm branches on either side of the coffin. 
 
THE PALM TREK. f[ 
 
 trunk of one of these majestic trees lying in the moun- 
 tain forest, was measured with exactness by Humboldt. 
 
 To give an impression of their height he speaks of 
 some that rise to more than twice the height of the 
 palace at Berlin. 
 
 But there are greater giants still. The recorded 
 length of the Rattan or Cane Palm (Calamus) almost 
 exceed credibility. In the hottest parts of the East 
 Indies where heat and moisture combined promote 
 the growth of vegetation in an extraordinary degree, 
 these climbing palms tower above the tallest trees of 
 the forest. Rumphius speaks of Calamus extensus 
 reaching to six hundred feet, and he states that another 
 kind has been known to reach double that heio^ht ! 
 
 The loftiness and uprightness of their stature is in- 
 deed one of the especial boasts of the palm tree. Yet 
 carrying out in a singularly complete manner the 
 analogies which, it will be seen, are perfect through- 
 out, this race of giants will also show some fairy-like 
 epecimens of comparatively miniature loveliness. 
 
 We have seen the lofty Calamus lifting its crown 
 high over the stately forests that clothe the base of the 
 Himalayas, let us now look to South America which, 
 HumboMt declares, " excels the rest of the tropical 
 world in the number and beauty of her species of palms." 
 
 In the depths of the virgin forest of tlie Upper 
 Rio Negro, overshadowed by other trees, we shall find 
 one of those lovely little palms (Lepidocaryum tenue,) 
 described by Wallace in his palms of the Amazon. 
 
THE PALM TREE. 
 
 It is a fiui-leaved palm ; its dark, green glossy 
 leaves, growing on long and slender stalks, have nar- 
 row, drooping leaflets; its reed-like stem, not thicker 
 than a finger, seldom exceeds six feet in height, and 
 its fruits are about the size of hazel nuts. 
 
 Similar contrasts will continually meet us, j^t ere 
 we proceed, compare, I pray you with this tiny fruit, 
 the double coco nut, the produce of another palm 
 (Lodoicea sechellariim), which has a circumference of 
 three feet, and weighs from forty to fifty pounds. 
 
 In these striking contrasts, in the extraordinary 
 variety afforded by this great family, consists one of 
 their principal sources of interest, especiall}' when 
 they are regarded as illustrating the perfectness of 
 the sacred similitude. 
 
 Equally illustrated is it on the other hand by cer- 
 tain distinctive characteristics which ever}^ member 
 of the palm-tree family will be found to possess, how- 
 ever dissimilar they may be in other respects. 
 
 Their generally tall and slender stems are some- 
 times perfectly smooth, sometimes they are ringed, 
 scaly, or armed with formidable spines. 
 
 The stem or shaft is almost always simple and un- 
 divided. In extremely rare exceptions it divides into 
 branches, as with the Doom Palm or Gingerbread Tree 
 of Egypt {Hyphoene thehaico.)* 
 
 In some cases the roots spring from the stem at a 
 
 Double stems are occasionally met with amongst trees nsnally single-stemmed, 
 Buch as palmyras and coco nuts, but they are veiy uncommon. 
 
THE PALM TREE. 33 
 
 foot or more from the oToiind, snrroiindino- it with 
 thick buttresses, or more singularly still, raising the 
 stem as it were on a scaffolding. In tlie Iriarteas 
 Palms of the Brazil, this strange scaffolding afforded 
 by the air roots is sufficiently high for a man to walk 
 erect beneath, a tree seventy feet high growing imme- 
 diately above his head.* 
 
 In the shape of the leaves of palms there is con- 
 siderable uniformit}'. Out of five hundred and eighty- 
 two known species, four hundred and ninety-one 
 have the same featherj' leaves as the date, which is 
 the universally received type of the palm branch. 
 
 The palm brancii or palm leaf, resembling a feather, 
 is divided into numerous narrow leaflets. This form 
 of leaf is described as 'pinnate. 
 
 The remaining ninety-one species have fan-shaped 
 leaves, they are called palmate, from a fanciful re- 
 semblance of the divided leaf to the outspread fingers 
 of the hand. 
 
 Of this kind is the magnificent Talipat of the 
 East Indies, its leaves are palmate, but a giant's hand 
 alone could they be thought to resemble. Its leaflets, 
 or segments of a leaf, are from ninety-five to one 
 hundred in number, the breadth of its leaves is from 
 thirteen to fourteen feet, and their length, exclusive 
 of the foot stalk, vary from six to eighteen feet. 
 
 Whether the palm tree's leaves are feathery or iis.n- 
 shaped, they in all cases encircle its head, and are 
 
 * " Palms of the Amazon,"— Wallace. 
 (1) 3 
 
34 THE PALM TREE, 
 
 disposed in that crown-like form which is one of its 
 peculiar and most beautiful distinctions. 
 
 All palm trees wear the crown, but in the manner 
 of their wearing it characteristic differences appear. 
 
 Some are of stately form ; they stand erect, and on 
 their upright bows carr}^ their diadems with imperial 
 grace. Such are the Date Palm in its youth, the 
 Cabbage Palm, the Jagua (a species of Maxiniiliayia) 
 a palm of the Orinoco, and the Peach Palm (OvAlielraa 
 speciosa) a native of the Amazon, Guyana, and Vene- 
 zuela. These have " aspiring heavenwards pointing 
 branches, rising almost vertically into the air, the ex- 
 tremities of the leaves curled like plumes.'* 
 
 Very beautiful are the Wild Date and the fan- 
 leaved Livistooiia inermis palms of the East, but 
 with drooping heads they bow beneath the weight 
 of their ci-owns. So also does Mauritia gracilis in 
 the West. 
 
 The Coco Palm, on the lonely shore, as she listens 
 intent to the voice of the beloved sea, tosses with 
 careless grace her feathery plumes from her brow, 
 almost unconscious, it would seem, in that wild soli- 
 tude that she is a crowned tree. 
 
 The colouring of palm leaves is various too. The 
 Date is of a dull and ashy hue, the Mauritia palms 
 are of a dark and shining colour, the Coco Palms are 
 generally of a vivid green, but they sometimes admit 
 autumnal tints of russet and gold, while the stately 
 
 • Ilnmboldt. 
 
THE PALM TP.EE. 35 
 
 plumes of the Cabbage Palm {Areca oleracea) are 
 uniformly of the rich deep shade of the m^n^tle's leaves. 
 The Wax Palm of the Andes, and the slender Fan 
 Palm of Cuba {Coryphee oniragnama),\mve their leaves 
 lined on the under side with silvery white. On the 
 Rio Atabasso, Bonpland, the travelling companion of 
 Humboldt, discovered a thorny Mauritia whose pal- 
 mate leaves were ornamented in the middle with con- 
 centric yellowish and bluish stripes like a peacock's 
 
 tail. 
 
 But it is in the form, colour, and nature of the 
 fruits of palms that there is most cause to marvel at 
 their variety. 
 
 The egg-shaped fruits of the Mauritia flexuosa are 
 brown and scaly on tlie outside. Brought to England 
 by Sir Walter Raleigh they were likened by him to 
 fir cones. In the inside they are of a dry and floury 
 nature, something like a plantain before they are fully 
 ripe; like it also, they become sweeter and more pulpy 
 as they come to maturity. 
 
 The fruits of the Peach Palm are mealy too, but 
 they are beautiful in appearance, of a golden colour 
 partly overspread with crimson. 
 
 A delicious draught is contained in the rough, hard 
 shell of young coco nuts ; they are lined inside with 
 a transparent white jelly of delicate flavour. When 
 fully ripe this jelly is converted into a nutty sub- 
 stance, which is prepared as food in vr.rious ways by 
 the natives of tropical regions. 
 
36 THE PALM TREE. 
 
 What a contrast is afforded here to a cluster of 
 luscious dates whose soft fleshy pulp is on the outside 
 of their small seeds. 
 
 Almost exclusivel}^ tropical plants, yet in the varied 
 localities of those regions in which we find the diffe- 
 rent members of this famil}', we discover another 
 source of wonder and interest. 
 
 The home of tlie coco nut is on tlie sea- shore. They 
 grow inland, but never attain their full perfection 
 there. The salt spray of the ocean is their natural 
 atmosphere, and coral reefs scarcely merged from the 
 waves are quickly crowned with groves of the sea- 
 loving Coco Palms. 
 
 In the dense forests that clothe the foot of the 
 Himalayas we have already seen the giant Calami or 
 Cane Palms. 
 
 On the Himalayas — " abode of snow " as their San- 
 scrit name signifies — we shall find, at an elevation of 
 eight thousand feet, a species of Chameerops. Tliese 
 hardy fan-palms are themselves, in winter, covered with 
 snow. 
 
 More elevated still, on the tops of mountains fourteen 
 thousand feet high in the immediate neighbourhood of 
 perpetual snows, the Wax Palm of tlie Andes rears 
 its stately form. 
 
 On the sandy desert dwells the Arab's date; beneath 
 its shadow he takes refuge from the heat of the burn- 
 ing sun. 
 
 The Indian of South America sits amongst the 
 
THE PALM TREE. 37 
 
 branches of the Mh'iti, and looks down on a world 
 of waters at his feet. 
 
 In Mexico the diminutive Palmetto is carefully 
 cultiv^ated and planted in regular rows. 
 
 In Honduras, vast woods \mtrodden by the foot 
 of man, are formed by the congregating of the Attalea 
 Cohune palms, arched aisles of exquisite beauty and 
 almost interminable length, being made by their 
 interlacing branches. 
 
 The queenly Areca, the Una of the forest, flourishes 
 in the great forests of Guyana in kindly fellowship 
 with other plants, or planted by man they form stately 
 avenues, the pride of old ftxmily dwelling places in 
 Demerara and the West India Islands. 
 
 How many species of palms are scattered over 
 the . face of the globe is said to be still an open 
 question. 
 
 It was thought by Von !^^artius that the whole 
 number existing on our earth may amount to about 
 one thousand species, but of these we are only ac- 
 quainted with about six hundred species. 
 
 Of the fossil flora, of which it is assumed there 
 are four thousand species, palms constitute an eighty- 
 fourth part. 
 
 Beautiful specimens of fossil palms are found in 
 Antigua, and are considered of great value. One of 
 great beauty was obtained there some years ago; it 
 was presented to Lady Combermere, the wife of the 
 then governor of the Windward Islands. The 
 
38 THE PALM TKEE. 
 
 sheathing of the leaves was distinct]}' traceable on 
 the outside. 
 
 In the " Testimony of the Rocks " it is mentioned 
 that " Mr. Bowerbank found in London clay of the 
 the Island of Sheppey alone, the fruits of no fewer 
 than thirteen different species of palms." It is also 
 said that " among the trap beds of Mull, palms sur- 
 vive in thirty-one different species.' 
 
 In Von Martius's splendid work on palms beautiful 
 drawings are given of sections of palms, displaying 
 their endogenous structure. 
 
 In this distinctive mark by which is determined 
 the systematic division in the vegetable kingdom, to 
 which the family of palms belong, we find the sug- 
 gestion of an analogy which seems to perfect the type 
 which the palm tree affords of the righteous. 
 
 Palm trees are eiidogens — their growth is endogeri' 
 
 0U8. 
 
 It may be simply explained as the central or in- 
 ternal deposition of woody fibre, in contradistinction 
 to the growth of oaks and elms, and most forest trees 
 of temperate regions. They are exogenous, or in- 
 crease in size by external deposition of their woody 
 fibre next to the bark. This taking place annually, 
 the age of most exogens can be determined, as is 
 well known, by counting the number of concentiic 
 rings. 
 
 In other words, whilst oaks and elms liave an 
 outward growth, palm trees have an imvard growth. 
 
THE PALM TKEE, 39 
 
 A beautiful lesson lias been drawn from contem- 
 plating the outward growth of the elm : — 
 
 " How shall the maugled stump teach proud man a lesson; 
 How can we from that elm -tree's sap distil the wine of truth, 
 Heed ye those hundred rings concentric from the core, 
 Eddying in various waves to the red bark's shore-like rim. 
 These be the gatherings of yesterdays, present all to-day. 
 This is the tree's judgment, self-history that cannot be gainsaid : 
 Seven years agone there was a drought, — and the seventh ring is 
 
 narrowed, 
 The fifth frum hence was half a deluge — the fifth is cellular and 
 
 broad — 
 Thus then thou art a result — the growth of many yesterdays 
 That stamp thy secret soul with marks of weal or woe, 
 Thou art an almanac of self, the living record of thy deeds." 
 
 Proverbial Philosophy. 
 
 Each varied page in nature's book hath its lesson 
 for us. The elm speaks in the eloquent words of 
 Tupper ; a feebler voic^ would strive to repeat what 
 again and again the palm tree whispers to her: — 
 
 An inward growth, from the heart's crystal fount 
 Pure thoughts, like pearl-like drops, still welling forth 
 Unseen themselves yet swelling the amount 
 Of outward graces and intrinsic worth. 
 Flourishing as the palm — the crowned tree, 
 U'prising in whatever lot assigned, 
 Bearing the promise branch of victory, 
 Servant of God and friend to all mankind.* 
 
 * As It has been already said tliis work professes only to give the history of some 
 of the most interesting members of the palm family. For a complete classification 
 of them the reader is referred to an interesting work by Dr. Berthold Seemann en- 
 titled "History of Palms." Wallace gives iii his "Palms of the Amazon" and 
 "Travels on the Amazon," most interesting notices of many new palms discovered 
 l;y him. Von Martius's splendid woik on palms is in Ljitin. 
 
CIjc gate faint. 
 
 ( Phcenix dactylifera . — L in.\.) 
 
 rr. ,-^/^^,,.^ 
 
 [HE Date Palm as the palm tree of Scripture 
 claims precedence of all her sisters. Her 
 genealogy dates far higher than theirs. 
 The glory of eastern lands, she was loved, 
 and honoured, and sung, before the very- 
 continent which gives birth to her kindred 
 of the West itself was known. 
 
 From time immemorial the Date Palm has been 
 known to be indigenous to Asia and Africa, and for 
 many centuries it has been cultivated in the South 
 of Europe. 
 
 The derivation of the name Phcenix, as given by the 
 Greeks to the palm which they earliest knew, has already 
 been mentioned, — the upspringing of the young plant 
 from the parent stem when burned or cut down. It is 
 one amongst the many suggestive themes with wdiich 
 the study of palms is enriched. To this property irrtier- 
 ent in the race, allusion is made in the motto chosen by 
 Von Martins, which accompanies his fine portrait in 
 the copy of his work at the British Museum. 
 
44 THE DATE PALM. 
 
 The name of Phcenix is confined to a few species. 
 
 Dactylifera is derived from dactylus a finger, the 
 stalks of the dates being likened to the fingers of 
 the hand. 
 
 Palma was the name given by the Romans to the 
 dwarf f\\n palm, (Chamcerops hicniilis) which grows 
 on the shores of the Mediterranean, from a similar 
 resemblance of their divided leaves to the hand itself. 
 The name has long been extended to the whole race, 
 including those whose leaves are altogether differently 
 shaped. 
 
 Phoenicia is said by some to have derived her 
 name from this tree, — called by the Greeks the 
 "Land of Palms" as from there they obtained their 
 dates. To it also the renowned city of Palmyra 
 owed her name. Rising as she did in an oasis of 
 the Syrian desert, much of her beauty was owing to 
 the presence of these graceful trees. The Hebrew 
 name of the city Tadmor had the same derivation 
 from Tamar, a palm. 
 
 Rich, indeed, in historical as well as scriptural 
 interest is the Date Palm, the inexhaustible theme of 
 poets in its own and amid stranger lands, and the 
 never-ceasing object of delight to every traveller. 
 But far exceeding all other is the deep and grateful 
 afiibtion it obtains in its native home, amongst its 
 own people. 
 
 We have already seen that the Arabs count that 
 its gifts are as numerous as the days of the year. 
 
THE DATE PALM. 45 
 
 It is said that in their language the pahn tree has 
 three hundred names, but they are applied to different 
 parts of the tree, and to these parts at different 
 ages. 
 
 Still as of old is the Date Palm "the pride of the 
 desert." The "shrub" under which the heart-sick 
 Arabian mother laid her boy that he might die out 
 of her sight, was doubtless one of those stunted 
 shaggy palms which travellers describe as common 
 in those parts. Such a supposition connects itself 
 with the tradition preserved amongst the wild sons 
 of Ishmael, that Allah had bestowed all the Date 
 Palms of the world upon them as a mark of peculiar 
 favour, and that they had accordingly conquered 
 every country where they are to be found. In this 
 we find one of the many traditionary prophecies en- 
 couraging them to attempt the reconquest of India. 
 
 To the tree believed to have been the one that 
 sheltered their great progenitor, the children of 
 Hagar assign the glad ofHce of the angel sent by God 
 t'o point out the hidden well — the well-spring of joy 
 to the mother, the well-spring of life to the child. 
 
 To the sons of the desert the rustling of palms is 
 as a voice beckon ino^ them to cool waters, for the 
 *' diamonds of the desert" are ever at theii' feet. 
 
 When in 1801, our British troops resisted the 
 French in Egypt, lacking water in the sultry desert, 
 their leader Sir Sydney Smith taught by the Arabs 
 revealed to them the date tree's precious secret. 
 
46 THE DATE PALM. 
 
 Digging near its roots beneath the burning sand a 
 mine of silver water was always found. 
 
 The Date Palm is not amongst the most majestic of 
 its race ; it averages sixtj' feet in height, and sometimes 
 attains the age of two hundred and three hundred 
 3^ears; the Barbary palm seldom outlives the second 
 century. They are of slow growth, about one foot in 
 five years. The faithful Moslem is promised that 
 he shall in paradise attain the height of the palm. 
 
 The rings which mark the outside of the trunk or 
 stem are the remains of successive growths of leaves, 
 they become nearly obliterated near the root. The 
 bottoms of the leaves are enveloped in membranous 
 sheaths. 
 
 Date Palms have pinnate or featliery shaped leaves, 
 each leaf being composed of a number of long narrow 
 leaflets which grow alternate. When young they are 
 of a bright lively green, but grow dull with age. Near 
 the base of the leaf these leaflets are often three feet 
 long, but they are not more than an inch in breadth. 
 They do not open flat, but remain with a ridge in 
 the middle, something like the keel of a boat. The 
 main stems of the leaves are from eight to twelve 
 feet in length, firm, shining, and tapering, towards 
 the end; it embraces at its insertion a considerable 
 part of the trunk. The mid rib is in almost every 
 species of palm turned to an infinity of purposes. 
 
 The Date Palm continues bearing about seventy 
 years, producing three hundred, four hundred, and 
 
THE DATE PALM. 47 
 
 even six hundred pounds of fruit annually. A single 
 spathe contains twelve thousand male flowers. On 
 the Nubian Nile the finest trees produce dates 
 measurinor three inches lono:. 
 
 Dates are well known in England as a delicious 
 dried fruit, but we must transport ourselves in idea 
 to the East before we can form any computation of 
 their inestimable value. 
 
 So cared for are they there, and so extensively 
 cultivated that we read, at the siege of Suchna in 
 1829, Abd-el-Gelil cut down not less than forty-three 
 thousand date trees to force the surrender of the town, 
 and yet there remained seventy- three thousand. 
 
 From Lane's " Modern Egyptians," we learn that 
 the tax upon palm trees has been calculated to amount 
 to about £100,000 annually. The trees are rated 
 according to their qualities, generally at a piastre 
 and a half each. The Egyptian piastre is equivalent 
 to the fifth of a shillino-. 
 
 o 
 
 At Moursouk, Central Africa, a tax of a dollar is 
 levied on every two hundred date trees. 
 
 In Syria the trees in the palm groves at Tor are 
 all registered. Property in them is capital. 
 Marriage portions are paid in dates. 
 
 In Egypt the Date Palm not only furnishes a great 
 part of their food, but is also literally the roof-tree 
 of the wretched peasantry, the Fellahs or Fellahin. 
 
 The walls of their huts are of mud and straw, 
 their only featui-e of beauty and grace is the Date 
 
48 THE DATE PALM. 
 
 Palm which springs up in the centre of the dwelling, 
 the roof consisting of its branching leaves. Two or 
 three of these friendly palms cluster outside of the 
 squalid home, seeming as if they vrould conceal some- 
 thing of its wretchedness. 
 
 These good genii, like the slaves of the lamp, 
 bear on their plumed heads for their humble master 
 dainties which monarchs in the far north sigh in 
 vain to taste in their delicious freshness. 
 
 The taste of fresh dates is said by Bernardin de 
 St. Pierre, to taste of sugar and cream flavoured with 
 orange flowers. Some who behold in the oases of 
 palms in the deserts of North Africa the fabled 
 gardens of the Hesperides imagine, that in the 
 delicious tawny coloured dates they also see the 
 original of the golden apples which were only to be 
 obtained by overcoming the dragon that guarded 
 them ; in other words, the danger that besets 
 on all sides the traveller in these inhospitable re- 
 gions. 
 
 Dates form the principal food of a considerable 
 number of the inhabitants of Egypt and Barbary, 
 Arabia, Persia, and India, both men and beasts — 
 horses, camels, dogs, all eat dates. Even the stones 
 and stalks when softened by being soaked in water 
 feed cattle, and when ground in hand mills are given 
 to camels. 
 
 The harvest of dates is as much a cause of anxiety, 
 and when favourable, of rejoicing in the East, as the 
 
THE DATE PALM, 49 
 
 corn harvest is with us, and the vintage in the south 
 of Europe. 
 
 The Date Palm is to the Arab and the North 
 African, what bread-corn is to the people of colder 
 climes, 
 
 Biledulgered or Bled-el-jerrede, the ''land of dates," 
 is a vast territory extending from the south declivity 
 of Atlas to the great desert of Sahara, with which 
 it almost insensibly mingles. As its name implies, 
 its chief boast is the great luxuriance of its groves 
 of Date Palms, By them alone is it redeemed from 
 the curse of sterility. The palm tree and the Arab's 
 tent are the only signs of life. Springs of water at 
 the foot of the palms, and clusters of dates from the 
 trees themselves, are all that vast region affords to 
 the wandering hordes that continually traverse it to 
 and fro ! From the western part of this country of 
 palms where Mount Atlas divides it from the kino- 
 dom of Morocco, come the Tafilet dates which are 
 superior to all other kinds brought to England. 
 But the dates of Fezzan in Morocco itself are said 
 to be the largest and best in the word, Syrian 
 dates are now sold in the shops of this country.* 
 
 We read that the first question a Bedouin asks a 
 traveller he meets on the road is, '' The price of dates 
 at Mecca or Medina V 
 
 The harvest time is June. The fruit keeps fresh 
 
 * Not long since the writer met with flourishing young Date Palms about two feet 
 high in a shop of a country town in England, the price being only half-a-cruwa 
 each. 
 
 (1) 4 
 
50 THE DATE PALM. 
 
 for two months ; during that time it constitutes the 
 principal and favourite food, in many cases the sole 
 food of the Arabs. To prepare their provision for 
 the remaining ten months of the year, the ripe dates 
 are pressed into a solid paste. This paste is called 
 Adjonc; cakes of it are made weighing two hundred- 
 weight ; it is sold in the markets by the pound. 
 Large quantities of it are exported to Hindustan, 
 the Mohammedan race wherever they may be, re- 
 taining their predilection for the fruit of the Date 
 Palm. Adjonc of a very superior kind is also im- 
 ported into Arabia from the Persian Gulf 
 
 A lump of these pressed dates is all thnt an Arab 
 asks on setting out on a journey. He both eats 
 dates and dnnks dates. A small piece of adjonc 
 dissolved in water is said to make a pleasant 
 beverage. 
 
 Another favourite compound is made by mixing 
 dates, and the flour of dhourrah or millet, with 
 butter into a kind of paste. 
 
 From Burckhardt we learn that in the. valley of the 
 Hedjaz there are more than a hundred different kinds 
 of dates. Each, is considered to have some peculiar 
 virtue, and each is peculiar to some district where 
 they foi'm the sole agriculture and only article of 
 trade and commerce. Mohammedans declare that all 
 date-trees have derived their origin from those of the 
 Hedjaz — El Hedjaz bordering the Red Sea, the Land 
 of Pilgrimage, the land of their prophet's birth. 
 
THE DATE PALM. 51 
 
 Unlike all other trees their shade is said not to be 
 injurious, so that grain can be sown in their imme- 
 diate vicinity. The trees themselves may be planted 
 within eight feet of each other. 
 
 Dates, as we have seen, take the first place amongst 
 the fruits possessed by tlie Arabs. The favourite 
 fruits of their prophet were dates and water-melons, 
 which he liked to eat together. 
 
 " Honour," said he, "your paternal aunt, the date, 
 for she was created of the earth of which Adam w^as 
 formed." 
 
 Mahomet also declared that when Adam fell from 
 paradise, three gifts were especially bestowed on him. 
 
 The myrtle, chief of all sweet-scented flowers in 
 the world. 
 
 An ear of wheat, chief of all kinds of food. 
 
 And pressed dates, chief of all fruits. 
 
 Dates may be preserved for eighteen months by 
 being dried in the sun and then buried. A delicate 
 and nutritious flour is prepared from dried dates. 
 A rich syrup resembling honey is expressed from the 
 fresh fruit with which the fruit itself is preserved. 
 Dates prepared with sugar make a delicious con- 
 serve and a most useful medicine in chest com- 
 plaints. 
 
 In Egypt, it is said, tha.t a good housewife can 
 vary for a month her preparation of dates. 
 
 From the ripe fruit is obtained a sort of treacle 
 used for making leather pipes and bags air-tight. 
 
62 THE DATE PALM. 
 
 The seeds when burned are used in the composition 
 of Indian ink. 
 
 Dates Avith water afford by distillation a good 
 ardent spirit. Not coming within the prohibition of 
 the Koran against wine, it is much used in Moham- 
 medan countries. 
 
 A thick sweet fluid is collected by cutting out the 
 heart of the leaves. It is at first very refreshing, 
 but in a few hours it begins to ferment, becomes 
 acid, and is very intoxicating. A species of "Aruk" 
 or arrack, the spirituous liquor of all oriental nations, 
 is obtained from this syrup. The blossoms of the 
 date tree contain a sweet liquid, said by travellers to 
 be absolute nectar. 
 
 The so-called wine of the palm, in Egypt called 
 laghi, is procured from the sap of the trees, such as 
 are unproductive being chosen for that purpose. 
 The top of the tree being cut off and a hollow scooped 
 out in the stem, the sap as it ascends lodges there. 
 Three or four quarts of sap may be obtained daily 
 from a single tree for ten days, after which it lessens, 
 till at the end of six weeks or two months the 
 supply is exhausted, and the dried-up stem is burned 
 for firewood. 
 
 It was of this wine of the palm that Herodotus 
 spoke in ancient days as one of the principal articles 
 of the commerce of Babylonia. 
 
 Palm wine which was drank at the luxurious 
 banquets of Greece and Kome was also used by the 
 
THE DATE PALM. 63 
 
 celebrated Egyptian embalmers ; with it they washed 
 the bodies of the dead before covering them over 
 with pounded aromatics. 
 
 Next to food, we reckon clothes as amongst the 
 most necessary requirements of man. We shall find 
 the kindly date has also furnished these. The legend 
 of St. Paul of Thebes, the first anchorite, tells how a 
 date tree overshadowing the solitary cavern in which 
 he dwelt in a desert east of the Nile, for ninety-eight 
 years supplied the hermit with food and clothes, the 
 only garment which he wore being a rough mat of 
 plaited palm leaves. But history relates how at the 
 time of the discovery of the Canary Isles, in the 
 reign of Alfonso IV. of Portugal, the principal gar- 
 ment worn by the natives was made of the leaves of 
 the Date Palm, thence called Tamarco from Tamar 
 the palm. Palm-leaf garments are, as we shall see, 
 in use in many parts of the w^orld at the present 
 day, but a garment almost identical wdth the tamarco 
 is said to be still worn by the natives of the Bissagos, 
 islands on the western coast of Africa. 
 
 In the old times of independence in the Canary 
 Islands, the natives obtained from their beloved 
 palms not only fruit and clothes, but also wdne, 
 vinegar, honey, and sugar. 
 
 The wood of the date tree is used for garden 
 fences, pillars, posts, ceilings, and innumerable other 
 purposes. Whole dwellings are made of it when not 
 Inquired to be of great size. In ancient times, 
 
54 THE DATE PALM. 
 
 Egyptian bows were made from the palm. The 
 djereed or lance which the Arab darts, as he gallops 
 like lightning past, are thick palm sticks. Similar 
 sticks are used in many of the modern Egyptian 
 games. Of palm wood also is the wand of the ser- 
 pent charmers of Egypt, by means of which, accom- 
 panied by muttered adjurations, they profess to dis- 
 lodge reptiles from their hiding places in the walls 
 of houses. 
 
 The fibres of the outside of the stem where the 
 leaves spring from the tree are of a very strong 
 texture; tAvisted together they form the ropes still 
 commonly used by the Nile boats, and by vessels 
 navio-atino' the Red Sea. 
 
 o O 
 
 A soft white part of the inner fibres is used in 
 Egyptian baths as a sponge. The most esteemed 
 kind is obtained from the palms of the Hedjaz, and 
 is called 'Meef" 
 
 Even the stalks and strings from which the dates 
 hang are made available; wicker work cages for 
 poultry are made with them. 
 
 But the leaves of the Date Palm rival its fruit in 
 the estimation in which tlie}^ are held; theirs is a 
 strangely varied destiny. In the tombs of Thebes 
 palm-leaf baskets have been found in age varying 
 from eighteen to eleven centuries before the year of 
 ouF Lord. In the present day some in their own 
 lands, and by their own people, are woven into 
 couches, carpets, sleeping mats, bags, baskets, brooms, 
 
THE DATE PALM. 55 
 
 and brushes; others, perhaps from the same parent 
 tree, are exported to foreign countries, to perform a 
 principal part in the solemn festivals of the Roman 
 Catholic Church. 
 
 Strange f^ict and full of poetry, the wonder-work- 
 ing wand of commerce gives to the feathery plumes 
 thit crown the ''Tree of the Desert,"— the wreathing 
 of pillared aisles in some gorgeous cathedral of the 
 ^vest, — the wild Arab's darling is reverently borne 
 aloft in the hands of Christian priests attired in vest- 
 ments of the greatest magnificence. 
 
 The rosaries that hang from the neck of the 
 priests, or the girdle of the monk, may be of kindred 
 origin ; they too may be the offspring of the palm, 
 for'^the stones of dates are in Barbary and elsewhere 
 carved into handsome beads for paternosters. In 
 Algiers they are there fashioned by monks of La 
 Trappe. 
 
 Such rosaries are also made from the hard seeds 
 of a smaller palm, Ghamcerops Ritchiana, growing 
 in Affghanistan ; and likewise from the kernels of 
 the fruit of the Doom Palm or Ginger-bread tree of 
 Africa {Hyph€ene thehaica). 
 
 In Panama the leaves of another kind of palm are 
 used for religious ceremonies, Cohune, there called 
 Palma real. In the city of Barra, on the Eio Negro, 
 the branches of the Jara-miri (Leopoldinia pulchm) 
 of peculiarly bright green and glossy foliage, are 
 formed into avenues along the streets, and little 
 
56 THE DATE PALM. 
 
 altars before the houses, on the great festival days of 
 the Roman Catholic Church. 
 
 In a little church in Barbadoes, devoted to the 
 simply beautiful services of the Church of England, 
 coco-nut palm leaves wreath pillar and arch with 
 significant beauty on the glad day commemorative of 
 the nativity of our Lord. In the same island they 
 are sought after by the Jews for their feast of 
 tabernacles. 
 
 Thus from east to west in many a varied clime, 
 and in varying forms of worship, we behold the dif- 
 ferent species of palms chosen to adorn houses of God 
 on days of rejoicing. 
 
 Date Palms are planted on large tracts of land 
 along the Gulf of Genoa. They are too far north to 
 ripen their fruit, but it is for the sake of their leaves 
 alone that they are cultivated. This is also the case 
 in Madeira. They find ready sale, in the spring of the 
 year to the Christian for Palm Sunday, in the follow- 
 ing autumn to the Jew for his feast of tabernacles. 
 
 Strange sight and food for solemn thought, a 
 spectacle that mingles the piteous with the sublime 
 may ever}^ year be seen in dingy smoke-begrimed 
 alleys of our own dark city of London. 
 
 The Jew, distinguished and separate amongst all 
 people, far from his fair Jerusalem whose living 
 beauty perhaps he may never have beheld, yet in 
 the stranger's land wherever it may be, as with 
 the instincts of a race, builds up, even as his fore- 
 
THE DATE PAL:vr. 57 
 
 fathers did of old, his tabernacle wherein to hold his 
 feast, obedient to a law which a better covenant has 
 annulled. 
 
 Still doth he take "boughs of goodly trees, 
 branches of palm-trees, boughs of thick trees, and 
 willows of the brook, to rejoice before the Lord his 
 God." 
 
 Still doth he keep the feast of the harvest, though 
 no harvest is his ; no smiling fields of ripe corn call 
 him master ; in that narrow dusky chamber his 
 garnering is but — of gold. 
 
 Alas', not yet does he know the true Lord of the 
 harvest, who, with angels for his reapers, shall come 
 again to '' gather the wheat into his garner," and 
 " burn up the chaff with fire unquenchable." 
 
 Two of the great Jewish feasts have found their 
 fulfilment, and are commemorated b}- the Christian 
 Church. The feast of the passover, and the '' feast 
 of weeks of the first-fruits of wheat harvest." The 
 "feast of ingatherings at the year's encV is yet to 
 come. 
 
 Will not the feast of ingatherings, the feast of 
 tabernacles, the festival of 'palms, find its fulfilment 
 only when the great multitude of the redeemed, 
 '' with white robes and pahns in their hands," shall 
 cry with a loud voice, "Thanksgiving," "Amen?" 
 
 But the Jew still keeps the feast of tabernacles — tlie 
 remembrance and rejoicing of having passed thr©\.igh 
 Egypt and the wilderness into the Promised Land. 
 
68 THEDATETALM. 
 
 More tlian Egyptian darkness is around him yet 
 — the veil is on his heart. A pilgrim and a stranger 
 everywhere, all lands are as a wilderness to him, an 
 exile from his fair Judea — the infidel reigns in the 
 holy city. 
 
 The Jew still keeps the feast of tabernacles — the 
 tabernacle as of old — of Moses the lawcjiver of the 
 old covenant, the "example and shadow of heavenl}^ 
 things." 
 
 He sees not, he knows not the Mediator of a 
 better covenant — Christ, an high priest of good 
 things to come, by a greater and more perfect taber- 
 nacle not made with hands, " eternal in the heavens." 
 
 Sorrowful sight ! The aged Jew beating his breast, 
 with straining eyes looking for, with strong crying 
 and tears calling upon the Deliverer of his people — 
 while, lo ! centuries past, the Messiah has gone by 
 never to come again in visible form till He cometh 
 in the clouds of heaven to judge the quick and the 
 dead. 
 
 Sorrowful words peculiar to that people, " wailing 
 place " and " wailing da}^" Their "■ wailing place," 
 Jerusalem — place of the Lord's sepulchre. Their 
 " wailing day," Friday in every week ; that day 
 which once a year Christians keep holy, commem- 
 orating His death whose blood was invoked on the 
 heads of the children of Israel. 
 
 Poor Jew! contrasting with the beauteous taber- 
 nacles of old in their sunny Eastern lands, we weep 
 
THE DATE PALM. 59 
 
 to see the meagre substitute painfully got together 
 in the dark narrow London home. Ere another 
 harvest comes, may ''the Sun of Righteousness have 
 arisen " upon thee " with healing on His wings." 
 
 Has this been a digression ? So linked together 
 is the Jew with the emblem of Judea ! 
 
 That land— 
 
 *' Where the feathery palm trees rise, 
 And the date grows ripe under sunny skies." 
 
 To return to the Date Palms of Southern Europe. 
 
 In the gardens of Naples and Palermo, this tree, 
 like an Eastern queen, fixes all e^^es with her match- 
 less beauty and grace. Looking upon her we think 
 of Zenobia the captive queen of Palm^a-a, in the 
 Roman conqueror's train, the unwilling lode-star of 
 all eyes. We sorrow for her as for an exile from a 
 brighter home. 
 
 In Valencia, the south-eastern part of Spain, there 
 are forests of Date Palms. They are also grown in 
 the south of France, — at Toulon there are two ma- 
 jestic specimens, but they do not ripen their fruit. 
 
 The Date Palm with the Pomegranate was carried 
 from Barbary into Spain in the middle of the eighth 
 centur}^ by Abd- el-Rahman, surnamed the Conqueror. 
 An exquisite little poem exists which was addressed 
 by him to this cherished tree, an exile like himself 
 from its native land. The conqueror, in the midst 
 of his glory, pined for the ungrateful country which 
 he had been forced to leave. 
 
60 THE DATE PALM. 
 
 In the neighbourhood of Nice, San Eemo, and 
 Genoa, date trees flourish abundantly. Bordighiera, 
 a small town on the Sardinian coast, in the territory 
 of Genoa, is especially celebrated for its palms. 
 
 An interesting account is given in a tale of 
 Modern Italy * of the way in which a family in San 
 Remo of the name of Bresca obtained, some centuries 
 ago, the privilege of furnishing to the household of 
 the Pope the palm-leaves required for religious festi- 
 vals. 
 
 In 1584?, in the pontificate of Sixtus Y., an 
 obelisk of great beauty lay half-buried in the earth 
 in the Piazza San Pietro in Rome. 
 
 Domenico Fontano, an architect of great renown, 
 undertook to raise it and transfer it to the spot 
 selected for its site. He bound himself that his 
 engagement should be fulfilled at the expiration of a 
 year. 
 
 The undertaking proceeded prosperously. The 
 stupendous column was transported to the ap- 
 pointed spot. The day was arrived on which it was 
 to be raised upright. An immense crowd gathered 
 in eager expectation. 
 
 The importance of the event agitated and almost 
 unnerved the hitherto successful Fontano. He 
 trembled lest the noise and tumult of the excited 
 multitude should confuse and bewilder his workmen. 
 
 One hasty exclamation, one unexpected move- 
 
 * Dr. Antonio, 
 
THE DATE PALM. Gl 
 
 ment amongst that darkly-heaving mass might en 
 danger the execution of his plans. He appealed to 
 Sixtus, who instantly issued an edict that who- 
 ever should utter a word during the erection of the 
 mighty obelisk should suffer death ! 
 
 Fontano invoked the rites of the Church, made 
 his confession, received the sacrament, and the bene- 
 diction of the Pope. 
 
 He mounted the scaffolding. Coloured flags and 
 bells had been arranged so as to signify his orders 
 to the workmen that were out of hearing of his 
 voice — his voice, the only one which was to be heard. 
 
 Pope Sixtus, from his lofty seat, looked down 
 with breathless interest upon the scene. 
 
 The countless multitude below, with upturned 
 faces and eager eyes, were silent and motionless. 
 
 Fontano rapidly waves his coloured flags. The 
 Pope bends forward in irrepressible eageme.s.s, 
 the multitude are breathless Avith intense excite- 
 ment. 
 
 A minute more, and the obelisk v\^ould have stood 
 erect ; when, hark ! an ominous crack — the slowly 
 arising column remains motionless — and then — it 
 begins to sink — the ropes no longer bear upon it. 
 
 The Pope frowns — the eager upturned faces of the 
 multitude grow pale — Fontano's presence of mind 
 forsakes him. 
 
 The silence is broken — a voice from below shouts, 
 " Water .' water ! — wet the ropes !" 
 
62 THE DATE PALM. 
 
 It is done. The slackened hemp contracts again. 
 The re-inspired workmen with a fresh spirit bend to 
 tlieir task The majestic column is upreared. 
 
 But what said the edict ? 
 
 Death to whoever uttered a word ! 
 
 Who is the doomed one ? 
 
 What, doomed to deatli ! while every lip gasps 
 forth a blessing upon him, the skilful and the brave. 
 
 Who is he ? 
 
 A captain of a small trading vessel, Bresca by 
 name, and a native of San Remo. His sailor life 
 had made him familiar with the management of 
 ropes. It had also made his brave heart utterly for- 
 getful of self when there was any service he could 
 render to others. 
 
 Must he die ? 
 
 Pope Sixtus V. was known to be severe and cruel, 
 there could be no hope of pardon ! 
 
 Amidst the passionate exclamations of the women, 
 the angry murmurs of the men, tlie offender, uncon- 
 scious of his offence, is seized. 
 
 The agitated crowd sway restlessly to and fro, 
 while the Swiss Guard drag the saviour of so many 
 lives before the pope. 
 
 No pardon is there ; but thanks, praise, and hon- 
 our, are awarded to the brave sailor ! 
 
 He is desired to ask some favour, whatever it be 
 it shall be bestowed. Astonished to hear he was a 
 criminal, the simple mariner is no less astonished to 
 
THE DATE PALM. 63 
 
 find himself looked upon as a hero. Bresca, whom 
 no peril could daunt, becomes confused by this un- 
 dreamed-of graciousness. He kneels to ask first the 
 blessing of his holiness — he hesitates — and then 
 murmurs his request that to him and his descendants 
 may be accorded the privilege of furnishing the 
 palm leaves required for religious ceremonies by the 
 Pope and his household. 
 
 The boon was instantly bestowed, and the brief 
 confirming it is still in the possession of the family 
 of Bresca. 
 
 To the fortunate sailor was also graciously awarded 
 the honour of carrying the papal flag at the mast of 
 his little vessel. He was also given the rank of 
 captain in the pontifical army. 
 
 Few monopolies, we should imagme, can boast so 
 well-merited and interesting an origin. 
 
 In. Syria, a family of Christian Arabs dwelling at 
 Gaza possess a similar privilege of supplying the 
 palm leaves used at Jerusalem in the ceremonies of 
 the Holy Week. These green branches, after a 
 solemn benediction has been pronounced over them 
 by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, are given away to 
 the clergy present, and to any distinguished visitors. 
 
&i< Mxto gate 0f |nbm.— pljujoor, 
 
 {Phoenix sylvestris. — Roxburgh). 
 
 fHIS palm is common over all India. It is 
 ' ^ considered by most writers to be iden- 
 tical with the true date {Phoenix clac- 
 tylifera). Some state that not the 
 smallest difference can be detected ; but 
 in Yon Martius's drawing, the Wild Date 
 is very differently represented — a beautiful palm 
 with very drooping branches. 
 
 As to its height there are conflicting statements. 
 Griffiths gives it from thirty-four to fort}^ feet only, 
 but Dr. Joseph Hooker, in his Himalayan Joui-nal, 
 describes them " as so lofty that the climbers (toddy- 
 drawers) as they paused in their ascent, resembled 
 monke3^s rather than men." 
 
 Dr. Hooker states that the Phoenix sylvestris, or 
 " toddy palm," or Khujoor, by which name it is gene- 
 i*ally known in India, though sometimes called by 
 ]\Iohammedans Linda, was never seen by him grow- 
 ing wild, though it was supposed to be so in north- 
 -svestern India. He adds, '' It is still a doubt- 
 
THE WILD DATE OF INDIA. 65" 
 
 ful point whether it is the same as the African 
 species." 
 
 Howexer this may be, one point there is which, 
 from Dr. Hooker's account, is not doubtful. A sor- 
 rowful confession though it is to make respecting a 
 member of a family so iri'eproachable in character as 
 that of the kingly palm. 
 
 Speaking of Monghyr, Hooker says, " The in- 
 habitants are reported to be sad drunkards, and 
 the abundance of Toddy Palius was quite remark- 
 able.^ 
 
 The inference is but too plain. 
 
 It is indeed for this mischievous produce that this 
 unworthy scion of an illustrious race is chiefly valued, 
 as its undignified name of '' Toddy Palm" sufiiciently 
 proves. The distressing act is still more painfully 
 impressed upon us by a description of them as " each 
 having a pot hung under the crown !" 
 
 We must for the moment try to overcome our 
 dissatisfaction while we listen to the account of the 
 mode of obtaining the " tarri," toddy, or palm w^ine, 
 from its " serial cellar." It is very ingenious.* 
 
 Detailed and interesting accounts are given by 
 different writers in histories of various palms, parti- 
 cularly the date {Phoenix); coco nut {Cocos niicifera); 
 and Palmyra {Borassus flahelliformis). 
 
 * Toddy— the produce of a tree of the tropics— has given its name to tlic compound 
 of a land in the far north; in Scotland whisky and water with sugar is commonly 
 called toddy. The Scotch returning from India thus preserve a recollection of the 
 pulra Avine of the East. 
 
 0) 5 
 
66 THE WILD DATE OF IKDIA. 
 
 A sketcli of the process, which is very similar in 
 each, will suffice for all. 
 
 The toddy-drawer first selects a piece of tough 
 jungle-vine, or a strip of the stalk of a young 
 Palmyra or Coco-nut, this he converts into a kind of 
 loop sufficiently large to allow him to insert his feet 
 between it and the tree. He then commences the 
 ascent, by means of his loop, and by alternately 
 stretching himself at full length to clasp the trunk 
 above him, and then, drawing his feet close up to 
 his arms, he quickly reaches the summit of the tree. 
 
 Leaving a few of the leaves as a support to his 
 body, he cuts away the remainder of the lower ones, 
 and also their sheaths. He then makes a notch in 
 the stem of the tree, near the top. The juice, issu- 
 ing from it, is conducted by means of a small funnel 
 made from a bit of Palmyra leaf, into the pot sus- 
 pended below to receive it. 
 
 Tarri or toddy is not injurious when drank fresh. 
 When left to ferment, it gives out on distillation a 
 large portion of ardent spirit. On the coast of 
 Coromandel this is called " Paria aruk." 
 
 Both there and in Bengal this juice is also exten- 
 sively used for boiling into sugar. It was calculated by 
 Dr. Roxburgh many years ago, that in Bengal alone 
 one million pounds of palm-sugar were made annually. 
 
 At the time the toddy is drawn during the months 
 of November^ December, January, and Februaiy, 
 each tree is reckoned to yield from one hundred and 
 
THE WILD DATE OF INDIA. 67 
 
 twenty to two hundred and forty pints of juice. 
 Every twelve pints are boiled down to one pound 
 of "goor," "jaguari/' or "jaggbery;" four pounds of 
 jaggbery will yield one pound of good powdered 
 sugar. So that, if converted into sugar, the produce 
 of each tree averages seven or eight pounds of sugar 
 annually. It is less esteemed than cane-sugar, and 
 in India sells for one-fourth less. 
 
 The trees begin to yield this juice at seven years 
 of age, when only four feet high. They continue 
 productive for twenty or twenty-five ^^ears. 
 
 The operation of toddy-draAving spoils the fruit, 
 which, though eatable, is small and very inferior to 
 the dates of Africa and Arabia. 
 
 Hooker mentions " a p'rove of these trees which 
 were curiously distorted, the trunks growing zig-zag 
 from the practice of yearly tapping the alternate 
 side for toddy." 
 
 Strange analogy ! Mischievous produce leads to 
 the loss of the uimgld stature which is one of the 
 glories of the palm tree. Tlie fruit also — how 
 deteriorated it is! 
 
 The leaves are made into baskets and mats. In 
 Ceylon very pretty baskets are made from these 
 leaves cut into fine strips ; dyed in various colours, 
 principally red and yellow ; and plaited in various 
 designs. In England they are called " Caltura bas- 
 kets," from t])e district in wdiich they are made. 
 
 Livingstone, in his travels in South Africa, repeat- 
 
68 THE WILD DATE OF INDIA. 
 
 edly mentions the Wild Date. In the Makololo 
 country, these palms grow in abundance, but are not 
 allowed to live long. As soon as their first fruits 
 are ripe, the trees are cut down by the lazy natives 
 to save the trouble of climbing for them. 
 
 At Tete, a Portuguese settlement on the eastern 
 coast of Africa, amongst other fibrous tissues experi- 
 mented upon for making paper, were those obtained 
 from the roots of Wild Dates. 
 
 {Phoenix far inif era.— YxoxuvKQU.) 
 
 This dwarf palm is a native of dry and barren 
 grounds, and sandy hills not far from the sea. It is 
 common throughout India, and abundant on the 
 coasts of Coromandel. 
 
 In appearance it resembles a leafy rush, never 
 reaching more than two feet in height. Its leaves 
 are much narrower and ai^e of a much darker green 
 than the Date Palm. I^s berries, of a shining black, 
 about the size of kidney beans, are sweet and mealy. 
 
 It derives its distinctive name from the useful 
 farina which the pith of its stem aiibrds. From its 
 bitter flavour it is far less palatable than sago, but it 
 is boiled into a kind of gruel, which is eaten by the 
 natives, and called by them " kanja." 
 
 It has been of incalculable service in times of famine. 
 
 The leaflets are woven into sleeping-mats ; the 
 petioles or foot-stalks of the leaves are split into 
 three or four strips, and plaited into baskets. 
 
TUE WILD DATE OF INDIA. C9 
 
 {Phoenix 2mh.idosa.—B.oxBVRGii.) 
 
 Ill Hooker's Indian journal we read of this pahn 
 as a slender stemmed Date Palm from six to eio-ht 
 
 o 
 
 feet high, forming the prevalent feature in the swampy 
 islands of the Sunderbunds, ''covering the whole 
 landscape with a carpet of feathery fronds of the 
 liveliest green/*" 
 
 It is, he says, a species " eminently gregarious ; 
 more so than any other Indian palm. It presents 
 so dense a mass of foliage that when seen from above 
 the stems are wholly hidden." 
 
 The nati^'es use the smaller steins for walkino-- 
 sticks, as they have an idea that snakes get out of 
 the way of any person who carries such a stick. 
 
 Like those of all other palms, its leaves are used 
 for thatch. 
 
-^M^ 
 
 {Chamcerojps hum His. — LixxiEus.) 
 
 HE Date Palm, queen of the Phoenix tribe 
 or genera, carried in her train such of 
 her family as seemed to require notice. 
 
 Next in precedence to her (counting 
 still by genealogy), comes the Dwarf 
 Fan Palm, which has, besides, a peculiar 
 interest as the only palm tree indigenous to Europe. 
 It is met with in all the countries that border the 
 Mediterranean — southern Europe, northern Africa, 
 and western Asia. Its northernmost limit is the 
 neighbourhood of Nice. It flourishes in Spain. In 
 Algeria it covers all wild and uncultivated land as 
 the o'olden blossominof furze covers our Enoiish 
 commons. 
 
 The palm was known to the Romans, and by them 
 it was named Palma, from the resemblance of its 
 fan-shaped leaves to the human hand. It has been 
 honoured by giving its name to the whole of its 
 royal race. 
 
 As sometimes happens with human beings, this 
 
THE DWARF FAN FALM, 71 
 
 individual with a proud name and a long pedigree 
 a little disappoints us in its personal appearance. 
 
 In liot-liouses it has attained the height of fifteen 
 feet, but in its natural state in Spain and Barbarj^ 
 it is not more than four or five feet high. In Italy 
 it is dwarfer still ; its palmate leaves are there de- 
 scribed as fit for a lady's fan. 
 
 A miniature indeed of the great Fan Palm, or 
 Talipat of India, one leaf of which is sufiicient to 
 shelter twenty men from tlie rain. 
 
 But though deficient in stateliness, it is by no means 
 devoid of beautj^ ; and though for some time little 
 regarded in Europe, its usefulness is now becoming 
 known. 
 
 The Arabs had long made use of its firm, elastic 
 fibres, which resemble horse-hair, for making ropes ; 
 tent-covers were also manufactured by tloem, by 
 mixinoc those fibres with camels' hair. The French 
 in Algeria had, therefore, their attention directed to 
 its capabilities, and large quantities of the fibre were 
 imported into France. 
 
 Since then, French ingenuity has made from it 
 carpets and sailcloth of an excellent quality, and fi'om 
 the extreme divisibility of the fibre, thread as fine 
 as flax has been obtained from it. 
 
 The leaves, used by the Algerian Arabs in making 
 baskets, have also been experimented upon, and from 
 them paper has been made. Since 1854, four 
 kinds of manufactures — paper, sailcloth, carpets, 
 
72 THE DWARF FAN PALM. 
 
 and thread — have thus been furnished by this plant. 
 The paper and paste-board were exhibited in the 
 Crystal Palace of 1851. Desfontaines considered 
 that the young roots and the underground parts of 
 the stem were eatable. 
 
 In the mountain of Khasia, Dr. Joseph Hooker 
 found another species of chamserops, named by him 
 ChamcBVops KJiasiana. It rises out of naked rocks 
 on the edge of a plateau, overlooking a lovely valley 
 four thousand feet below. A similar species, or 
 identical with it, in the western Himalaya, reaches 
 an elevation of eight thousand feet, where it is 
 annually covered with snow. 
 
 Another of this hard}- species of palms, Ghamcerops 
 Ritchicma, inhabits the barren hills leading up to 
 the table-land of Affghanistan. Their dried trunks 
 and foliage are of much value as fuel, where the 
 scarcity of w^ood is so great. It is said of them that 
 "the scurf, with the addition of saltpetre, is ready 
 tinder for the matchlock." 
 
 The leaves called " phurra," are carried in large 
 quantities into Scinde, where they are made into 
 baskets, fans, brushes, sieves, platters, pouches, and 
 sandals. Ropes for the water-wheels, so universally 
 required there for the purposes of irrigation, are also 
 manufactured from them. 
 
 The leaf-bud, the young inflorescence, and the flesh 
 of the fruit are commonly eaten. The hard seeds 
 are made into rosaries ; and in stran^ife contrast to 
 
THE DWARF FAX PALM. 73 
 
 their use as beads of prayer, they are also used as 
 bullets. 
 
 A Chinese species of chamserops, Chamcerops ex- 
 celsa, is spoken of by Fortune as much valued by 
 the Chinese for many domestic purposes. From its 
 strong brown fibre, ropes and cables are made ; bed- 
 bottoms are also wrought from it. From the leaves 
 hats are manufactured, and a garment called " So-e," 
 adapted for wet weather, commonly worn by the; 
 agricultural labourers of northern China. 
 
 This palm has been recommended in our gardenei-s' 
 journals as a hardy plant, growing out of doors in 
 the neighbourhood of London, unhurt as yet by our 
 winter's frosts. 
 
 Fortune speaks of the Hemp Palm occupying a 
 prominent place on the sides of the mountains 
 which surround the Snowy Valley. It is said by 
 him to be a tree of great commercial importance to 
 the Chinese, on account of the •' curious and valuable 
 sheets of fibre yearly produced on its stem."* 
 
 * Fortune's Residence in Clilna from 1853 to IBoC,. 
 
SCIjc- liuttmr ox €'dm |)alm» 
 
 (Cdamus.—limNJEi-us.) 
 
 [XCEPTING the Date Palm, the Phcenix 
 of the Greeks, and the Dwarf Fan Palm, 
 Pahna, the name-child of the Romans, 
 we have amongst the Palms of the East 
 no proved pedigrees to guide us as to 
 their precedence. 
 
 In default, therefore, of " Herald's 
 Visitations/' other palms may be grouped as they natu- 
 rally suggest themselves — either from some tie of 
 neighbourhood, some similarity of appearance, or of 
 produce, or from striking and effective contrast. 
 
 Contrary as the two last reasons appeal', they 
 may serve by turns to effect the same desired pur- 
 pose — that of leaving on the mind of the reader a 
 complete picture, as it w^ere, of the royal ftimih^ of 
 palms. 
 
 In grouping a family picture an artist is guided 
 by either or both — assimilation or contrast. 
 
 We may see two lovely sisters, twin-like in their 
 appearance, stand side by side, while at a little. 
 
THE RATTAN OR CANE PALM. 75 
 
 distance the little one of the family stretches out its 
 tiny arms to some tall majestic figure. 
 
 Let us return to the mountain and valley in the 
 far East of which we had but a hasty glimpse, and 
 one of tlie Cham?erops species, a ''little one" of the 
 palm-tree family, shall point out to us the tallest of 
 its race. 
 
 To the mountains of Khasia, in eastern Bengal, 
 at the head of the great delta of two holy rivers, the 
 Ganges and the Burrampooter (or Brahmaputra), we 
 return, under the guidance of Dr. Joseph Hooker. 
 
 On the cliffs near ]\Iamloo (a name signifying 
 '"'stone of salt," eating salt from a sword's point 
 being the Khasian form of oath), ChamcieropsKhasiana, 
 bending forwards fi'om out of naked rocks, looked 
 over the edge of a plateau. 
 
 Let us also look over these clitfs. 
 
 The views are described as magnificent. Valleys 
 four thousand feet below " are carpeted as with 
 green velvet, from which rise tree ferns with spreading 
 crowns, and tall Rattan Palms, their pointed heads 
 surrounded with feathery foliage, like ostrich plumes, 
 sliooting far above the great trees. 
 
 " Beyond are the jheels (swampy treeless lands, 
 intersected by innumerable canal-like streams), looking 
 like a broad shallow sea, with the tide half out, 
 bounded in the blue distance by the low hills of 
 Tipperah. To the right and the left are scarped red 
 rocks and roaring waterfalls, shooting out far over 
 
THE RATTAN OR CANE PALM. 
 
 the cliffs, arching their necks as they expand in 
 feather}^ foam, over which rainbows float, forming 
 and dissolving as the wind sways the curtains of 
 spray from side to side." 
 
 A magnificent picture. Such a description of their 
 home fittingly ushers in this giant tribe. 
 
 Though Cane Palms are also natives of Cochin 
 China, the Malayan peninsula, and the islands of the 
 Indian Archipelago, it is only in the East Indies, 
 and only there where extremes of heat and moisture 
 are combined, that they attain the wondrous heights 
 which are recorded of them. 
 
 It is to Rumphius's " Herbarium Amboinense," 
 Vol v., under the head of " Palmijuncus," that 
 writers on palms refer for the marvellous lengths 
 they are said to reach. 
 
 Gala7}ius verus, one hundred feet ; Calamus oh- 
 longuSy three hundred to four hundi'ed ; Calamus 
 extensus, six hundred feet. Another kind, the 
 name not given, Rumphius speaks of as reaching 
 one thousand and one thousand two hundred 
 feet. 
 
 But there is much to interest us in the Calamea) 
 besides their enormous height. 
 
 A beautiful picture of Calamus equestris, in Von 
 Martius's work, shows us the characteristics of the 
 tribe. A smooth bamboo-looking stem, extremely 
 slender in proportion to its immense height, sup- 
 porting evenly poised a magnificent crow^n of feathery 
 
THE RATTAN OR CANE PALiM. 77 
 
 leaves. A tree one inch in diameter, being two 
 hundred and fifty feet or more in height. 
 
 Excepting the smooth stem, and its fruit, evei-y 
 other part of tliis tree is armed with prickles. Its 
 pinnated leaves terminate in long, long spines, hooked 
 backwards, enabling them to attain their giddy 
 height by raising themselves on the shoulders and 
 heads of their companions in the forest. 
 
 But this almost dizzy elevation does not cause the 
 lofty Calamese to forget their mission as true palms ; 
 each one, as a servant of God, is a friend of man, 
 and affords him innumerable benefits. 
 
 Calamus draco produces a resinous substance, once 
 considered a valuable medicine ; Dragon's-blood* has 
 been from ancient times an important article of com- 
 merce. It still retains its value as a drug amongst 
 the Chinese, who import it in large quantities. 
 
 With us it is now principally used as a red 
 colouring matter for varnishes and paints ; dissolved 
 in spirits of wine it is employed in staining marble. 
 It also enters into the composition of tinctures and 
 tooth-powders. 
 
 The ruby-coloured gum or resin is the outei: 
 covering of the ripe fruit. 
 
 But the especial value of the Calamese are the 
 rattans or canes obtained from various species, espe- 
 cially Calamus rotang. 
 
 * A similiir substance is oMaijicd from the Prngon tree {Draorvn draco) and from 
 other plants. 
 
73 THE EATTAN OR CANE PALM. 
 
 The uses of canes are illimitable. They are uni- 
 versally appreciated. Few, even amongst palms, boast 
 a wider field of utility than the Rattan, or Cane 
 Palm. 
 
 The amusing introduction to Seemann's " History 
 of Palms," turns on his early antipathy to canes. 
 Like him, every school-boy objects to, and would 
 wish to annihilate the species when raised aloft in 
 the master's hand ; but the same pretty brown or 
 yellow cane assumes a different aspect when, as his 
 own property, and as one of the earliest assump- 
 tions of manhood, it accompanies him in his 
 walks. 
 
 His plaything then, how unceasingly does he 
 switch it to and fro, mercilessl}^ dealing destruction 
 to ever}^ hapless wild-flower in his path. 
 
 But how attempt to enumerate the uses of cane? 
 
 Our list, beginning with the school-boy's walking- 
 stick, must pass through every gradation of utility, 
 till we see it flinging itself across a raging torrent to 
 make a pathway for man. A fragile-looking but 
 enduring bridge ! 
 
 In the Himalayan journal already referred to, we 
 read of such a bridge. Cane bridges somewhat 
 similar are described by many travellers in India 
 and Ceylon ; the Maha-welli-ganga is crossed by one. 
 
 The Eattan Palm is called by the natives of 
 Ceylon " Way wel." 
 
 A visit to the cane bridge over the Great Runjeet 
 
THE KATTAX OR CAX^E PAL^f. 79 
 
 River is a favourite excursion from Dorjiling, a hill- 
 station of Sikkirn. 
 
 In a wild and beautiful spot this exquisitely 
 simple fairy-like bridge, eighty yards in length, is 
 seen spanning the foaming waters of the Runjeet, 
 rocking to and fro forty feet above the roaring 
 torrent. The canes with which it is constructed are 
 the thickness of a finger ; they are twenty or thirty 
 feet long. The requisite length is obtained by joining 
 them together with strips of the same plant ; they 
 are then stretched across the stream, a beautiful fio- 
 tree forming a pier on one side. From these parallel 
 canes others hang in loops, the fastenings in all cases 
 being strips of the same cane. The flooring is com- 
 posed of bamboos, which are laid transversely in these 
 swinging loops. 
 
 This apparently fragile but really secure bridge is 
 crossed without hesitation by natives and Europeans. 
 The motion is great, but barefooted Lepchas carry 
 across it burdens of one hundred and forty pounds 
 weight. 
 
 Tables and bedsteads are in a few minutes con- 
 structed by the natives, their only materials a few 
 sticks, some split pieces of bamboo, and strij^s of 
 Rattan Palm, by means of which the work is secured 
 without a nail or screw.* 
 
 In the islands of the Indian Archipelago, the 
 Rattan Palm is considered one of their most useful 
 
 • Himalayan Journal, Dr. Joseph Hooker. 
 
80 THE EATTAN OR CA^'E PALM. 
 
 indigenous plants. Their forests afford an abundant 
 supply of numerous varieties ; some are the size of a 
 goose quill, others are several inches in diameter. 
 They are made available for innumerable domestic 
 purposes, and also form one of their principal articles 
 of exportation. 
 
 The finest rattans are said to be produced in 
 Sumatra. 
 
 Crawford, in his " Histor}^ of the Indian x\rchi- 
 pelago," tells us that the Chinese, who import im- 
 mense quantities for the purposes of cordage, used to 
 obtain them in Borneo at the low rate of five cents 
 for a hundred. Four and five millions of these canes 
 are in some years shipped from the territories of the 
 East India Company. 
 
 Four millions are said to be annually imported 
 into England. 
 
 They supply us with the material required for the 
 beautiful plaited cane-work used for carriages and 
 chairs. Froni them, too, Ave receive our walking- 
 sticks, fishing-rods, umbrella and parasol sticks. 
 
 Dyed black to imitate whalebone, they are em- 
 ployed for the frames of umbrellas and parasols, for 
 stifiening of bonnets, and for making brushes and 
 brooms. 
 
 A beautiful Avalking-stick called " Malacca Cane " 
 is said to be from Calaimis scijnonum, a native of 
 Sumatra. Some are mottled or clouded, and some 
 brown fi'om having been smoked. Malacca canes 
 
THE EATTAN OR CANE TALM, 81 
 
 are also worn in the gigantic petticoats of the present 
 day by some who object to steel. 
 
 Another well-known stick is from a miniature 
 Palm of Penang, which seldom exceeds four or five 
 feet in height. These are more carefully prepared, 
 being scraped with glass, straightened by fire, and 
 then polished. 
 
 But in the East the Calameae are yet more highly 
 prized than with us. The vessels of eastern seas are 
 supplied with cables plaited and twisted with these 
 canes. Cane-ro])es, as considered the strongest, are 
 used for binding the wild elephants. All kinds of 
 cordage are made from them, the slender fibres being 
 used as twine. 
 
 In England we are familiar with the exquisitely 
 beautiful baskets brought, through Holland, from 
 Japan ; they are plaited from finely split cane. 
 Cabinets with drawers are made from the same 
 material ; very dui-able mats, also, and coarser baskets 
 for packing. 
 
 Beautiful specimens of plaiting from the Rattan 
 Palm are to be seen in the " Old Museum " at Kew. 
 An exquisite Cheroot-case, finely plaited with strips 
 of Cane Palm dyed red, and intermixed with silver ; 
 a curious girdle worn by the D3^ak women at Borneo, 
 also stained red, are amongst these curiosities. There 
 are also hats and skull caps of this plaited cane. Ik 
 the Philippine Islands, this fine plaiting of cane- 
 work is carried to great perfection, and employs 
 0) 6 
 
82 THE RATTAN OR CANE PALM. 
 
 multitudes of the women. Even on tlie spot some 
 of the articles are very costly ; " a cigar-case is some- 
 times valued at an ounce of gold."* 
 
 In their native land the j^oung shoots of Cane 
 Palms are eaten either boiled or roasted ; chopped 
 fine and seasoned with pepper and gravy. Their 
 small insipid fruit is prepared as a sweetmeat. One 
 variety affords a better kind of fruit, mealy and of 
 an acid flavour ; it is much liked by the natives, 
 who cultivate it in their gai'dens. 
 
 As perhaps the only palm easily procurable in 
 England, the Cane Palm may be made most interesting 
 by allowing it to exemplify one of the grand char- 
 acteristics of its family — their endoo-enous struc- 
 ture. 
 
 That such w^as the manner of growth in palms 
 was known so far back as B.C. 288. Theophrastus, 
 the scholar of Plato, and the friend of Aristotle, 
 distinctly noted the difference between endogenous 
 and exogenous. But many centuries passed before 
 the discoveries of the French naturalists Daubenton 
 and Desfontaines showed to wdiat a considerable 
 part of the vegetable kingdom this peculiarity ex- 
 tended. 
 
 Simply cutting a cane across will show the differ- 
 ence. In the endogenous structure the centre part 
 or pith (which in most species of Palms affords such 
 valuable food), is as it were blended together with 
 
 * Bowling's Philippine Islands. 
 
THE RATTAN OR CANE PALM. 83 
 
 the more woody part, and the bark, or outside of 
 the stem. 
 
 In the exogenous the tliree are distinct. 
 
 The endogenous, or inward growth, is suggestive 
 of many beautiful analogies. 
 
 May not young and old learn something beyond 
 the bare fact, from the curious circumstance noticed 
 by travellers ? 
 
 Trees of this structure are found to be scarcely, if 
 at all, injured by the creeping and climbing plants 
 which so abound in tropical forests. 
 
 It is painful to read of, and yet more painful to see 
 the strong-limbed Ceiba (or silk-cotton tree) strangled 
 in the deadly embrace of its parasite, the wild fig. 
 
 Now look on our palms. 
 
 In the West, behold the Leopoldinia, entwined 
 with brilliant Orchideae ; in the East, the Betel 
 Palm, garlanded with a climbing fern — uninjured 
 both. The Palmyra, sometimes encircled with a pink 
 Orchid, has at other times her stem entirely hidden, 
 surrounded as it is with the Banyan's ferial roots — 
 but still she flourishes ; her evergreen crown is 
 joyously lifted on high. 
 
 And so it is with all other palms, they are un- 
 harmed by evil companionship. 
 
 The garlanding of ferns and orchide?e, which are 
 as flattery's wiles in the days of prosperity, hurts 
 not the uprising tree. The grasp of the wild fig 
 is as the cloak of adversity, or as envys malignant 
 
84 THE RATTAN OR CANE PALM. 
 
 attack — it may for a time conceal, but it cannot 
 destroy the beauty and the joy which is not of out- 
 ward growth. 
 
 We are told by Lord Bacon, '' As hieroglyphics 
 preceded letters, so parables were more ancient than 
 arguments." 
 
 An Eastern fable may be appropriate here :— 
 
 A gourd had climbed the tall stem of a palm ; 
 having reached the summit, it mockingly questioned 
 the roj^al tree, — 
 
 " How long have you taken to reach this 
 height?" 
 
 '"A hundred years," replied the palm. 
 
 " What think you then of me ? " said the gourd ; 
 " in a few days I have reached the same height 
 that you have required so many years to accom- 
 plish." 
 
 " I think nothing of that," responded the palm, 
 " for every year of my life I have seen a gourd wind 
 itself about my stem, as proud and self-confident as 
 thou art, and as short-lived as thou wilt be." 
 
 Tn the rustling of palms there is ever a voice. 
 
 AVhen the stately Calamus speaks, we seem to 
 hear the word " excelsior ! " 
 
 Uprising, never cast down, the firmly rooted tree 
 is enabled, slowly but surel}^ da}^ by day, to increase 
 its majestic stature, and to it a superb crown is given, 
 one that fadetli not quickly away. 
 
 Away, then, dear boy-readers, ^^'ith all unpleasant, 
 
THE KATTAX OPv CANE TALM. 85 
 
 unworthy associations with Cane Palms, determine 
 to have none such yourselves. 
 
 The cane may lie on the master's desk, but give 
 to it in your minds a nobler voice. 
 
 It comes of a kingly race ; let it speak to you of 
 crowns ! 
 
 There are crowns to be won, dear boys ! 
 
 In every station of life honour and distinction 
 may be gained. 
 
 The boy of to-day may be in days to come a 
 benefactor to mankind ; in many ways this may be. 
 
 A learned botanist, an adventurous traveller in 
 distant regions, he may discover precious plants to 
 add to the great families of the vegetable kingdom — 
 the splendid catalogue of palms may be enriched by 
 him. 
 
 A man of industry and observation, he may in 
 his own land search out new products, or mate- 
 rially improve those already known. He may be 
 as the palm tree — Servant of God, and Friend 
 of Man. 
 
 As a statesman, a soldier, a sailor, he may win 
 the palm. 
 
 Already has the crowned tree suggested proud 
 distinctions to some whom a grateful country has 
 delighted to honour. 
 
 Nelson's shield was emblazoned with a ship of 
 war, a palm tree, and the words '' Palmam qui 
 meruit ferat." 
 
86 THE llATTAN OR CANE PALM. 
 
 May it ever be so. Let Jtim v:ko has ivon hear 
 the loalm. But bear what the statesman, Lord 
 Liverpool's motto says, " Palma non sine pulvere." 
 Ah, Not luithout labour can the- ixihn he tvon. 
 
 From the school-room and the play-ground to the 
 senate and the battle-field — he who would win must 
 labour. The boy who would be a great man must 
 learn that " in trying strength comes." 
 
 Trouble and toil nmst come before triumph. Tlie 
 palm tree, that will not be cast down, is the type of 
 the true athlete — the contender for victory. 
 
 There are crowns to be won, dear hoys, more 
 glorious even than these 1 
 
 The earliest crowns that ever were worn, were 
 worn by those consecrated to God's service. Priests 
 were the earliest w^earers of crowns ; and princes 
 wore them, because the kings of ancient times were 
 also priests. 
 
 The earliest form of a crown was radiated — a 
 crown of rays or of light. Even as in ancient days 
 the palm tree, with its leaves radiating from the 
 centre, was called the " crowned tree," and was chosen 
 as the emblem of light. 
 
 There are crowns of light for which the dullest in 
 intellect, the Aveakest in body, may strive. 
 
 There are palm branches for the pure in heart, 
 for the strong in faith, to bear. 
 
 They are promised to those who " overcome." 
 
 In the battle of life how much there is to over- 
 
THE RATTAN OR CANE PALM. 87 
 
 come ! Evils und temptations of many kinds within 
 and without ! Evil influences without ; evil disposi- 
 tions within ! 
 
 AVho can be strong enough to overcome all these? 
 
 None in themselves ; hut in God's strength the 
 weakest shall be strong. Wearing the whole armour 
 of God, striving in God's name, to the children of 
 God victory is assured. 
 
 For such conquerors palm branches wait at 
 heaven's gate. 
 
m^t |Uttl-iut |:vlin. 
 
 (Areca catechu. — Willdenow.) 
 
 N the same " luxuriant green jungle of 
 palms" where we found the aspiring 
 Calamea.% we shall also find tall Betel 
 Palms clothed with "elegant draperies 
 of climbing ferns." 
 
 Areca Palms are amongst the love- 
 liest of their race. Ai'eca catechu was considered 
 by Dr. Roxburgh as the most beautiful palm in 
 India. 
 
 It reaches from forty to sixty feet in height. In 
 Ceylon they sometimes measure seventy- five feet. 
 Its stem is very erect and perfectly smooth, of a dark 
 green colour, changing to gi-ay as it becomes older. 
 This slender shaft, seldom exceeding eighteen inches 
 in circumference, is surmounted by a rich tuft of dark 
 green feathery leaves. 
 
 By Hindu poets the Betel Palm is aptly described 
 as '' an arrow shot down from heaven." 
 
 At three years old it begins to bear long bunches 
 of orange-coloured fruit, which, contrasting with the 
 
THE BETEL-NUT TALM. 89 
 
 deep rich hue of the leaves, adds the charm of colour 
 to that of gracefulness of form. 
 
 The fruit, though very astringent, is eaten ; but 
 the nut which is enclosed within it is the peculiar 
 boast of the tree ; so much so, that the proper name 
 of the tree itself is lost in that given to its produce. 
 Areca Palms are best known throughout India as 
 Betel Palms. 
 
 It is not only for its beauty that the Eastern 
 poets speak of this tree as an arrow shot from 
 heaven. 
 
 It supplies that Avhich, throughout the East, is 
 valued far more than food. 
 
 The Betel Nut's hold on the affections of the 
 natives in every part of Asia where it is procur- 
 able, exceeds even that obtained by tobacco in the 
 West. 
 
 But the Betel Nut has higher claims to regard 
 than the mischievous weed. 
 
 From it the world obtains a valuable medicine. 
 The drug called catechu (signifying the juice of a 
 tree), formerly known as Terra japonica, is pro- 
 cured from a decoction of the nuts of Areca catechu, 
 as well as from the leaves of Acacia catecJtu. Areca 
 nuts contain a large quantity of tannin, causing them 
 to be employed in some parts of India for dyeing 
 cotton cloths. Catechu is not only used by us me- 
 dicinally ; it is also employed in tanning and dyeing. 
 Calico printers consume large (piantities of it. 
 
90 THE BETEL-^'UT PALM. 
 
 But from time immemorial this graceful tree has 
 been cultivated in the East for the sake of its 
 nuts. In some of the lano-uaores of the Indian 
 archipelago the Ai'eca nut has a name signifying 
 ' the fruit." 
 
 The practice of chewing the Betel Nut had long 
 been common throughout Hindustan, when Arabians 
 and Persians, visiting there in the eighth and ninth 
 centuries, quickly adopted the habit, and carried it 
 back to their own lands. Manuscripts of the fifth 
 century speak of palm trees that bear the small aro- 
 matic Indian nut. In books of old European tra- 
 vellers we find it said, speaking of the Indian island- 
 ers — " They are always chewing Areca, a certain 
 fruit rolled up in leaves, of a tree called bettre, or 
 vetell. They say they do it to comfort the heart, 
 nor could live without it." 
 
 Strange as they may appear at first sight, almost 
 every long-established custom will be found to have 
 originated in some instinctive sense of their need- 
 fulness. 
 
 Sir J. I. Tennent, in his comprehensive work on 
 Ceylon, gives us an explanation of the need supplied 
 by the Betel Nut. 
 
 He describes *' every Singhalese as carrying in his 
 waistcloth an ornamented box of silver or brass ; 
 inside of which is a smaller one to hold the chunam 
 (a lime obtained by the calcination of shells) ; whilst 
 the larger one contains the Areca nuts, and a few 
 
THE BETEL-NUT PALM. 91 
 
 fresh leaves of the Betel pepper ; this last growing 
 on a vine." 
 
 Continually, through the day, the Singhalese 
 '' scrapes down the nut which abounds in catechu, 
 rolling it up with a little of the lime in a betel leaf 
 The whole is chewed, and finally swallowed.'^ 
 
 In this combination of anti-acid, tonic, and car- 
 minative substances, contained respectively in the 
 lime, the pepper, and the nut, exists a corrective for 
 the defective quahties of the vegetable food, particu- 
 larly rice, which is so universal in the East. 
 
 Unconsciously, the chewer of the Betel Nut ad- 
 ministers to himself a most useful medicine. 
 
 This time-honoured practice is universal among 
 men and women, from the poorest to the highest in 
 rank. 
 
 Side by side with the wanton luxury of Cleopatra 
 dissolving pearls in her wine cup, we may place that 
 of some of the native princes of India, who import 
 small pearls from a lake in Ceylon, for the purpose 
 of burning them into a species of lime, which they 
 use with the Betel Nut. 
 
 In Khasia the natives measure distances by the 
 number of mouthfuls of Betel Nut chewed on the 
 
 road. 
 
 Like the cacao seeds in Mexico, and the tobacco 
 currency in the early days of the colonization of 
 Virginia, betel is used as money in some parts 
 of Ceylon. In the fifth century B.C. betel leaves 
 
92 THE BETEL-NUT PALM. 
 
 were sent as a present from a princess to her 
 lover. 
 
 In" many Eastern countries the nuts are given for 
 good luck. At the occasion of launching a vessel at 
 Bombay, they are presented to the spectators, includ- 
 ing Europeans, to ensure good luck to the vessel. 
 
 Amongst the Malays, the betrothment gift, or 
 pledge of the lover's faith, is a handful of prepared 
 areca, or " penang," which gives its name to the 
 ceremony. The Island of Penang, in the Strait of 
 Malacca, derives its name from its Betel-nut Palms. 
 In that country, even its disgusting effects of black- 
 ening the lips and reddening the teeth is considered 
 a beauty, A Malayan poet compares the moutli of 
 his lady-love to an open pomegranate fully ripe ; the 
 blackened lips to the dark rind ; the stained teeth 
 to the crimson seeds within. 
 
 White teeth are, consequently, in great disfavour. 
 A chief's son, who had been educated in Calcutta, 
 on returning to his native country, visited the sove- 
 reign of Samarang. The youth in all respects made 
 a favourable impression on the king, except that he 
 was pitied because his teeth were so white. 
 
 It is said that though it discolours it preserves 
 the teeth. This idea has led to Europeans preparing 
 tooth powder from areca-nut charcoal. 
 
 In China the nuts are much used as medicine both 
 for men and horses. The quantity imported by the 
 Chinese, exclusive of that obtained from Cochin 
 
TEIE BETEL-NTTT PALM. 93 
 
 China, is said to amount to upwards of forty- five 
 piculs annual]}^ ; one picul being one hundred and 
 thirtj^-three and a half pounds English. 
 
 Eighty thousand piculs are produced on the coast 
 of Sumatra. 
 
 In the Philippine Islands the consumption of Betel 
 Nut is said by Sir J. Bowring to be " incredibly 
 great" — an article of necessity even more urgent to 
 the inhabitants of those islands than " the rice they 
 eat, or the water they drink." Out of the eight hun- 
 dred and ninety-eight warehouses and shops in the 
 city of Manilla, he informs us that " four hundred 
 and thirty-nine are devoted to the sale of prepared 
 bete], or to the materials of which it is composed. 
 In three hundred and eight of these sliops the nut is 
 sold for immediate use, mixed with shell lime, and 
 served with ' buyo' or leaf of the betel pepper." 
 
 The fruit, about the size of a hen's egg, usually 
 produces one nut each ; but sometimes double and 
 triple nuts are found. 
 
 These nuts are also used in the Philippine Islands 
 for making black ink. In some parts of India cotton 
 cloths are dyed with them. 
 
 A sort of inebriating lozenge is made from the sap 
 of the tree. 
 
 At Pedoi, in Sumatra, a game called mein-achu, 
 is played with areca nuts. It is described as some- 
 what resembling our English game of marbles. 
 
 A curious fact is mentioned by Bennett in his 
 
94 THE BETEL-NUT PALM. 
 
 ^'Watidermgs in New South Wales, China, &;c." 
 A cargo of these nuts is said to generate so much 
 heat in the hold of a vessel, that from the quantity 
 of steam which arises the crew are not allowed to 
 sleep between decks. So excessive was the heat, 
 that some wood, which it was necessary to bend, 
 being placed amongst the nuts, it was in a few mi- 
 nutes sufficiently steamed for the purpose. 
 
 The flowers of areca catechu are deliciously fra- 
 grant. They are used on all festive occasions. They 
 are also highly valued in the East as ingredients in 
 medicine, and as charms for healing the sick. 
 
 The leaf-bud or cabbage is eaten as a vegetable. 
 
 In Sumatra many of the common drinking and 
 baking utensils, and vessels for holding water and 
 carrying fish, are made from the spathe. It is also 
 nailed at the bottom of some of the native boats. 
 The boatmen both there and at Java carry small 
 bunches of the abortive fruit as ornaments at the 
 stern and bows of their boats. 
 
 In the Philippine Islands the lower part of the 
 petiole, which is white and flexible, is called '' Ta- 
 lupac." It is used by the natives as a kind of 
 paper or cloth to wrap up articles, and is sold by 
 them for such purposes. 
 
 In the Museum at Kew a singular walking-stick 
 is to be seen, composed of a succession of rings cut 
 from betel nuts. 
 
^ht ialntDnt^ 
 
 {BorassusJlahelliformis.—Li^ii{jE.\i^.) 
 
 jHIS magnificent palm is said by Sir Wil- 
 liam Jones to be justly considered "the 
 king of its order," called by the Hindus, 
 "grass-trees." 
 
 With us, palms properly distinguished 
 
 from grasses, form a separate family. 
 
 The Palmyra, or " Tala," is a sacred tree in the 
 
 East. It is dedicated to one of the Hindu gods, and 
 
 is looked upon as the Kalpa tree, or " Tree of Life" 
 
 of their paradise. 
 
 In Ceylon, where it is most especially loved and 
 honoured, an ancient Tamil poem, " Tala Vilasam," 
 composed in honour of it, is still preserved. Its 
 eight hundred and one uses are there enumerated, 
 and an account given of its supposed creation sepa- 
 rately from all other trees, or rather of its being 
 transplanted from heaven to earth, as an especial gift 
 of their gods. 
 
 According to this tradition,* the world, as origi- 
 
 * See a complete history of the Palmyra, by "William Ferguson, Colombo. 
 
9G THE PALMYP^A. 
 
 nally created by Bralima, was found insufficient for 
 the wants of man. One substance was still want- 
 ing ; one that sliould at the same time feed and 
 enrich the people, and have the gift of healing the 
 sick. In their great need the human race besought 
 the assistance of Vishnu, who angrily summoned 
 Brahma to account for his neglect. Brahma, de- 
 scribed in the poem standing like a chidden child, 
 '' his finger below his under lip," declares himself 
 unequal to supply this want, having already exerted 
 his powers to the utmost in perfecting the earth. 
 
 From Paradise, itself, therefore, could mankind 
 only procure what they wanted ; and from Paradise 
 the Kalpa tree, or " Tree of Life," was transplanted 
 to earth, to be there known as the " Tala," or 
 ''Tari." 
 
 In the western world we shall find in another 
 palm another so-called " Tree of Life" — the Miriti, 
 or Ita Palm — which supplies to the Indian tribes of 
 the Orinoco their every need, even as the Palmyra 
 or Taia does to the Tamils in the northern part of 
 Ceylon. 
 
 In appreciation of its admirable qualities, the 
 Portuguese, during their possession, of Ceylon, be- 
 stowed on the noble tree the name of " Palmeira 
 brava," from wiiich our English name for it is de- 
 rived. 
 
 By the Malays it is called " Lontar." 
 
 Throughout the East it is known by many names ; 
 
THE PALMYKA. 97 
 
 for, next to the date and the coco nut, the Palmyra 
 Las the widest geographical distribution of all palms. 
 
 It is said to be found in about one fourth part of 
 the circumference of the globe. 
 
 Palmj^ras flourish on both sides of the Persian 
 Gulf, to the east and the west of Hindustan, includ- 
 ing the northern part of Ceylon. From Madras 
 they extend along the coast to Ava, the capital of 
 Burmah. Immense groves of the Palmyra cover the 
 banks of the Irawaddy. Southward they extend 
 through the Malayan peninsula to New Guinea, in- 
 cluding Sumatra, Borneo, and all the islands of the 
 Indian archipelago. 
 
 The great " topes," or forests, formed by these 
 palms, are described as most beautiful. 
 
 The magnificent tree towers to the height of 
 seventy and eighty feet, without the smallest devia- 
 tion in its perfect uprightness. Erect and stately 
 it wears a superb crown, the weight of which it is 
 enabled, by the hardness of its timber, to carry most 
 evenly poised. 
 
 In rare instances the Palmyra has a divided trunk, 
 like the Doom Palm of Egypt. In such cases each 
 stem is sui-mounted by leaves, and the tree wears a 
 double crown. 
 
 The crown whien is worn with such queen-like 
 grace, is composed of about forty fan-shaped leaves 
 arrano^ed round the head in a circular form. Tiie 
 leaves measure about four feet in length, the foot 
 
 (1) 7 
 
98 THE PALMYRA. 
 
 stalk being of equal leiigtli. Eacli leaf is divideJ 
 into seventy or eighty leaflets, which, diverging in 
 rays from the stalk, form in their turn a series of 
 almost complete circles. 
 
 When tlie tree arrives at a mature age, the lower 
 leaves detach themselves from the stem, which then 
 wears the appearance of a spiral plaiting surrounding 
 it from the base to the summit. Beautiful as this 
 effect is in itself, it derives additional beauty from 
 the wreathings of lovely vines of various kinds, 
 which seem to show a peculiar preference for Palmyra 
 stems. The stately tree is frequently garlanded 
 with the betel pepper vine, sometimes with an orchid, 
 with tassels of pink blossoms, and sometimes fes- 
 tooned with the beautiful flowers of Tpoineas and 
 Convolvuli. 
 
 The fruit of the Palm^-ra is the size of an ostrich's 
 egg. They grow togetlier in luige clusters. Their 
 rich brown colour changes towards the base to a 
 bright golden hue. One cluster is a load for a 
 coolie. 
 
 This palm is found in the mountains of Ceylon, 
 at an elevation of one thousand six hundred and 
 eighty and two thousand four hundred and fifty 
 feet ; but the localities it loves best are low sandy 
 plains scarcely above the level of the sea, exposed to 
 the full heat of the burning sun of the tropics. 
 
 Their growth is luxuriant. It has been estimated 
 by Mr, Fei-guson, that in an area of about seven 
 
THE PALMYKA. 93 
 
 Innidred acres, wliich includes the Jaffna peninsula 
 and the adjacent islands, there are close upon seven 
 millions of these trees. They supply one-fourth of 
 the food required by two hundred and twent}^ thou- 
 sand inhabitants of the country. 
 
 The Palmyra is also reckoned on as the chief sup- 
 port of six millions of the people of India and other 
 parts of Asia. In times of famine, consequent on 
 the failure of rice crops in seasons of drought, the 
 poorer classes find in the preserved fruits of the Pal- 
 myra their only resource. Without them, hundreds 
 of thousands must die by the lingering death of 
 hunger. Can we wonder that the grateful natives 
 call it the Tree of Life, and look upon it as a gift 
 from the veiy hands of a god. 
 
 The sugar yielded by this tree forms the chief 
 subsistence of the inhabitants of Timor and others of 
 
 tlie Sunda Islands. In dry seasons they depend 
 
 entirely on it for food. 
 
 To its fruit and sugar must be added an excellent 
 
 Hour obtained from the young plants, and the toddy 
 
 or wine yielded by its sap. 
 
 AVhat the potato is to the Irish, oatmeal to the 
 
 Scotch, the sugar cane to the West Indian, and the 
 
 grape vine to the south of Europe, .the Palmyra is 
 
 in herself, combining them all to the people of the 
 
 East. 
 
 Tlie in-nratherino; of her fruits in what are called 
 
 the " Palmyra regions" (the southern part of our 
 
100 THE PALMYRA. 
 
 Indian empire), is to the children of the soil wliat 
 our wheat harvests are to us. It is the great event 
 of the year. It attracts labourers from other countries, 
 and those belonging to the place who may have 
 emia'rated, if not too distant from their home, hasten 
 to return, to be present at this great domestic opera- 
 tion. 
 
 The fruit is said to vary in different trees in form, 
 colour, smell, and taste. They are classed by the 
 natives, each variety bearing its distinct name. 
 
 The first ripening of the fruit in July or August 
 is made the occasion of a feast. Men, women, and 
 children gather under some neighbouring tree ; a fire 
 is lighted, by which the fruit is roasted. It is then 
 eagerly devoured. It is sometimes eaten raw, but 
 the taste is rank and oily. 
 
 To this feast of the first-fruits succeeds the making 
 of " punatoo," or preserved fruit, which, like the 
 adjonc made from dates, is to last the people fur 
 food, with only the addition of rice, till the season 
 for ripe fruit returns. 
 
 Mats made of Palmyra leaves are spread upon 
 stages about four or five feet from the ground. The 
 ripe fruits having been torn asunder, are put with a 
 little water into baskets made of palm leaves. They 
 are then squeezed till the pulp, mixing with the 
 water, becomes a jelly. Successive layers of this 
 jelly are spread upon the mats, to the thickness of 
 half an inch, protected from rain and dew. It is 
 
THE PALMYRA. 101 
 
 lefl for about eighteen days to be dried by the sun. 
 Sometimes it is smoke-dried inside of their houses. 
 
 A mat containing the pulp of a thousand fruits 
 sells for from three to four shillings. 
 
 Ferguson, the historian of the Palmyra, does not 
 describe this punatoo, so beloved by the Singhalese, 
 as attractive to Europeans. In the ancient Tamil 
 poem before mentioned, the taste of it is likened to 
 honey, milk, and sugar. It enters largely into the 
 composition of most of their dislies. Preserved 
 with palm sugar, it is considered a peculiar deli- 
 cacy. 
 
 When Ceylon was possessed by the Dutch, they 
 used to send this preserve as presents to Java and 
 Holland. 
 
 With this '^ imnatoo'' is often eaten " putoo" a 
 preparation made from kelingoos, or young plants of 
 the Palmyra. 
 
 These are obtained by planting the seeds or ker- 
 nels of the fruit. In the first stage of their growth, 
 as soon as they have produced the germ of the future 
 tree, they are taken up. When shelled, the inside 
 kernels, resembling parsnips in shape and size, but 
 of a firmer consistency, are cut into slices and roasted 
 or boiled. They are eaten as a vegetable, sometimes 
 with the addition of a little coco-nut. 
 
 These kernels are also dried in the sun and ground 
 into meal. From this is prepared the favourite 
 " cool," or gruel, of the Singhalese. 
 
1U2 THE TALMYRA. 
 
 This very delicate kind of flour was much prized 
 at one tirae by the Dutch. 
 
 Keliiigoos are esteemed a great delicac3^ They 
 are exported in large quantities from Point Pedro to 
 Colombo and all parts of Ceylon. 
 
 But besides fruit, vegetables, and flour, the Pal- 
 m3'ra gives sugar, wine, oil, and many miscellaneous 
 articles. 
 
 Oil is expressed from the ripe fruit. The wine or 
 toddy is procured in much the same manner as from 
 the Wild Date. 
 
 The clear, sweet liquor, obtained from the crushed 
 inflorescence, has attractions for many creatures Vie- 
 sides man. 
 
 Innimierable flies are allured by it ; and the com- 
 bined attractions of toddy and insect prey causes 
 immense numbers of birds to conoreo-ate in the trees. 
 Some regular frequenters of these places of enter- 
 tainment are known by the name of toddy-birds. 
 
 Travellers give amusing descriptions of the chat- 
 ter and noise which o^oes on at these drinkincr 
 parties amongst the half-intoxicated birds. But 
 such unseemly merriment is not with them of longer 
 duration than it is with human beings. In both 
 cases insidious enemies are sure to be close at hand. 
 Hid amongst the leaves, the sleek palm cat peers 
 about with cruel ej^es, watching for the right moment 
 to make her deadly spring. 
 
 A fatal chain of temptations ! Toddy beguiles the 
 
THE PALMYRA. 103 
 
 flies ; toddy and Hies allure the birds ; toddy and 
 birds attract the cat — for she too, it is said, drinks 
 from the dangerous bowl. 
 
 Alas for this mischievous liquor I It causes the 
 Wild Date's distorted growth, and is the occasion of 
 evil even at the summit of the lofty Palmyra. 
 
 The opinions of Europeans differ as to the taste 
 of this too-fascinating toddy. Sir William Jones 
 compared it to champagne ; an American writer 
 ^lalcolm, to cider ; and Johnson, an Abyssinian tra- 
 veller, likened it to Q-ino-er beer ! 
 
 Toddy is used as yeast by the bakers in Cejdon. 
 It is also converted into vinegar. 
 
 As other writers have observed, it would be well 
 if this liquor, from whieli the still more pernicious 
 arrack is distilled, were all converted into that ^vhich 
 a portion of it is made to produce — sugar. 
 
 The process of making the inferior kind of sugar 
 called jagghery is very simple. A little wino is 
 added to the sap, and the liquor is boiled to the 
 consistency of syru}). It is then thrown into bas- 
 kets made uf palm leaves. It becomes, when cool, 
 partially crystallized. In this unfinished state, with 
 molasses still in it, jagghery is sent to the market, 
 where it sells for three farthings a pound. 
 
 We learn from Sir J. I. Tennent that three quarts 
 of Palmyra toddy will yield one pound of jagghery 
 — the produce of Jaffna, about ten thousand hun- 
 dredweights, being annually exported to the opposite 
 
104 THE PALMYRA. 
 
 coast of India, where it undergoes the process of 
 refining. The granulation is said to surpass that of 
 cane sugar. 
 
 Considerable quantities of palm sugar are J^early 
 exported to Europe from various parts of India ; 
 from Madras alone these exports amount to nine 
 thousand tons, of which the greatest part is from 
 the Palm3^ra, which is said to contain more of the 
 saccharine principle than any other palm. 
 
 Palm sugar has been manufactured in India from 
 a very ancient date. 
 
 " The reed which in India yields honey without 
 bees," mentioned by Nearchus three centuries before 
 the 3'ear of our Lord, was most probabl}' the sugar- 
 cane ; but old Singhalese chronicles of the following 
 century speak of palm sugar (from Palmyra or Kit- 
 tool), as distinguished from cane sugar. We are 
 told that ''in the first century B.C., a sugar-mill 
 existed in Ceylon on the very spot where, fifteen 
 hundred years after, a Dutch governor attempted to 
 restore the cultivation of sugar.''* 
 
 From the crreat merchant- carriers of olden time, 
 the Arabians, who brought to Europe the luxuries 
 of the East, were adopted in most instances the 
 names by which they are still known amongst us. 
 
 The Arabic sukkir is easily traced in English 
 sugar, French sucre, Italian zucchero, German zucher, 
 Spanish azucar, Russian sachar. Sanskrit scholars 
 
 ♦ Tennenf s " Ceyloii," 
 
THE PALMYRA. 105 
 
 claim for that language the earliest form of the word. 
 Some derive it from sarkara. Jagara or jagghery is 
 the name by which pahn sugar in the present day is 
 known throughout the East. Others suggest that 
 the Arabic word so wideh^ adopted originated from 
 goor, sweet ; se-goor, sweetest. 
 
 Precious indeed are the fruit and the sap of the 
 Palmyra; but that is not all — its leaf is the wnshing- 
 cap of the Singhalese. 
 
 In the tree itself is his wine-cellar and his orchard; 
 his preserves, his sugar, and his oil, come from there; 
 and his flour from the kernels of young plants, the 
 shells of which when charred surpass all other fuel 
 in the glowing heat which they give out. Almost 
 everything else required for domestic purposes he 
 finds in the leaves! 
 
 Simply dried in their natural state, they take the 
 form of a sloping roof, and quickly thatch his house. 
 They make the fences for his rice-field and garden. 
 Cut into strips, they are w^oven into his sleejDing 
 mat, and mats of every kind ; bags and baskets that 
 will hold water ; hats, caps, and innumerable other 
 articles, including a material for fastening, which 
 obviates the neces.sity of nails or screws. Is he 
 too hot? In them he finds a ready-made pun- 
 kah or fan. Does it rain ? Behold his um- 
 brella ! 
 
 They even supply the material for letters and 
 books ! 
 
i("J THE PALMYllA. 
 
 Books in Ceylon* are made in the present day, 
 even as they were centnries ago, from olas or strips 
 of pahii leaves. The Sibylline books of ancient 
 Kome are said to liavc been written on pahn 
 leaves. 
 
 The most valuable records and the most ancient 
 of tlio Singhalese chronicles are written on leaves of 
 the Talipat Palm, as they are considered the most 
 durable. We will therefore wait for the Great Fan 
 Palm to give us an account of these marvellous books. 
 To the story of the Palmyra, however, properly 
 belongs a notice of these palm-leaved books found in 
 an Arabian MS. of the tenth century. The tree was 
 spoken of as the " Tary " — Tari being one of the Tamil 
 names for the Palmyra — and its fruit vvas said to bo 
 eatable, which that of the Talipat is not. 
 
 Palmyra leaves are prepared and used in the same 
 way as those of the Talipat, and are employed for 
 ordinary purposes. The material for writing upon, 
 of which a Hindu author spoke about four thousand 
 years ago, now passes through our English post- 
 offices in India. Letters are written on olns, rolled, 
 and fiistened with gum lac. 
 
 In Timor water-pails and drinking-cups are made 
 from these leaves, and Jilso a favourite musical in- 
 
 * These pahn-leaf books, sometimes called Alahibar books, are common througli- 
 oul the East. The writer has some leaves of a book before her now, brought from 
 liurmah. They measure upwards of twenty inches in length, and are above two 
 and a half in width. A margin of about two inches is left at either end, nine lines 
 of close writing filling up the interior. A margin is also left round the two holes 
 towards the centre, through which passes the yellow silk cord on which the leaves 
 are strung. The edges are gilt, and the leaves are written on both sides. 
 
TUK PALMYRA. 107 
 
 strument. The leaf being bent, retains the curve ; 
 three strings are fastened at each end ; and a rude 
 sort of violin is produced. 
 
 The timber of tliis tree is extremely valuable. It 
 is so hard and durable, that a Tamil proverb says, 
 *' The Palmyra lives for a lac of years when planted, 
 and lasts for a lac of years when Mled." Its horny 
 fibres are said to resist the attacks of white ants, 
 wdiich especially recommends it for roofing througli- 
 out Ceylon and India. The exports from Jaffna in 
 rafters and laths consume annually l)etw^een seventy 
 thousand and eighty thousand palmyras. Besides 
 these rafters of great durability, this tree furnishes 
 pillars and posts for verandahs, well-sweeps and gut- 
 terings, bulwarks, rails, decks and roofs for native 
 vessels. Bows ai'e also made from this wood. 
 
 The trees should have reached a considerable age 
 before they are felled for timber. At a hundred 
 years old they are said to be good, but wdien older 
 the w^ood becomes harder and blacker. The Sin- 
 'ghalese have an idea that the side of the tree looking 
 south is superior to the other. The female are three 
 times the value of the male. 'J'he wood is suscep- 
 tible of a. very high polish. 
 
 Palmyra wood is brought to Europe, where it is 
 manufactured into various fancy articles, — umbrella 
 handles, w^alking- sticks, paper-rulers, wafer-stamps, 
 boxes, and other things of the kind. 
 
 The natives use artifice to make young w^ood 
 
108 THE PALMYRA. 
 
 appear old. They steep it in salt water, wliicli 
 makes it heavier and darkens tlie colour. 
 
 But there is yet another interesting particular re- 
 lating to the Palmyra, — its union with the Banyan 
 {Fieri s Indicus). 
 
 The '' marriage," as it is called by the Hindus, of 
 two of their sacred trees, is looked upon by them 
 with religious veneration. They regard it as an 
 especial act of Providence, and call it a ''holy marriage." 
 
 This singular union is by no means uncommon 
 throughout India and Ceylon. In their living 
 beauty these loving couples have been seen and 
 described by travellers in the East, and, united even 
 in death, they have been brought to England. A 
 Palmyra stem embraced by the Banyan is mentioned 
 by Tennent as now in the Museum of Belfast, and 
 another at Kew. 
 
 This union is simply explained b}^ birds dropping 
 the Banyan's seeds into moist cavities of the 
 Palmyra's stem, occasioned by detached leaves. 
 The Banyan's aerial roots fjilling on all sides, soon 
 encircle the Palm, so that nothing of her is seen but 
 her magnificent crown uplifted on high above her 
 bearded lord. An exquisite illustration of the words 
 of Solomon : '' A virtuous woman is as a crown to 
 her hnsband." 
 
 In the loft}' Calamus man may behold the type of 
 the conqueror ; in the beautiful Palmyra woman 
 may see the representation of a perfect wife. 
 
THE PALMYKA. 109 
 
 In her loving modesty, she is willingly eclipsed 
 by the superior greatness of her lord ; yet still she 
 preserves her pure and healthful individuality. 
 Abounding in good works, the influence of her sweet 
 presence is felt, and though partially, it is not en- 
 tirely concealed. Her crown, which fiideth not 
 away, is seen on high, a witness and example to all. 
 Crowned herself, she is as a crown to her liusband 
 also. 
 
 The hold on the thoughts and affections of the 
 natives of Ceylon which this invaluable tree has for 
 centuries retained is evidenced by the numerous 
 Tamil proverbs in daily use which have reference to 
 her various characteristics. 
 
 The Palmyra is in Ceylon a " household word." 
 
 The lovely island, beautiful itself as an Eastern 
 queen, wears a double diadem of palm-leaves and 
 ])earls. 
 
 Compai'e the two crowns. 
 
 The most ancient of all, the radiated crown — that 
 which was placed on the statues of gods, and which 
 was worn by priests while offering sacrifices to them. 
 
 It is represented by the ray-like circle of the 
 leaves of the palm. 
 
 In later da3'S men adopted the fillet of pearls. 
 
 In real value does not the leaf surpass the gem ? 
 
 God's gift, how lavishly is it bestowed ! Palm 
 leaves wave joyously in the yunny air. Under 
 their shadow cheerful industry and contentment 
 
no THE PALMYEA. 
 
 make their home, where simple food and domestic 
 comfort is supplied. 
 
 Far down in the depths of the ti'oubled sea gleams 
 forth the coveted gem. In peril of life and limb, 
 the anxious treasure-seeker must go down into these 
 dark waters to fetch it forth. He snatches at his 
 prize in fear, and when it is gained he is watched on 
 all sides by suspicious e3^es. Sometimes the jewel 
 is won at the sacrifice of life. 
 
 Say, does not the palm-leaf crown outshine the 
 fillet of pearls ? 
 
kji^ 
 
 £Ijt (gnat f;i\\\ ^alm— Salipat, 
 
 {Coryijha umhracidif era.— lilt's jem?,.) 
 
 HE Talipat closely resembles the Palmyra. 
 An artist might almost suppose them 
 twin-sisters, but the botanist classes 
 them differently. 
 
 Tlie Talipat is the most majestic of 
 the two. It is the Great Fan Palm of 
 the family. Its choice of locality is different too to 
 tliat of the sister palm. 
 
 ^^atives alike of Ceylon, Malabar, and the Malay 
 coast, the Talipat loves best the mountain heights 
 and rocky grounds of these regions, while the 
 Palmyra delights to clothe with beauty their low 
 and sandy plains. 
 
 The Talipat attains sixty, seventy, and sometimes 
 a hundred feet in height. Its peculiar boast is the 
 size and usefulness of its superb leaves. When they 
 first appear they are folded together in ])laits like a 
 lady's fan, but as they expand they form a magni- 
 ficent' circle of ray-like leaflets. 
 
 The length of the petiole or foot-stalk is said by 
 
112 THE GREAT FAN PALM — TALIPAT. 
 
 some writers to be seven feet, and that of the leaf 
 six feet, measuring thirteen feet in breadth ; the 
 segments of the leaf, or leaflets, being from ninety- 
 five to a hundred in number. 
 
 Others describe the leaves as fourteen feet broad, 
 and eighteen feet long, exclusive of the stalk ; the 
 whole forming a superb crown of about forty feet in 
 diameter. 
 
 Each leaf is said b}^ Tennent, when laid upon 
 the ground, to form a semi-circle of sixteen feet in 
 diameter, and cover an area of nearly two hundred 
 superficial feet. 
 
 Knox, twenty years a prisoner to the Khig of 
 Ceylon, thus describes, in his book of the seventeenth 
 century, the Talipat tree: — 
 
 " It is as big and tall as a ship's mast, and veiy 
 straight, beariug only leaves, which are of great use 
 and benefit to this people — one single leaf being so 
 broad and large that it will cover some fifteen or 
 twenty men, and keep them diy wdien it rains. 
 The leaf being dried is very strong and limber, and 
 most wonderfully made for man's convenience to 
 carry along with him ; for though this leaf be thus 
 broad when it is open, yet it will fold close like a 
 lady's fan, and then it is no bigger than a man's 
 arm. It is wonderfully light. They cut them into 
 pieces, and carry them in their hands. The whole 
 leaf spread is round, almost like a circle; but being 
 cut in ])ieces for use, are near like unto a triangle. 
 
THE GREAT FAX PALM— TALIPAT, 113 
 
 They lay them upon their heads as they travel, with 
 the peaked end foremost, which is convenient to 
 make their way through the boughs and thickets. 
 When the sun is vehement hot, they use them to 
 shade themselves from the heat. Soldiers all carry 
 them; for besides the benefit of keeping them dry in 
 case it rain upon the march, these leaves make their 
 tents to lie under in the night. A marvellous mercy 
 which Almiglit}^ God hath bestowed upon this poor 
 and naked people in this rainy country." 
 
 So infinitely useful were these magnificent leaves 
 that we wonder not to read that they were held in 
 especial honour. On the same principle, it would 
 seem, as the wool-sack is made the seat of honour in 
 England's House of Peers, in Ceylon, under their 
 native rulers, the leaves of the Talipat, folded to- 
 gether as a fan, were carried before the great man 
 of the island as a sio-n of distinction. The number 
 of leaves was determined by his rank. Elaborately 
 ornamented fans, formed from a single leaf of the 
 Talipat, are still so used on occasions of ceremony. 
 
 Their value to the poorer people continues to this 
 day. Travellers describe as a curious spectacle one 
 of these enormous leaves resting against a wall, 
 propped up by a stick, affording shelter from the 
 rain to fifteen or twenty men. 
 
 Immense fans are made by the Singhalese from 
 tliese leaves, portable tents, and roofs for houses. The 
 foot-stalks, from seven to ten feet long, are used as oars. 
 
 (I) 8 
 
114 THE GREAT FAN PAIM— TALIPAT. 
 
 But it is as forming the '' Malabar books/' and 
 as containing the sacred records of the Singhalese, 
 that the leaves of the Talipat especially claim our 
 attention. 
 
 It would seem bej^ond a doubt that in India these 
 leaves and those of the Palmyra supplied the most 
 ancient of all materials for writing upon. An inci- 
 dental proof of this may be seen in the fact that, up 
 to the present day in the East, tablets of copper 
 which are to be engraved upon are made in the 
 shape of the ''olas," or palm-leaves. These tablets 
 are sometimes bordered with silver or gold. 
 
 The earliest grants of land in Ceylon were writ- 
 ten on palm-leaves; but a royal edict of the year 
 1200 A.D,, inscribed on a rock in the island, directs 
 that all future grants should be engraved on copper, 
 lest, if written on leaves, they should be destroyed 
 by white ants. The preservation of their sacred 
 books is attributed by the natives to the aromatic 
 oil with which the leaves were prepared. Some of 
 these books are believed to date back to 1172 A.D. 
 
 The preparation of olas, as described by various 
 writers, is alike, whether from the Palmyra, the 
 Talipat, or the Coco-nut, from which they are also 
 occasionally made. 
 
 The leaves, taken while still tender, are separated 
 from the central ribs. They are then cut into strips 
 two or three inches wide, and from one to three feet 
 long. After being boiled in spring water, and 
 
THE GREAT FAN PALM— TALIPAT. 115 
 
 steeped in milk, they are dried, first in the sliade, 
 and then in the sun. Rolls of* these leaves, called 
 in Ceylcn " Karokola," are kept in store, or sent to 
 market, to be used for ordinary purposes. But to 
 render them fit for writing upon, they undergo .a 
 smoothing process. The Singhalese mode is said by 
 Tennent to consist in drawing the damp ola (to one 
 end of which a weight is attached) backwards and 
 forwards over a smooth log of Areca palm. It takes 
 from fifteen to twenty minutes to smooth a single ola. 
 
 Before the invention of printing, monks were our 
 book-writers and book-binders. In Buddhist monas- 
 teries, with these two arts they combine a third — that 
 of the paper-maker. It is from these monasteries 
 that the finest specimens of olas are to be procured. 
 
 AVhen intended for books, the leaves are pierced 
 with two holes, through which cords are passed to 
 string them together. 
 
 One of the sacred books of the Singhalese — a copy 
 of the Discourses of Buddha — fills two thousand of 
 these olas, each twenty-nine inches in length, and 
 nine lines of writing on each side of the leaf 
 
 These books have sometimes richly ornamented 
 covers of lacquered wood. 
 
 It is by means of a sharp-pointed instrument, or 
 style, held upright in the fingers, that characters are 
 traced on these leaves. A mixture of charcoal and 
 fragrant oil is rubbed over the letters to make them 
 more distinct. 
 
116 THE GREAT FAN PALM— TALIPAT. 
 
 Some very perfect copies of the sacred books of 
 Biidhoo, written on leaves of the Talipat, and sup- 
 posed to be five or six hundred years old, were pre- 
 sented to the Library of the Royal Asiatic Society 
 by Sir A. Johnston. ^Yhile President of Her 
 Majesty's Council in Ceylon some years ago, lie was 
 allowed by the priests to have copies made of ancient 
 books dispersed amongst the temples of the island. 
 This work, embracing the whole moral and religious 
 code of the Buddhist, he also presented to the Society, 
 as well as a beautifully lacquered and gilded speci- 
 men of the royal library at Ava. This book, also 
 on Buddhism, was a present to him from the King 
 of Burmah. 
 
 These sacred books, or " bana," are held in ofreat 
 reverence in Ceylon. Though mostly written in the 
 ancient lanojuage, Pali, and therefore not understood 
 by the poorer people, it is considered a religious duty 
 to listen to them while they are read aloud. 
 
 Natives assemble under a shed of coco-nut leaves, 
 and chew betel-nut while they await the coming of 
 the Buddhist priest, who, followed by a boy holding- 
 over him an umbrella made of the leaves of the 
 Talipat, carries reverently himself the " bana," writ- 
 ten on leaves of the same tree. 
 
 These leaves, so precious in a land where paper is 
 expensive, are dev^oted now to a worthier service. 
 In the Wesleyan missionary schools, where their 
 fimds are limited, native children are taught to write 
 
THE GREAT FAX PALM— TALIPAT. 117 
 
 — in the ancient fashion of tlieir race, on the leaves 
 of their country — the good tidings of great joy 
 that Christ's followers have brought them from 
 afar. 
 
 AVe may confidently suppose that the Holy Scrip- 
 tures themselves have been written upon the leaves 
 of the palm. 
 
 In "The Book and its Story" we read, in a chap- 
 ter on the Syrian Church, that so great was once the 
 desire amongst the Malayim Christians to liave the 
 Bible in their native language, that the elders of 
 fifty-five churches engaged that, on a standard book 
 being sent to them, each man w^ould make a copy 
 for his own family on olas. 
 
 This was many years ago, when paper in India 
 was an enormous price. In 1811, a small edition 
 of only a thousand copies of the New Testament, i. 
 printed in India, would have cost £1000. 
 
 In Government oflices in Ceylon these olas are 
 kept, duly stamped, to be used as parchment for 
 deeds and legal documents. 
 
 The pith of the tree, like the Palmyra, when 
 young, furnishes a flour from which a kind of bread 
 is made. 
 
 Tlie fruit is i-ound, the size of a cherry, hard, and 
 not eatable. 
 
 The flowers, white as ivory, have a strong, oppres- 
 sive smell. 
 
 The tree flowers only once. Tlie bursting of the 
 
118 THE GREAT FAX PALM — TALIPAT. 
 
 seed-vessel is accompanied by a sudden loud noise. 
 As soon as its seed is shed, the Talipat dies. 
 
 {Coruplia rrt^if/Yr.— Roxburgh.) 
 
 The "Tallier" of Bengal resembles the Palmyra 
 still more closely than the Talipat, in that its leaves 
 are rounder and not quite so large as those of the 
 chieftain of its race. They are employed for the 
 same useful purposes. 
 
 Roxburgh describes as a peculiar feature of this 
 tree its superb inflorescence, twenty feet in height, 
 issuing, in the month of Februar}-, from the centre 
 of the leaves at the apex of the tree. 
 
 {Cori/pha (Jehanga. — Blume.) 
 
 The Gebang palms employ, in Java, thousands of 
 bo3''S and girls, converting their leaves into baskets 
 and bags. Broad-brimmed hats are also made from 
 them, and houses are thatched with them. 
 
 Fishing-nets and a material for shirts are woven 
 from its fibres. 
 
 Ropes are manufactured from the twisted leaf- 
 stalks. 
 
 Flour is furnished by the pith of the tree, and its 
 root is much esteemed for medicinal purposes. 
 
q; 
 
 ctga ^alms. 
 
 {Metroxijlon, or Sagus Rumpliii. — Willd. Metroxyloti Iceve. — 
 Martius. Arenga Saccharifera. — La Bill. S'iguerus 
 Bumphii.—WvxBURGU.) 
 
 ;E have seen in various palms representa- 
 tions as it were of some of the most 
 interesting relations of life. Types of 
 human beings fulfilling the several 
 works appointed for them to do — 
 " to every man his work." 
 The palm tree, servant of God and friend of man, 
 in her varieties of form and products, lovelily sets 
 before us pictures of some of these states of life 
 wherein men and women may glorify their Maker. 
 
 The Date Palm as a queen, the Calamus as a 
 conqueroi-, the Areca as a physician, the Palmyra as 
 a loving wife, — in the Sago Palm we behold a 
 devoted mother. 
 
 Her children look to her for bread ; she gives it 
 to them even at the expense of her life. Had she 
 a thousand lives she would give them all ; but as it 
 is her infinite usefulness has caused her to be en- 
 
120 SAGO PALMS. 
 
 dowed by the Giver of all good with extraordinary 
 vitality. 
 
 The Sago Palm does literally give more than one 
 life to man. After it has been cut down it springs 
 np again, willing to aftbrd once more at the same 
 price her nourishment to mankind. 
 
 The fruit of the Sago Palm is of a pecidiar kind : 
 it can only be procured by her death. Unlike the 
 queenl}' Date and beautiful Palmyra, who, year by 
 year, showering their rich fruits into grateful hands, 
 live in an atmosphere of rejoicing and gladness. The 
 life of the Sago Palm (comparing it to that of a 
 human being) is one of self-sacritice and sorro^vful 
 anticipation, — she lives onl^^ to die. The bread or 
 flour which .she yields is obtained from the heart or 
 pith of the tree, which must therefore be cut down 
 before it can be procured. At this toiling mother's 
 death the labour of her life forcibly set forth does 
 good, — " She being dead yet speaketh." 
 
 We may be sure that in the eyes of the natives of 
 countless islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans the 
 Libley tree and the Gomuti are the fairest amongst 
 trees. None are so truly lastingly fair in the eyes 
 of those amongst whom they dwell as those who live 
 in their hearts. The loved are lovely in tlieir own 
 homes. 
 
 But if as a painter one looks on the Metvoi'yloii 
 (as the re])resentation of her class who are similai- to 
 herself in most respects}, she cannot be said to possess 
 
SAGO PALMS. 121 
 
 the beauty, grace, or majesty, Mliicli are the usual 
 characteristics of pahiis. 
 
 The Saoo Pahn seldom exceeds thirty feet in 
 heiMit ; nor is hers a slender stem. She is born to 
 a life of hardship. And well is it for those who 
 depend on her for support that she is not so fragile 
 lookino- as some of her fair sisters. But thouoh she 
 lacks mucli of their outward dignity (.)f form, her 
 aspect is not unbecoming her royal race, — though 
 roughly garbed the daughter of princes forgets not 
 to wear her crown. 
 
 Palm oil, palm sugar, palm wine, are things com- 
 monly talked about. Our village school childi'en in 
 Eno-land know that dates are the fruit of that tree, 
 
 o 
 
 over whose triumphal branches the Lord of glory 
 passed on that road which, ere the week closed, he 
 traversed ao-ain to the Cross of Cah'arv ! 
 
 Coco-nuts are pretty generally knoA\-n as the 
 fruit of a palm ; but there may be some who forget 
 that the pearl-like graiiis called sago are also the 
 |)roduce of one of that royal family. 
 
 This sago, or sager (in the Papuan* language 
 signifying bread), is the actual stafi' of life of the 
 Polynesian tribes, — their chief, sometimes their only 
 article of food. 
 
 In the Moluccas the Sago Palm {Metroxylon, or 
 Sagus Riimpliii) is called the Libloy tree. The 
 
 ♦ The negro race of t lie Indian Archipelago. 
 
122 SAGO PALMS. 
 
 Malaj's give it the name of Rumbi^^a ; but each tribe 
 has besides its own peculiar name for the tree and its 
 produce. 
 
 The geographical distribution of this pahn is said 
 to be co-extensive with that of the clove and nut- 
 meg trees. It is most abundant in all the inlands 
 where these spices are found. 
 
 With us the costly spices far exceed the sago in 
 value ; but it is not so in the i.slands where both are 
 natives. There the tree wdiich affords the simple 
 daily food is far more highly prized than those which 
 yield the aromatic condiments of luxuiy. 
 
 Sago Palms form extensive forests ; they grow 
 spontaneously, and need no culture. This valuable 
 flour is obtained with such facility, that none can 
 fail to recognise the loving-kindness of a Father in 
 the good providence which has thus placed an 
 abundance of simple food, where from lack of energy 
 to overcome difficulties the children of the soil must 
 otherwise have experienced great suffering. 
 
 To protect the children's bi-ead this tree, until it 
 attains the height of five or six feet, is furnished by 
 its Maker with sharp spines, wdiich keep off* wild 
 hogs and other animals, who would otherwise rip 
 open the stem to get at its farina. When the outer 
 wood is sufficiently hardened with age the spines, no 
 longer needed for protection, drop off". 
 
 This valuable farina being, in fact, the starch 
 produced by the tree for the formation of its flowers, 
 
SAGO PALMS. 123 
 
 is most abundaut just before tlie appearance of the 
 terminal flower s})athe ; this is shown by a whitish 
 dust exudinor throuo-h the leaves. There is no fixed 
 season for extracting the pith ; it is taken as each 
 individual tree becomes ripe. 
 
 The tree when felled is cut into lengths of Ave or 
 six feet ; part of the hard outside wood being sliced 
 away, the remainder forms a trough, into Avhich the 
 pulpy interior part is put back. It is mixed with 
 water, and beaten with a piece of wood ; the fibres 
 separate and float at the tt)p ; the flour sinks. After 
 being cleared by successive waters, the floury pulp is 
 put into cylindrical baskets made of tlie leaves of the 
 tree.* 
 
 This raw sago meal, if preserved from the ^ir, 
 will keep a long time. A considerable quantity is 
 consumed by the natives in the form of gruel, or 
 eaten wdth tish soup. 
 
 The meal is also made into cakes or loaves. Those 
 of Amboyna are six inches long, and three or four 
 inches broad ; those of Ceram are much larger, and 
 extremely hard."!" 
 
 Sago is principally consumed b}^ the natives in 
 the form of these cakes ; they are sold in the market, 
 several struno* tooether on a filament of cane. 
 
 The erranulated form in which it comes to Enoland 
 is called pearl sago. The meal, while moist, is 
 
 * lonest's " Voyage to tlie Moluccas." 
 
 t Crawford's '-History of the Indian Arcliipulitgo." 
 
124 SAGO TALilS. 
 
 passed through a sieve made of the mid rib of tlic 
 leaf of a Coco Pahn. The grains are then held 
 ovcj' a fire in a veiy shallow iron pot. Sago so 
 prepared, having been thus half baked, will keep for 
 a length of time. The process is said to be a Chinese 
 invention. 
 
 Raw sago is imported into Siiiga[)ore \vrapped in 
 leaves of the Pandanus (Screw Pine). Native boats 
 bring it at all times of the year from Sumatra to 
 Singapore; fleets of ten boats or more carrying 
 twenty thousand packages, or tampings. These 
 cone-shaped packages generally weigh twenty pounds 
 each.^ 
 
 It is said to be scarcely possible to speak witli 
 precision as to the quantity of nutritive matter 
 afforded by the Sago Palm ; but " that it is certainly 
 prodigious, and ftir exceeds all other plants." f 
 Crawford calculated that five hundred and six hun- 
 dred pounds was no unusual produce for one tree. 
 It was estimated by him that the produce of an 
 English acre containing four hundred and thirty-five 
 of these palms would be (allowing for perishing and 
 unproductive plants) one hundred and twenty thou- 
 sand five hundred pounds of meal annually. 
 
 A single spathe of the Meiroxyloii EumpJtli has 
 
 ♦ r.einietfs " Wiimleriiigs in Now Soutli Wales," &c. 
 
 t We must except as annttal producers the Plantain (Musa sapieiitinii) and the 
 IJanana {Musa paraJisiaca). Humboldt estimated tlieir produce as exceeding that 
 of wheat, as one hundred and thirty-tliree to one. Tlieir brandies of one hundred 
 and sixty or one hundred and ci;,'lity fruits weigh from sixty-six to cighty-oight 
 pounds. 
 
SAGO PALMS. 125 
 
 been computed to have not less than tNvo hundred 
 and eio-ht thousand flowers, or six hundred and forty 
 tliousand upon a single tree. 
 
 At fifteen years of ao-e the Sao-o Palm yields this 
 abundant produce. When cut down the power of 
 vegetation remains in the root, which puts forth 
 leaves ; the stem springs up again, again to be cut 
 down and yield its precious fruit. 
 
 Every part of the tree is made available for use- 
 ful purposes ; the trunk itself, as we have seen, sup- 
 plies the trough for the preparation of its meal ; and 
 the baskets into which it is afterwards put are made 
 from the leaves. 
 
 The hard wood of the tree is used for building, 
 and for the construction of bridges. In Siam and 
 the ^Malayan peninsula drums are made from it, as 
 the tam-tam of India is made from the wood of the 
 Coco-nut Palm. 
 
 Other parts of the sago tree are applied to 
 various house purposes, palings for gardens and 
 other enclosures. The leaves form the universal 
 thatch. 
 
 The refuse of the pitli is used for feeding hogs. 
 From these refuse heaps, if left to decay, an edible 
 mushroom of very delicate cpiality springs up. Both 
 there, and also in the decaying wood, a white worm 
 with a brown head, resembling the palmer worm, 
 is generated. 
 
 Like the ancient Komans, who considered wood- 
 
126 SAGO PALMS. 
 
 worms great delicacies, the people of the East and 
 West hold these worms in great estimation. 
 
 It is in their larva state that these calandra 
 palmariun (so called from their living on the pith 
 of palm) are eaten in South America nnder the name 
 of *' ver palmiste/' or groe-groe worm. Under the 
 latter appellation they are sold as dainties in the 
 markets of Surinam. They are the produce of the 
 Cabbage Palm (Areca oleracea). Sago has afforded 
 a new material for the preparation of starch. Glen- 
 field patent starch is made from sago. 
 
 Arenga saccharifera, another of the sago palm.'^<, 
 also a native of the islands of the Indian Archipelago, 
 and much prized by the natives, demands attention 
 from the variety of its products. 
 
 Its farina is inferior to that of Metvoxylon, or 
 Sagus Rumphii ; but in Java and some other 
 islands it is the only kind procurable by the 
 natives. 
 
 Crawford speaks of toddy as one of its chief pro- 
 ducts. It is obtained from the tree in a similar 
 manner to that described in the Palmyra, 
 
 The Gomuti yields toddy at nine or ten years of 
 age, and continues to yield it for two years at an 
 average of three quarts a day. 
 
 Of this a large proportion is boiled into sugar, 
 which, though described " of a dark colour, greasy 
 consistenc}^ and peculiar flavour," is the only sugar 
 used by the native population of the islands where 
 
SAGO PALMS. 127 
 
 it is made. Arenga saccharifera is known as the 
 " sugar tree" of the Moluccas. 
 
 The wine of this palm is employed by the Chinese 
 in the preparation of the Batavian arrack. 
 
 When the produce of toddy diminishes the tree 
 is made to yield sago. One tree will afford from 
 one hundred and fifty to two hundred pounds 
 weight. 
 
 But the peculiar boast of the Gomuti, or Aren 
 Palm, is a material resembling black horse-hair, 
 which is found between the trunk and the branches 
 covering the lower part of the stalks of the leaves. 
 The fibres of this singular substance, though less 
 pliant, are stronger and even more durable than 
 those of the coco nut. It needs no preparation 
 for making it into ropes ; it is simply spun and 
 twisted in its natural state. It is not affected 
 by alternations of heat and moisture ; and, like 
 all fibrous materials from palms, does not require 
 the pitching and tarring indispensable to hempen 
 cordage. 
 
 Gomuti is now considered a valuable article of 
 commerce ; the best comes from Amboyna and the 
 other Spice Islands. 
 
 It is said " to furnish tlie entire cordage of native 
 shipping ; and in the East the largest European 
 vessels find the advantage of using cables made from 
 it." 
 
 Marsden in his ^' Sumatra" adds his testimony to 
 
128 SAGO PALMS. 
 
 that of Crawford as to the excellence and value of 
 this material. He says, '' The Ejoo (or Gomnti) is 
 of all vegetable subsfcances the least prone to decay; 
 roofs on which it was bound as thatch are so durable 
 as never to need renewal. Ends of timber and posts 
 which are to be fixed in the ground are wrapped 
 round with it as a means of preservation." 
 
 Bennet in his '• Wanderings" corroborates these 
 opinions, and also Low in his " Borneo." The natives 
 there plait these fibres into ornaments for the neck, 
 arms, and legs. Low observes, '' That bracelets and 
 necklaces of this neat horse-hair-looking material 
 are infinitely more pleasing to European eyes than 
 the tawdry beads and brass buttons with which most 
 savaofes delight to adorn themselves.'' 
 
 Mixed wnth this curious fibre are long hard 
 woody spines, also black. They are used as arrows, 
 poisoned or not, to discharge from blow-pipes and 
 arrow tubes. Pens are also made from them, or, 
 more properly, the styles with which throughout 
 the East characters are traced upon prepared palm 
 leaves. 
 
 In some of the islands these pens are called 
 "Pansuri;" on the Pedir coast of Sumatra they are 
 known as " Puri-eju." 
 
 Under the name of " Eju," or ''' Anace," this palm 
 is highly esteemed by the Sumatrans, more particu- 
 larly on account of this valuable fibre. 
 
 Bennet describes the largest seines as being made 
 
SAGO PALMS. ] 29 
 
 from it, ropes of all sizes, and the cordage of all 
 their vessels. 
 
 The Spaniards call it '' Cabo negro/' and procure 
 it from Manilla for the manufacture of ropes. 
 
 Sharp and strong bristles, somewhat similar to the 
 spines of the Gomuti are found amongst the fibres of 
 Sagus filaris, a Malay plant ; they are dried and 
 used as needles to sow with. 
 
 Under the Gomuti fibre is foiuid a soft gossamer- 
 like material called " Baru." It is applied as oakum 
 in caulking the seams of ships, also as tinder for 
 kindling fires ; for this last purpose it is imported 
 into China in large quantities. 
 
 In its wild uncultured state the Arenga Palm 
 comes to maturity in ten years, and is productive for 
 two. During that time it aff'ords three quarts of 
 toddy daily ; besides eight pounds of the tinder 
 material, eighteen pounds of gomuti, and finally 
 from one hundred and fifty to two hundred pounds 
 of sago. 
 
 Were any attention bestowed in the cultivation 
 of these trees, it is thought that the production of 
 each of these substances might be considerablj' in- 
 creased. 
 
 Uncared for, except to be despoiled of its trea- 
 sures, the Arenga, or Gomuti, like the Metroxylon, 
 or true sago, has not the stately bearing of palms in 
 general. It is described as low in stature, and 
 
 almost of a wild and shaggy appearance. 
 (1) ^ 
 
]30 SAGO PALMS. 
 
 These two good little sisters, Libley and Gomuti 
 (as they are called by their own people), unlike the 
 beautiful twins Palmyra and Talliera, are born to a 
 hard life. It would seem as if they knew it, and, 
 prematurely old, cared not to braid and curl their 
 tresses like other young things. 
 
 The haunting picture of the over- worked needle- 
 woman in " unwomanl}^ rags " was drawn by a 
 master's hand. 
 
 But be of good cheer, little unkempt palms in the 
 far islands of the Indian seas, and ye too (typified 
 by them) sisters in human homes of poverty and 
 toil. Far happier are ye so — low^ly but upright, 
 self-sacrificing but beloved — than to be as the 
 Khujoor (Wild Date) with natural gifts misapplied. 
 A youth of beauty admired and caressed — followed 
 by an old age of deformity mocked at and accursed. 
 
 The fruits of the Arenga are about the size of a 
 medlar ; they hang on long strings and stalks, and 
 are brought forth in such abundance that those 
 depending from a single shoot are more than a load" 
 for a man. The fiuit branches are fi^om six to ten 
 feet in length. 
 
 The juice of the outer covering of the fruit, if 
 applied to the skin, occasions great pain and inflam- 
 mation. The natives of the Moluccas used it when 
 defending their posts against the Dutch, who gave it 
 the name of •' Hell- water." 
 
 Freed from this noxious coverinof, the inside of 
 
SAGO PALMS. 131 
 
 the fruit is extensively prepared as a sweetmeat by 
 the Chinese ; it is much liked by them. 
 
 There is 3-et- another " Sago Palm," so called by 
 Dr. Joseph Hooker in his '' Himalayan Journal/' a 
 native of Sikkim, Cycas ijectinata, with a stem ten 
 feet high, and a beautiful crown of foliage ; but the 
 farina obtained from this and Cycas circinalis is 
 considered very inferior, and is less abundant than 
 that afforded by the ti'ue Sago Palm. 
 
 Some of the species of these elegant plants are 
 grown as ornamental shrubs in gardens in the West 
 Indies. 
 
 Cycas revohita, a native of Japan, affords sago of 
 a superior quality. Thanberg mentions that soldiers 
 can be supported for a long time on a very small 
 quantity of it. It is contrary to the laws of Japan 
 to take any of these trees out of the country. The 
 nuts are also eatable. 
 
 These cycadaceas have a peculiar interest, as the 
 link between palms and the next most beautiful 
 creation in the vegetable kingdom — the ferns. A 
 cycadacious stem, partaking in structure of some of 
 the peculiarities of both exogeus and endogens, — 
 resenrbling ferns in the manner of developing their 
 leaves, and in their terminal single bud, and accord- 
 ing with palms in their mode of growtli and other 
 characteristics. 
 
 Another species of Metroxylon, although its 
 
132 SAGO PALMS. 
 
 product is of a different kind^ may be here no- 
 ticed. 
 
 {Metroxylon, or Sagus Ruffia, — Spk.) 
 
 This palm is described by travellers as " singularly 
 rich and stately." It is a native of Madagascar, 
 where it is called the Rofia tree. It is so abundant 
 in some parts of the island that its graceful character 
 is imparted to the whole landscape. 
 
 Mr. Ellis* speaks of it as of incomparable value 
 to the natives. A strong and durable cloth manu- 
 factured from the fibres of its young leaves, and 
 called "Rofia cloth/' constitutes almost the only 
 clothing of the labouring classes, and also forms an 
 article of exportation. 
 
 The process of weaving it, though simple, is 
 laborious and slow. It is carried on at their own 
 homes. The people of the villages are seen outside 
 their houses arranging the flat untwisted filaments 
 for the warp. By joining these fibres pieces of 
 cloth are ^voven three and four yards in length. The 
 threads are dyed in various colours. In the finer 
 kinds of cloth these are arranged in checks of rich 
 deep colours, selected with infinite taste. The 
 general colouring is nankeen yellow, with stripes of 
 blue prepared from native indigo. 
 
 The dyes are fast ; Mr. Ellis saw in Madagascar 
 and the Mauritius specimens of Rofia cloth per- 
 
 * Ellis's "Visit to Madagascar." 
 
SAGO PALMS. 
 
 133 
 
 fectly fresli in colour, tlioiigli they had been long 
 made. 
 
 In both islands cloaks, coats, jackets, and waist- 
 coats, are seen in common use made of Eofia cloth. 
 
 Metroxylon filara also produces a valuable fibre. 
 
 In the interesting museum at Kew specimens may 
 be seen of this really beautiful Malagasy cloth made 
 from the Rofia Palm. One of them, a check of 
 brown and buft', resembles chale. 
 
 Sago cakes from the Moluccas are also displayed, 
 four of which are said to be sufficient for a day's 
 food ; the cost of them being ten shillings for one 
 thousand cakes. 
 
 In Seemann's mission to Viti (Figi Islands) he 
 gives an interesting account of many new kinds of 
 Sago Palms abounding in those islands, but as yet 
 little regarded. 
 
Cargota Wixtnn; 
 
 OR, THE GREAT WINE PALM OF THE EAST, OR SUGAR PALM 
 OF CEYLON. 
 
 [fHIS palm, indigenous to all the islands of 
 the Indian Archipelago, excepting Java, 
 is known in each of them by a different 
 name. By the Malays it is called 
 Nehiing ; by the people of Macassar, 
 Bamisa ; by those of Amboyna, Palun. 
 As Evimpannah, Bonkhejur, and other appellations, 
 it is greatly prized in various parts of India, Malabar, 
 Bengal, and Assam. In Ceylon, as the Kitool or 
 Kittul tree, it is especially valued. 
 
 It delights in mountainous countries. Wherever 
 it is found, this slender stemmed palm, sixty feet 
 high, perfectly straight, surmounted by its magni- 
 ficent crown of leaves (each measuring from eighteen 
 to tw^enty feet in length, and from ten to twelve in 
 breadth), wdth clusters of lai-ge dark red beriies 
 hanging below, forms a beautiful object. 
 
 " The form of the leaf of Caryota," says Humboldt, 
 " is as singular among palms as that of the Gingko 
 
CARYOTA UREXS. 135 
 
 tree amongst Conifer?e." This peculiarity consists in 
 the leaflets, or segments of its lyinnatlsect (or feather- 
 shaped) leaf being themselves divided — hi ^:)i7i7ia- 
 tisect — the end of their leaflets " resembling in shape 
 the fin or tail or a fish.' 
 
 The tree flowers only once ; the mass of drooping 
 blossoms is sometimes sixteen feet long. 
 
 This palm yields toddy in great abundance. Rox- 
 burgh speaks of one hundred pints yielded in twenty- 
 four hours from one tree ; it is principally converted 
 into sugar. 
 
 In Ceylon, where sugar is made almost entirely 
 from palms, Caryota Urens is especially distinguished 
 as the " Jaggery Palm." It employs a whole caste, 
 men and women, in the manufacture of its sap into 
 the coarse brown sugar called.Jaggery. From it the 
 caste derives its name of '* Jaggeraros." 
 
 It is considered a high caste ; as are also the 
 toddy-drawers. 
 
 Lady Falkland tells us that at Bombay these last 
 claim for their ancestors the '' Kshetrigas," or the 
 warrior class. As descendants of the ancient rulers 
 of the Concan, the toddy-drawers claimed, and till 
 lately exercised, the privilege of preceding, with horns 
 and native music, the Sheriff of Bombay, when, with 
 the Judges, he went to open the Supreme Court.* 
 
 The sap of young Kitool palms thus yielding 
 sugar, from the pith of their trunks, when older, an 
 
 * Latly Falkland's " Chow-chow." 
 
136 CARYOTA URENS. 
 
 excellent flour is oLtained, said to be equal to the 
 best sago procured from the Malay countries. 
 
 It is highly nutritious, and is either made into 
 bread, or boiled into a thick gruel. In times of 
 famine, when deprived of their accustomed rice, the 
 Singhalese look anxiously to this flour as an addition 
 to the preserved fruits of the Palmyra. 
 
 Tennent speaks of a single Kitool tree having been 
 pointed out to him as the only means of support on 
 which depended a Kandeiyan, his wife, and children. 
 It is in the Kandeiyan hills that these trees are 
 chiefly cultivated. 
 
 The leaf-bud, or cabbage, is of peculiar excellence. 
 The fruit, which is the size of a plum, is not eatable ; 
 its acrid juice burns the lips, whence its distinctive 
 name, " urens," is derived. 
 
 The black fibres of the leaves have a high com- 
 mercial value ; from them ropes of great strength are 
 manufactured, and also brushes and brooms. From 
 the leaves, baskets, caps, and other articles are made. 
 An excellent fishing-rod is supplied by simply 
 stripping the leaflets from the leaf-stalk, which is 
 long and tapering to a point. 
 
 The wood is so hard as to be cut with difficulty ; 
 this hardness occasions it to be of much value. 
 
 In the Indian Islands the excavated trunks are 
 used for water channels and gutters, and the wood 
 for pillars, posts, palings, and various building pur- 
 poses. 
 
CARYOTA UREXS. 137 
 
 In the Palm House at Kew, Caryota Urens is one 
 of the finest representatives of the royal race ; the 
 great Wine Palm of the East shoots high into the 
 air, its branches (or leaves), with their singular 
 triangular-shaped leaflets, being on a level with the 
 top of the long spiral staircase which ascends to the 
 gallery. 
 
 {Nipa fructicons. — Thunberg.) 
 
 This palm is noticed by Hooker as a distinguishing 
 feature in the Sunderbunds. It attracts the atten- 
 tion of the European traveller as he approaches the 
 City of Palaces, possessing, independently of its 
 tropical form, a pecuhar individual interest. 
 
 It is thus described by Hooker : — 
 
 " ISfipa fructicons, throwing up pale yellow green 
 tufts of feathery leaves from a short thick creeping- 
 stem, and bearing at the base of the leaves its great 
 head of nuts, of which millions were floating in the 
 water, and vegetating in the mud/' " Thus growing 
 in the tidal waters of the Indian Ocean, it has a 
 deep interest to the geologist, from the nuts of a 
 similar plant abounding in the tertiary formation at 
 the mouth of the Thames, havincr floated about there 
 in as great profusion as here, till buried deep in the 
 silt and mud that now forms the island of Sheppey." 
 
 It has strono' claims, also, on the botanist's atten- 
 tion, as seeming to form one of those ever-interesting 
 links between two families — princely palms and 
 
138 CARYOTA UREN3. 
 
 palm-like screw pines (pandanacece). In Lindley's 
 "Vegetable Kingdom " Nipa fructicons Ls mentioned 
 under both orders. 
 
 We read of it always as covering thousands and 
 thousands of acres of the salt marshes of the coasts 
 and islands of the Indian Ocean. 
 
 By the many tribes amongst whom it is so 
 widely disseminated it is known under various 
 names. 
 
 In the Philippine Islands it is cultivated princi- 
 pally for its wine. 
 
 Its pinnated leaves, often more than twenty feet 
 long, make admirable thatch. The specific name 
 given to its leaf, ataj^, is the Malay word for thatch, 
 it being the only material used by tl^em for that 
 purpose. Coarse mats are also made from them. 
 
 If burned, a supply of salt is obtained from them; 
 when pounded fresh, they are applied to the bites of 
 centipedes with advantage ; a decoction from them 
 has a most healing effect in wounds. 
 
 In strange contrast to this service rendered b}^ 
 them is the use to which, at a different stage of their 
 growth, those Nipa leaves are applied. 
 
 Captain Sherard Osborne mentions that before the 
 3"0ung plants have expanded their feathery leaves, 
 they are plucked by the Malays to serve as spears, 
 "forming one solid green triangular-shaped stick, 
 rangingr in length from four to six feet, and havino- 
 
 O O O 'CD 
 
 a point as hard and sharp as a bayonet." Thrown 
 
CARYOTA URENS. 139 
 
 like a dart, these formidable lances " will pierce the 
 tough under cuticle of au alHgator." 
 
 In the "sweltering heat of the jungle" they are 
 said to grow with almost inconceivable rapidity. 
 The native interpreter attached to the gun-boat 
 Emerald, assured Mr. Osborne that "he had often 
 known a sprout to shoot up an inch and a half in a 
 single night." 
 
 The inside of the fruit, which is produced in such 
 abundance, is edible, like that of the Coco Palm ; 
 the nuts are described as large as a man's head. 
 
 This palm is known in Ce^don as the Water 
 Coco Nut. In all recently formed lands tliere it is 
 said to form an important feature. 
 
 Like those adventurous spirits that, penetrating 
 unknown lands, become the advanced guards of 
 civilization, this brave little palm, pioneer of the 
 vegetable kingdom, pushes its way tlirough the 
 watery mud which, collecting at the mouths of rivers, 
 becomes in time a valuable acquisition of fertile soil. 
 
 Nipa fviicticons is one of the " sacred trees " of the 
 Singhalese, having been selected by one of the 
 Buddhas as his Bo-tree. • 
 
^t %ixumx ®xl f aim. 
 
 (Flceis (jfuineensis.—LjyNJEVS.) 
 
 HE vegetable world is full of wonder and 
 interest ; the band of tbe Creator is 
 stamped on eacb leaf and flower. Whe- 
 ther our eyes are turned to the slow and 
 silent increase of life on wave- washed 
 coral reefs, or to the indescribably gor- 
 geous luxuriance of tropical forests, or to the homely 
 cheerfulness of hedges and wayside ditches in our 
 native land, tangled with wild flowers, overgrown 
 with spear-like rushes and broad-leafed water plants, 
 in all places tales of Wisdom and Love unfold them- 
 selves. We can but wonder and adore. 
 
 The mineral kingdom 3'ields not to the vegetable 
 world in the marvels it contains. Deep down in the 
 dark bosom of the earth precious gems echo back the 
 lessoning of ])ebbles at our feet. " The stones cry 
 out" to man of the wisdom and love of the Maker 
 of us all. 
 
 The industrial world of science and art combines, 
 as it were, both of those worlds. Men's inventive 
 
THE AFRICAN OIL PALM. 141 
 
 lii'aiiis and skilful hands — themselves God's gifts — 
 working out from God's other gifts such an infinity 
 of marvels, day by day multiply our comforts and 
 our luxuries. 
 
 In that Morld of incessant movement how much 
 is there also of wonder and interest ! • 
 
 Beloved at all times of poetry is the face of 
 Nature; lovely in calm repose, beautiful in her wild 
 and agitated moods. But dearer still to her is the 
 face of human nature. 
 
 Poetry is about us, and around us on all sides. 
 Poetry in its spiritualizing power, its wide sympa- 
 thies, its lofty aims, its earnestness of purpose. In 
 various garbs this poetry companions us everywhere, 
 — on the misty mountain, on the shimmering sea, 
 also in the workshop, the counting-house, the docks. 
 
 For earnest eyes wide-opened by love there are 
 pictures without number in ledger books, pictures 
 that glow with life side by side with dry skeleton 
 figures of pounds, shillings, and pence. 
 
 For ears made keen by kindly sympathy there 
 are voices without number in the bus}^ mart, eloquent 
 voices Avhispering tales of thrilling interest. 
 
 There are fairies still in our every-day walks. 
 
 See, where a fairy beckons to us now — it is to a 
 landing-stage at Liverpool I 
 
 Is she a fairy ? 
 
 Her face though beautiful is grave ; her smile is 
 sweet ; she has earnest eyes. She carries in her 
 
142 THE AFRICAN OIL PALM. 
 
 right band the model of a ship, with sails as white 
 as snow. From its maimiiast flies old England's 
 flag, the red cross banner, mistress of the seas. Her 
 left hand holds a palm branch. She speaks ; her 
 voice is as music, and the words she breathes are 
 '•Freedom and Peace," — the freedom of the fol- 
 lowers of Christ, the peace of the children of 
 God. 
 
 Bearing the palm branch and the cross, and speak- 
 ing those holy words, that bright vision is more than 
 a fairy. Is she not an angel ? God grant she may 
 be so ! 
 
 Let us see what the radiant figure points us to. 
 
 There is one species of merchandise which at least 
 to-day seems in excess of all others. 
 
 Immense casks. They are ranged in endless rows, 
 they are piled together in huge heaps, and men are 
 rolling them along in ceaseless succession from boats 
 unlading at the pier. Here and there of one of 
 those casks part of a stave has been knocked in, 
 so that the contents are partly visible, something 
 oozes too out of the sides and the tops of these 
 casks. 
 
 It is an orange-coloured unctuous mass, with a 
 fragrant smell of violets. 
 
 It is palm oil, the product of Elo:is guiiieensis, 
 an oil-bearino- tree. Its name is derived from the 
 Greek elaia — olive tree ; significant name ! 
 
THE AFRICAN OIL PALM. 143 
 
 It is a native of Guinea, and is common along the 
 greater part of the western coast of Africa. 
 
 To the north of the Cape de Verd the African 
 coast, low, arid, and sandy, is repellent to the eye, 
 but at this green point it suddenly assumes a pleasing 
 aspect. The line of shore is broken and varied. 
 Through picturesque ravines are seen sunny slopes 
 clothed with fair forests that seem to spread far back 
 into the interior. 
 
 These forests are for the most part composed of 
 what is commonly called the African Oil Palm. But 
 hope sees in it the Negro s Friend. 
 
 On higher ground than that of personal beauty, 
 or even than that of the intrinsic value of her pro- 
 duce, the Oil Palm, or Maba (its African name) 
 claims our interest. To her has been appointed a 
 mission of infinite importance. Wise and thoughtful 
 men see in her the benefactress of the African race. 
 Many look for the time when under God's blessing- 
 it may be given to her to work as great a change in 
 the moral as she already does in the physical aspect 
 of Africa's western coasts. 
 
 That such may indeed be the effect of the palm- 
 oil trade, if conducted in an honourable Christian- 
 like spirit, is beyond all doubt. It is no visionary 
 scheme, it is the opinion of far-seeing business men. 
 It has already made some way ; the good work has 
 begun. 
 
 Voices of wise and good men in our own land 
 
144 THE AFRICAN OIL PALM. 
 
 echo back the cry that negro tongues on African 
 shores long since proclaimed the Oil Palm to be the 
 " Friend'' of their race. 
 
 This tree has been proved to be a more powerful 
 opponent to the slave trade than even the unconquer- 
 able navy of Great Britain, in that through her it 
 becomes the interest of the chiefs to put this hateful 
 traffic down. The cultivation of these Palms, and the 
 manufacture of their oil, opening out a more lucra- 
 tive* trade to be carried on by means of the people, 
 makes it more profitable for these tyrants of their 
 own race to keep them at home. 
 
 Captain Forbes, R.N., tells us, in his " Dahomey 
 and the Dahomans," — " The inhabitants of a vast 
 extent of coast have been led to give up the slave 
 trade. And why ? Because they ha^'e been taught 
 the immensely superior and ever increasing value of 
 the palm-oil trade over that of slaves. The taste 
 for British goods runs high, and, if they could not he 
 jnirchased tuith slaves, palm oil would be manufac- 
 tured to obtain them. Africans are by nature great 
 traders. All tlie higher articles of trade are to be 
 found on board some of the largest ships in the 
 world, in the Bonny and its neighbouring rivers, to 
 be exchanged for palm oil." 
 
 In one instance a house, valued at £1000, was 
 
 ♦ Dr. Livingstone mentions having himself seen a boy sold for twelve shillings, 
 the same price which would have been given for two pounds of ivory or two pairs of 
 boots. Livingstone carried with him and distributed, where it was not already 
 known, the seeds of this precious Palm. 
 
THE AFRICAN OIL PALM. 145 
 
 paid for in palm oil by the chief of one of these black 
 tribes. 
 
 Dr. Kehoe confirms this opinion, adding that this 
 trade " would in every way promote civilization and 
 increase the happiness of the natives, as it will be 
 found to be to their interest to have as many hands 
 at home as possible to be employed in the preparation 
 of this valuable article." 
 
 About three years ago it was announced in Parlia- 
 ment by the Minister for Foreign Affairs '' that this 
 legitimate and prosperous trade had within the last 
 few years sprung up on the coasts of Africa in almost 
 every locality in which the slave trade had been 
 carried on, and by it the natives of Africa were 
 greatly benefited." 
 
 At the same time Lord Clarendon stated " that 
 the trade at Lagos had increased fifty per cent., and 
 then amounted to upwards of £2,000,000 a year." 
 
 It is a significant fact that as an article of com- 
 merce, palm oil took its rise at the very time of the 
 abolition of the slave trade, since which time it has 
 been steadily rising in importance. Li 1818 from 
 one hundred to two hundred tons only were imported 
 into England. In 1855 Liverpool alone imported 
 thirty thousand five hundred tons. 
 
 When the Russian w^ar seriously affected the supply 
 of tallow to our markets, our palm-oil trade happily 
 supplied a substitute. 
 
 In 1857 the imports of palm oil into the United 
 ^'^ 10 
 
146 THE AFRICAN OIL PALM. 
 
 Kingdom amounted to forty-two thousand seven 
 hundred and thirty-nine tons, eleven hundredweight. 
 In the following year, though still at a high figure, 
 they had diminished to thirty- eight thousand nine 
 hundred and eleven tons, one hundredweight. The 
 annual export of palm oil from the west coast of Africa 
 amounts to fifty thousand tons. For this quantity 
 ten millions of bushels of fruit are required. The 
 oil is valued at £3,000,000, and the refuse or oil- 
 cake is worth £500,000 as food for cattle. An 
 additional value now exists in the kernels of the 
 fruit, formerly thrown away, but now discovered to 
 yield a more delicate kind of oil, resembling coco- 
 nut oil. 
 
 If we consider the variety of its uses and the 
 importance of some of them, we may rest assured 
 the palm-oil trade rests on a secure foundation. It 
 was in England that the various capabilities of 
 this oil were first discovered, and hitherto it has 
 been prepared almost exclusively for the English 
 market. 
 
 Besides being extensively used in the composition 
 of candles, it enters largely also into the manufacture 
 of soap, of which at Liverpool such extensive manu- 
 factories are carried on that some of them have been 
 known to produce throughout the year a weekly 
 supply of one hundred and twenty thousand pounds 
 of soap. It is said that a better and cheaper soap 
 can be made from this than from any other article. 
 
THE AFRICAN OIL PALM. 147 
 
 It possesses also a peculiar propert}', appreciable by 
 all voyagers, of dissolving in sea water.* 
 
 On account of its fragrant smell, palm oil is much 
 esteemed for articles of perfumery, and the same 
 emollient properties for which it is so prized by its 
 negro friends recommends it also to our pharmacopoeia 
 for sprains and bruises, and other medicinal pur- 
 poses. 
 
 As grease for the wheels of railway carriages it 
 is also consumed in immense quantities. 
 
 Such wide fields opening out for its consumption, 
 we gladly learn that its supply may be looked upon 
 as illimitable. 
 
 Some precious benefits of the vegetable kingdom, 
 such as quinine, gutta percha, and others, involve 
 the destruction of the tree, necessarily rendering their 
 production more and more rare, the forethought of 
 providing against such a result by increased propaga- 
 tion being in most instances unhappily disregarded. 
 
 But the valuable gift of the Oil Palm makes not 
 the giver poor. Only the fruit being required, the 
 beneficent seasons as they roll by replenish the 
 almost inexhaustible treasury. Year by year the 
 grateful negro returns to his " Friend" to gather 
 the golden harvest she affords. 
 
 When we think of the numerous coast-tribes of 
 Africa, and the people of the vast unknown regions 
 in the interior, who " walk in darkness and have no 
 
 * This is also tlie case with soap prepared from cocoa-nut oil. 
 
148 THE AFRICAN OIL PALM. 
 
 light/' it would seem as if a special blessing might 
 fitly rest upon this tree, through whose produce the 
 blessing of material light is every day more widely 
 diffused amongst ourselves. 
 
 We read in books of but a few years back how 
 hard a thing it was for the very poor to be able to 
 enjoy the luxury of light. What a tempting con- 
 trast to the dim hovel, where a farthing rushlight 
 shed its sickly gleam, must then liave been afforded 
 by the glittering saloons of gin palaces ! To many 
 alas! those ante-chambers of hell are alluring still, 
 but the excuse no longer exists ; cheerful light is 
 now brought within the means of almost the very 
 poorest. 
 
 While superior "'composite candles" are manufac- 
 tured for general use, the labouring man gets his 
 candles better and far cheaper than before. And 
 this general improvement is principally owing to the 
 introduction of palm oil. 
 
 We have quoted from travellers ; let us hear also 
 what a scientific man in England says on the uses 
 of palm oil at home, and the mighty influence it has 
 abroad. In an interestinsf account of candle-makinor * 
 by Dr. Wynter, he says, — 
 
 '' Noticing the other day the extraordinary piles 
 of casks encumbering the wharf of Messrs. Price & Co., 
 Patent Candle Company, at Battersea, we could not 
 help looking upon them as so many dumb mission- 
 
 * "Once a Week," July 1859. 
 
THE AFKICAN OIL PALM. 149 
 
 aries ever circulating between England and the Gold 
 Coast of Africa, spreading civilization and religion 
 over the latter hitherto benighted region." 
 
 A far greater benefit this oil is to us and to them, 
 than the dazzling inetal which gave its name to their 
 land. 
 
 Dr. Wynter says : — " The light of other days 
 sprang directly out of the domestic grease pot. Its 
 manufacture was a rude, not to say disgusting 
 handicraft ; and if any one had been bold enough 
 to say that one day a new light would arise that 
 would materially affect the destinies of a whole 
 people, Bedlam would have been thought his proper 
 destination. Yet this seeming dream of delirium 
 has come to pass, and the production by negro free 
 labour of palm oil, now so largely nsed in the manu- 
 facture of soap and candles, has greatly assisted in 
 giving a check to the slave trade." 
 
 The two 'establishments of Price's Patent Candle 
 Company are known as Belmont at Vauxhall, and 
 Sherwood at Battersea. ''At the latter place the 
 works cover twelve acres of ground, six of which 
 are under cover. The raw materials principally used 
 in this manufactory are palm oil, coco-nut oil, and 
 petroleum. The first, however, is used in by far the 
 largest quantities." 
 
 The last is a natural product of the kingdom of 
 Burmah, resembling naphtha, and like it welling up 
 from the ground. 
 
150 THE AFRICAN OIL PALM. 
 
 '' Composite candles" are made from palm oil and 
 coco-nut oil ; the " hard stearic acid" of the latter 
 constituting " the true candle material from its high 
 melting point."* 
 
 To the African himself palm oil affords an addi- 
 tion to Q,\e,Yy meal. It is used as butter to fry his 
 fish, and mix with his rice and peppers. A soup is 
 made by boiling the young nuts. The oil anoints 
 his body and hair, and is used as an emollient for 
 tiffections of the joints, and what the negroes call 
 " bone-ache." In an old English translation of a 
 still older Italian work, the record of a Signor Lopez 
 of Portugal's Travels in Congo, we read of a strange 
 competitor for the African's favourite oil. " Wolves 
 love the oyle of palmes above all measure. They 
 will smell this oyle afarre off, and steale it in the 
 night time out of the negroe's houses of straw, and 
 sometimes from those that carrie it by the way. 
 whiles the poor soules doe rest themselves and sleepe. 
 The oyle is made of the palm tree, thicke and hard 
 like butter. It is a marvell to see how these wolves 
 take a bottle that is full of this liquor between their 
 teeth, and soe cast it on their shoulders and runne 
 away withall, as our wolves here doe with a sheepe." 
 
 Africans eat the Oil Palm's vermilion and gold- 
 coloured fruit, prepared in many ways. A kind of 
 wine is made from their juice. 
 
 * In connection ■nith Price's establishment are schools for the boys employed in 
 them-spreading still wider the Oil Palm's influence for good. 
 
THE AFRICAN OIL PALM. 151 
 
 We have seen how the wine of the Date Palm was 
 used by Egyptian embahners of old in preparing 
 dead bodies that were to be preserved. Some of the 
 tribes of West Africa make a still stranger use of the 
 wine of their palms. On the naming-day of a child 
 a bowl of palm wine is suspended over the infant, 
 some drops are allowed to fall on its face, and a 
 name is chosen which most resembles in sound the cry 
 uttered by the babe. These African babies thus pos- 
 sessing the singular privilege of naming themselves. 
 
 Indian islanders use palm wine in their religious 
 rites; during their worship of the moon and stars, 
 palm wine is sprinkled upon the worshippers. 
 
 Their "inimbo," or palm wine, is a favourite 
 beverage amongst African tribes. 
 
 Native huts are made of the wood of the Oil 
 Palm, and thatched with its leaves. Their fibres 
 supply fishing lines and are woven into baskets. 
 The kernels, if not used for the preparation of 
 the more delicate oil yielded by them, are burnt, 
 and fanciful beads, rings, and brooches are made 
 from them, worn as ornaments by the native women. 
 Some of those may be seen at the museum 
 at Kew, where also there are polished specimens 
 of the beautiful wood of the tree, finely spotted 
 with rich dark brown. The nut and the candle 
 made from it are together, and in the same compart- 
 ment a singular head-dress made from the leaves of 
 the tree. Adorned with parrot feathers, such head- 
 
152 THE AFRICAN OIL PALM. 
 
 dresses are worn on state occasions by the natives 
 of Fernando Po. Well may the negro call the Oil 
 Palm his "Friend." 
 
 The oil is prepared by the natives themselves. 
 The process is extremely simple. The fleshy part 
 of the fruit is removed from the seed. It is then 
 bruised and mixed into a paste with boiling water. 
 When cool, the orange-coloured oil concretes at the 
 top. This is skimmed oflf into calabashes and gourds, 
 and in that simple form is brought to be sold at the 
 English factories. A gallon of fruit will yield a 
 quart of oil. 
 
 Like the good little sister palms of the Indian 
 Isles, the Maba is described as " rather a wild and 
 shaggy-looking individual." She is neither tall nor 
 graceful ; but she wears the matchless crown. If 
 England's hopes be realized, another circlet of hon- 
 our shall be added to that crown. 
 
 As the weeds of the Western world came forth on 
 the ocean waves to greet and to beckon onwards the 
 nobly-adventurous Columbus, the waifs so often cast 
 on our northern shores — casks of palm oil, known to 
 have twice traversed the breadth of the Atlantic — 
 would seem to have for us a messas^e that, in their 
 eagerness, they come even to our threshold to deliver. 
 
 The divine parables are for the teaching of nations, 
 as well as for individuals. 
 
 To England it may please God to assign the Good 
 Samaritan's part. Africa, indeed, has long been as 
 
THE AFRICAN OIL PALM. 153 
 
 the man " who fell among thieves." May it be 
 ours, by means of her own crowned tree, to " pour 
 oil into her wounds." 
 
 Let us encourage her in the cultivation of these 
 trees, and the manufacture of this precious oil, and 
 the pursuits of industry shall be blessed to her ; her 
 sores shall be healed — the plague-spot of slavery disap- 
 pear. In African villages then, as in our own happy 
 land, shall boys and girls play fearlessly in the 
 streets. Then, too, in their children's merriment, 
 shall be forgotten those teriible sounds of old, fol- 
 lowing in the accursed man-stealer's track — the cry 
 of the bereaved mother, the wail of the desolate 
 wife. 
 
 that this auspicious trade may indeed prosper ! 
 May it be carried on in such a spirit that God's 
 blessing may rest upon it ! So shall it bestow not 
 only the blessings of freedom, peace, and civilization, 
 but linked with them the immeasurable joys of the 
 gospel of Christ. 
 
 Honour to the crowned tree, namesake of the 
 olive-tree of peace. The African Oil Palm has a 
 glorious mission. In her native land, fair forests 
 and smiling villages. On the wide sea, ships innu- 
 merable bearing her rich freight. In England, pros- 
 perous establishments, useful schools — benefits of 
 endless variety. 
 
 It is eveninor time. A cheery lio-ht shines out 
 from the labourer's cottage ; an open Bible is spread 
 
154 THE AFEICAN OIL PALM. 
 
 before the poor man and his wife ; they lift their 
 thankful eyes to the Giver of all Good, and they pray 
 that light may arise in all the dark places of the 
 earth. They pray that England may advance the 
 cross alono' the coasts, and into the heart of Africa. 
 
 Note.— Chaillu speaks of beautifully fine and soft "grass cloths" of palm fibre 
 ivoven and worn by the Ashira and Assingi tribes, but he does not mention the 
 species of palm. 
 
(Hi/phteni Thebaica—'MAn'rivs.) 
 
 'j ^^^a tFRICA possesses in abundance the invalu- 
 JI BHH l i ^^'^^ ^^^ Palm, the precious Date, and the 
 IHHIE ^^^^^^^ Dwarf Fan Palm ; but beyond 
 | H&J| these, it would seem that she has none 
 ^^yEW^ " to rival the palms of Asia and America. 
 Our knowledge of her inland coun- 
 tries, however, progresses so slowly, that it yet re- 
 mains to be learned how many varieties of this royal 
 race she really does possess. 
 
 In Dr. Livingstone's travels we find that the 
 Wild Date and the Palmyra are met with in Africa. 
 He also mentions some new species. 
 
 Amongst these there is one resembling Palmyra, 
 but with larger fruit — its soft yellow pulp like that 
 of the wild mango ; and another called the Mako- 
 lane Palm, tall and slender, with a graceful spherical 
 crown of leaves. It appears that their various uses 
 have not as yet been as fully developed as in other 
 parts of the world. 
 
 No particular attraction exists in other African 
 
156 THE DOUM PALM OF EGYPT. 
 
 palms, if we except the singularly- shaped Doum 
 Palm, almost unique in its race, its branching form 
 assimilating it more to the Pandanus or Screw 
 Pine. 
 
 The Doum Palm is neither so majestic or so grace- 
 ful as the erect and queenly Date. But its wild and 
 singular beauty has a character which renders it an 
 object strikingly appropriate to the classic localities 
 it loves to haunt — the cataracts of the Upper Nile, 
 and tlie immediate neighbourhood of Thebes. 
 
 The Doum Palm stands amidst the desolate gran- 
 deur of the ruined city with the hundred gates. 
 The ground is strewn with colossal limbs. There 
 giant kings, as if still strangely conscious in their 
 stony sleep, frown down upon the pigmy travellers 
 who dare profane with idle jests the majesty-en- 
 circled grave of a mighty empire. 
 
 Far better fitted for the presence of such grand 
 grief is the strong-limbed Doum Palm, than the fem.i- 
 ninely graceful Date. 
 
 The tree seems strangely to partake of the im- 
 pressive sadness of the fallen city of Osiris, flinging 
 out its huge arms as a strong man might do in 
 sudden agony brought into the presence of the be- 
 loved dead. 
 
 It is hard to define the geographical limits of this 
 singular palm, so much of Africa is terra incognita. 
 In the works of adventurous travellers who have 
 dared to penetrate its wilds, we meet with the men- 
 
THE DOUM PALM OF EGYPT. 157 
 
 tion of a tree apparently identical with it, though 
 not as yet, we believe, positively classed with it. 
 
 Andersen* describes a palm exactly similar, of a 
 branching form, with fan-shaped leaves, and pro- 
 ducing a fruit in look and taste resembling ginger- 
 bread. 
 
 The same kind of palm was found near Natal, the 
 kernel of the fruit like ivory. Out of these ivory 
 looking seeds, snuff boxes were made by the Bechu- 
 anas, who are great lovers of snuff. They wore them 
 round their necks, or fastened to their arms above 
 the elbow. 
 
 Andersen describes it as a welcome sight when 
 first he met those palms in Damara. As he pro- 
 ceeded northwards they increased in stature till they 
 reached fifty and sixty feet in height, the branches 
 spreading over a space of ground that measured 
 four hundred and thirty -two feet in circumfer- 
 ence. 
 
 Seemann gives only thirty feet of height to the 
 Doum Palm of Egypt ; but he also gives Port Natal 
 as one of its localities, and describes the fruit as 
 "growing in large bunches of a yellowish brown 
 colour, with thick mealy rind, in look and taste 
 resembling gingerbread." 
 
 This singular oval-shaped fruit is everywhere 
 eaten by the natives of the place. In Cairo it is 
 commonly sold, and at a low price. Children espe- 
 
 * '• Lake Ngami, and Fouv Years' Wanderings in South-West Africa." 
 
158 THE DOUM PALM OF EGYPT. 
 
 cially relish it, from its flavour of liquorice and re- 
 semblance to gingerbread. 
 
 Andersen speaks of it as being soaked in water 
 before it was eaten. In Egj^pt the ivory looking 
 seeds or kernels are turned into beads for rosaries 
 and various ornaments. They are also carried to 
 Bethlehem where they are fashioned by the Chris- 
 tian population into beads, strung as necklaces and 
 bracelets. They are bought by European travellers, 
 and are also sold in England by converted Jews, as 
 remembrances of the Holy Land, They unfortu- 
 nately darken a little with age. The leaves are 
 made into bags and baskets, and are woven into mats 
 for carpeting. The wood of the tree is used for 
 various domestic purposes. 
 
 A gum resin, resembling myrrh, and sometimes 
 substituted for it in medicinal preparations, called 
 bdellium, is said by Lindley to exude from the trunk 
 of Hyphoeoia Thehaica. Bdellium is yielded also by 
 other plants, but Egyptian bdellium is said to be the 
 produce of the Doum Palm, the Palmyra, and the 
 Dwarf Fan Palm. 
 
 The substance called "bdellium" in the English 
 translation of the Bible (Gen. ii.) is evidently a gem. 
 The word is believed by some to mean pearls. 
 
§onbU €oco gut— C0C0 U Par. 
 
 {Cocos Maldivicus. —RvMFUiTjs.) 
 {Lodoicea Schellarum. — La Billardine.) 
 
 MYSTERIOUS link binds the Coco Palm 
 to old ocean's side. She languishes in 
 the most fertile spot if removed from the 
 influence of the sea breeze ; but her 
 sister with fan-shaped leaves, was for 
 centuries believed to dwell in the mighty 
 ocean itself 
 
 Below the billowy waves, in the crystal depths 
 where sea-nymphs braid with pearls their streaming 
 hair — even there it was said that the wondrous Coco 
 do Mar had its roots. 
 
 Nay, there were not wanting in olden times sailors 
 of all nations who declared their own eyes had there 
 beheld the unearthly tree. They afiirmed that 
 through the transparent waters of placid bays on the 
 coasts of Sumatra, the plumed diadem of the mar- 
 vellous Coco do Mar had been plainly visible. But 
 when some adventurous spirit out of the wondering 
 crew, had plunged into the sapphire depths to pos- 
 
160 DOUBLE COCO NUT. 
 
 sess himself of its priceless fruit, the magic tree 
 would suddenly disappear. 
 
 The native priests of Java declared that its branch- 
 like leaves rose above the water, and that amono-st 
 them a monstrous bird had its habitation. From 
 thence it issued nightly to seek its prey. Elephants, 
 tigers, and rhinoceroses were torn to pieces by its 
 savage beak, and their flesh taken as food to its 
 fearful nest ; fearful indeed — for not only beasts, but 
 sometimes men supplied the cravings of its huge 
 appetite. 
 
 Some mysterious attraction was said to exist in 
 the tree, b}^ means of which vessels were irresistibly 
 drawn towards it, and rendered unable to depart, 
 while the helpless crew were one by one devoured 
 by the savage bird. 
 
 Such tales, and others still more marvellous, re- 
 specting tins tree, were told to Rumphius by those 
 who, even in his day, implicitly believed them. 
 
 The strange hold which the Coco do Mar had thus 
 taken on the minds of men may, in a measure, be 
 accounted for by the impenetrable m^^ster}^ which 
 long hung over the actual place of its growth. No 
 eye of man, let him wander as he would amongst 
 the clustering islands of those seas, had ever really 
 looked upon the living tree. 
 
 Its fi'uit, of singular size and shape, were never 
 found except floating on the waves or cast upon the 
 shores of one only group of islands, in themselves so 
 
DOUBLE COCO NUT. ItlL 
 
 strange and peculiar ay plainly to render them fit re- 
 cipients for the produce of an ocean tree. Such 
 were the Maldives, or, as in old maps they are 
 named, " Coralline Islands/' situated in the Indian 
 ocean to the south-west of Hindustan. This group 
 is composed of coral banks or atolls* — tiny gardens 
 on the sea, gems of verdure, which might well ap- 
 pear to weary vo^-agers, as Cook describes them, 
 ''terrestrial paradises." While such tales of wonder 
 clung about the trees, magic properties were, of 
 course, believed to be inherent in the fruit. It was 
 death to any native of the Maldivian Isles to possess 
 himself of one. These nuts were the especial pro- 
 perty of the king of the country, and by him alone 
 could they be disposed of, sometimes as royal gifts 
 the most precious he could bestow, sometimes sold 
 at what seems to us almost fabulous prices. A ship 
 fully freighted was given for a single nut by one of 
 the credulous native kings. 
 
 They were valued at sums equal to £300 and 
 £400. The Emperor Rodolph II. offered in vain 
 4000 florins to procure one. 
 
 In those days, not only the simple islanders but 
 intelligent Chinese, and many European sages, be- 
 lieved these nuts to contain an infallible remedy for 
 all diseases, and an antidote to all poisons. To the 
 
 * A name given by the natives to the detached coral formations, of which their 
 Archipelago is composed. They seldom exceed a mile in breadtli, rising perpendi- 
 cularly from an unfathomable depth. Openings in these reefs afford safe anchorage 
 for vessels, 
 
 o> 11 
 
1G2 DOUBLE COCO NUT. 
 
 albumen, ov inside lining of the nut, was added the 
 powder of white, red, or black coral, and the shav- 
 ings of stags' horns and of ebony, the whole was 
 mixed with water in a vessel of porphyry. This 
 specific for all human maladies was eagerly drunk by 
 every sufferer who could afford the costly elixir. 
 The old name of " Nux Medica," * refers to these 
 supposed properties. 
 
 The shells were also of exceeding value, as vessels 
 for holding betel or tobacco. They were supposed 
 to preserve all they contained from every noxious or 
 contaminating influence. By both their Oriental 
 and European possessors they were lavishly adorned 
 with gold and precious stones. 
 
 Though the mystery of their birthplace has been 
 cleared away, these nuts still retain their fabulous 
 powers and artificial value in the minds of tlie Indian 
 islanders. But in other lands the " Coco do Mar," 
 or " Coco de Maldivia" of the early Portuguese navi- 
 gators has shared the fate of many an ancient mar- 
 vel — it has been divested of all its mysterious charm 
 in European eyes. 
 
 In 1769, the tree was discovered in its native 
 home by M. Barre, a French officer of engineers. 
 In 1827, a full description of it with illustrative 
 plates were given by Dr. Hooker in the Botanical 
 Magazine, and still later a paper on the subject was 
 read at the Royal Asiatic Society by an inhabitant 
 
 * See Rhiiurs "Vegetable Kingdom." 
 
DOUBLE COCO NUT. JG3 
 
 of the same favoured coimtiy as itself. In 1854, 
 germinating nuts were sold in London at a public 
 sale for £10a-piece. In the Crystal Palace of 1851, 
 exquisite artificial flowers were exhibited, made from 
 the young leaves of this once far-famed tree, which 
 may have been seen in living beauty in the Royal 
 Gardens at Kew till within the last year and a-half. 
 The young plant, now dead,* appeared then to be a 
 denizen not of ocean but of air. The nut being 
 elevated about a foot and a-half above the surface of 
 the earth, refusing to germinate if buried. Thus sus- 
 pended, its roots were shooting downwards into the 
 pot, its leaves expanding upwards into the air from 
 the stem not yet severed fi'om the nut. "t" 
 
 Although no longer a theme of romance, tliis ex- 
 quisitely beautiful Palm will never fail to interest 
 those who deliojht in God's beneficent gifts. 
 
 Though proved to be no denizen of ocean's 
 "crystal caves, the terrestrial home of which it is the 
 boast, and from which it is found impossible to 
 transplant it, is lovely beyond description. 
 
 The Seychelles, or Mahd Islands, to the south-west 
 of the Maldives, which have since 179-i belonged to 
 -Great Britain, are like fairy -land. 
 
 Resting on a vast platform of coral and sand in 
 the midst of a resplendent sea, these gardens of 
 apices are unvexed by storm or tempest. The oldest 
 inhabitants remember not even one rude gale. 
 
 * 1861. f See " Wanderings through Conservatories at Kew." 
 
164 l>OUBLE COCO NUT. 
 
 From the healthiness of the islands, the people at- 
 tain extreme old age. It is no uncommon sight to 
 see four generations sit down to table. 
 
 These palm-crowned islands are overarched by 
 skies of cloudless blue. The fragrant atmosphere is 
 always serene. The heat of a nearly vertical sun is 
 tempered by delicious never-failing sea-breezes, and 
 its dazzling brilliancy is relieved by a luxuriant 
 vegetation. Amongst these emerald groves, supreme 
 in loveliness, is the glorious Lodoicea. It springs to 
 the height of eighty and ninety feet, a superb crown 
 of fan -shaped leaves spreads ray -like from the 
 queenl}^ brow, while the slender stem, not more 
 than fifteen inches in diameter, with ever undulating 
 grace sways with each passing breeze. 
 
 If the beauty of her home and of her matchless 
 self still make the Lodoicea seem a creation of ro- 
 mance, her usefulness is real beyond a question. 
 Her fruits, known as the Double Coco Nut, are some- 
 times triple, and even quadruple. They frequently 
 measure a foot and a-half in length, with a circum- 
 ference of three feet. Their . usual weight is from 
 twenty to twenty-five pounds, but they sometimes 
 weigh forty and fifty pounds, the largest fruit that 
 any tree is known to produce, excepting the huge 
 Jak, from Artocarpus integrifolia. 
 
 The inside lining of the nut, like that of the com- 
 mon coco nut, is delicious in all its stages. The far- 
 famed elixir of old is still highly esteemed amongst 
 
DOUBLE COCO NUT. 165 
 
 the uatives for medicinal purposes. It also enters 
 into the composition of all their favourite dishes. 
 
 The shell itself, from its exceeding strength and 
 durability, and the immense size it sometimes at- 
 tains, is made available for innumerable domestic 
 purposes. Highly valued in all the Seychelle 
 Islands, they are there called " Vaissalles de I'lle do 
 Praslin." 
 
 Praslin, Curieuse, and Round Island, are the 
 only islands in the group where these trees are 
 found. 
 
 The larger shells, containing six and eight pints, 
 are used as pitchers for water. They are carried by 
 the natives, two at a time, suspended at opposite 
 ends of a stick. Those of a smaller size are appor- 
 tioned as drinking-cups, when divided lengthw^ays 
 they furnish plates and dishes. They take a beauti- 
 ful polish, and become of a fine black colour. They 
 are often carved and set in silver for European pur- 
 poses. Goblets, shaving-dishes, and numerous other 
 articles are made from them. The nuts are often 
 seen in Ceylon. They are frequently used by men- 
 dicants as begging dishes to put provisions in. Even 
 in its natural state these nuts retain so much of 
 their old estimation in the minds of all the natives 
 of those seas, that sailors always try to make them 
 part of the cargo of their vessels. They are sure to 
 bring a good price from credulous islanders on 
 account of their fabulous properties, and from Euro- 
 
166 DOUBLE COCO-XUT. 
 
 peaiis as curiosities. They constitute a regular 
 article of commerce. 
 
 The fibrous covering of the nut is manufactured 
 into ropes. With the downy covering of the young 
 leaves beds and pillows are stuffed. 
 
 The ribs of the leaves and fibres of the leaf-stalks 
 are made into baskets and brooms. The leaves 
 when very young, before they have expanded, are 
 dried in the sun, cut into narrow stri])s and plaited 
 into hats for men and women. They form the 
 universal head-covering in the Seychelles. 
 
 The heart of the leaves is eaten as a vegetable, 
 and made into pickles. Its slightly bitter taste 
 renders it less delicate than the ''cabbage" (as it is 
 called}, of other palms. 
 
 Next to her wondrous nuts, the chief boast of the 
 Lodoicea, is the magnificent size of her leaves. A 
 hundred of them are sufficient to build a house from 
 twenty to thirty feet in length, and from ten to 
 twelve feet in width. With these leaves only 
 entire houses are constructed, with partitions, doors, 
 and Avindows. Most of the cabins and warehouses 
 in the Island of Praslin are so made entirely with 
 these leaves. 
 
 The trunk of the tree is used for water-troughs, 
 and the wood is split into pallisades. 
 
 But alas for these precious trees; they are as rare 
 as they are precious. Found only in those spice- 
 gardens of the Indian seas, they are there confined 
 
DOUBLE COCU-NUT. 167 
 
 to three out of the thirty islet gems that crown the 
 glad waters of that balmy sea, and no pains are 
 taken to increase their numbers. They are often 
 recklessly cut down to obtain their fruit and leaves 
 — that A^aluable fruit which takes so long a time to 
 mature, the blossoms being of an unusual duration. 
 
 It bears only one spadix in the year, but has 
 often more than ten in bloom at once. Like the 
 orange tree flowers and fruit of all ages are on 
 the tree at the same time. The tree requires 
 one hundred and thirty years to attain its full 
 growth . 
 
 The Lodoicea grows on all kinds of soil. It loves 
 the sandy shore; it also loves the rocky steep and 
 the rich dark earth of the damp ravine. 
 
 Strange to say, though resisting all endeavours to 
 transplant them to neighboui-iug countries, one lovely 
 tree deigned for a time to flourish in the palace of 
 palms at Kew. 
 
 But hov/ unlike the superb Lodoicea, as seen in 
 their glory, are these sorrowful figures that travellers 
 describe as the first objects which their eyes rest 
 upon on landing at the Seychelles. 
 
 With drooping heads, poor trees, they stand at the 
 ocean's brink, their torn chaplets streaming deso- 
 lately from their brows, they quiver as the wind 
 passes by. Are they not mourners for their proud 
 race passing away? 
 
 Would that the touching sight might appeal to 
 
16^ 
 
 DOUBLE COCO NUT. 
 
 ftoiiie beneficent hand to look to their perpetuation 
 before it is too late. 
 
 The museum at Kew contains some exquisite arti- 
 ficial flowers cut out of the young unexpanded leaves. 
 Boxes and baskets are also made from them. They 
 have the appearance of ivoiy. The specimens at 
 Kew are said to be the work of some ingenious 
 French ladies at Seyclielles. 
 
v^naH: 
 
 
 , .-^ ^^ 
 
 ^M 
 
 1 
 
 
 VJ^^-^'" 
 
 
 i 
 
 *^" ^ I 
 
 ^^> 
 
Vn Coco-nut ^ctlm. 
 
 (/ 'ocos Nucifera. — Linn.) 
 
 ^E have seen in the Date tree the Pahii 
 of the Desert — in the Calamus, or 
 Ratan, the Paha of the Forest — in 
 the Pahnyra the Pahn of the Plain. 
 Jn the Coco Nut we behold the Palm 
 of the Seashore, or as it may be called 
 the Ocean Palm. Not only does it grow on strips 
 of sand wave-washed on either side, but the Coco- 
 nut Palm is ever the first, sometimes the only tree 
 that is found on those tiny coral isles that dot the 
 Indian and South Pacific Oceans. 
 
 These coral reefs take a variety of shapes. Some- 
 times thej^ are of a circular form inclosing a lagoon. 
 The fairy islet, covered with a grove of palms, then 
 looks like a green wreath borne on the sunlit waves, 
 or like a ring of emerald in its setting of gold, cast 
 up from the treasures of the deep. Sometimes the 
 work of the insect builders would seem to have 
 been interrupted, and the coral speck reaching but 
 to the level of the waves, would be wholly unseen — 
 a place of peril f<.»r some swiftly-speeding ship — 
 
170 THE COCO-NUT PALM. 
 
 when \o, the friendly Coco Pahn, like a plumed 
 sentinel, starts up; and as he shifts his helm the 
 warned mariner blesses the ocean tree. 
 
 In all cases these gardens of tropical seas are 
 quickly clothed with beauty. The green garments 
 which tlie numbed finojers of the shiverinor North 
 so slowly weave ai'e rapidly accomplished by the 
 glowing South. Beneath her radiant skies the island 
 Yenus almost, in rising from the waves puts on her 
 lovely robe, and crowns herself with a diadem of 
 palms. 
 
 Well may the grateful Coco Palm cling to the 
 ocean's side, for he loves to do good service to her. 
 
 Winged birds and viewless winds are commonly 
 commissioned to scatter abroad the seeds of trees and 
 flowers. Some plants, gifted with peculiar strength, 
 force their own seeds below the surface of the soil.* 
 But the seeds of the Ocean Palm are the great sea's 
 peculiar charge ; — in his giant arms he carries them 
 tenderly to far-off lands. Unharmed by the rough 
 waves, coco nuts are cast on all tropical shores, and 
 even on the European coasts of Ireland and Norway, 
 but lacking the sunshine of their native land they 
 cannot floui'ish, and the cold north sighs that the 
 ocean's gifts are in vain. 
 
 Even in our crj^stal palaces, where so many 
 crowned captives of her race grow vigorously, tlie 
 sea-loving palm tree droops. She sickens in cap- 
 
 * The Gruund-nut of South America, Arachis hypogoea. 
 
THE COCO-NUT PALM. 171 
 
 tivity, and never survives it longer than ten 
 years.* 
 
 The only palm of both hemispheres, the Coco-nut 
 Palm, has a wider geographical range than any 
 member of her race. Her green groves girdle the 
 globe with gladness for about twenty degrees on both 
 sides of the equinoctial line. The Coco Nut has been 
 found in India at an elevation of six hundred feet — 
 in Venezuela, at a hundred leagues from the coast — 
 by some accounts, in the heart of Africa, at Tim- 
 buctoo — and little islands off Sumatra and elsewhere, 
 not a mile in circumference, so low that the tide 
 flows completely over them, are completely covered 
 with Coco-nut trees. 
 
 The fruits of this palm is said to be eaten by a 
 hundred millions of human beings, besides countless 
 animals of all kinds. Without her, numberless 
 islands in the Pacific would be uninhabitable ; but 
 by her the people are fed, and clothed, and sheltered. 
 
 Men of all nations — British sailors especially — 
 share with old ocean the honour of propagating this 
 invaluable tree, planting the seeds Avherever their ves- 
 sels touch. Even where she is sterile, as at Lucknow 
 and other inland parts of India, she is cultivated for her 
 beauty. Tlie Coco-nut Palm is in no danger of pass- 
 ing away, like her beautiful sisters, at the Seychelles. 
 
 The shores of all tropical seas are fringed with 
 
 •Tlie fiowering of a Coco Palm at Syon was mcntiuned as a 'great event" 
 Gardiner's Chronicle of 1S62. 
 
172 TUK coco NUT PALM. 
 
 groves of tlie ocean-loving palm. Tlie Brazilian 
 coast, for a distance of two lumdred and eighty 
 miles, is covered with them, wdth scarcely a break. 
 The small island of Itamarca, on that coast, three 
 leagues in length, is said to yield annually about 
 three hundred and sixty tliousand nuts. 
 
 In some of the most ancient voyages on record, 
 mention is made of the Coco-nut groves of beautiful 
 Ceylon — the Taprobane and Serendib of ancient 
 days, the Tarshish (we believe) of a still older time. 
 
 And on the same spot where the old Arabian 
 voyagers beheld them, those Coco-nut groves are 
 flourishing still. The Moor joins with the English- 
 man in the diligent cultivation of the trees, on which 
 more than on anything now, It would seem that the 
 prosperity of the island depends. 
 
 The cinnamon and pearls of the days of old, the 
 coffee of a later period, are all eclipsed by the Coco- 
 nut Palm of to-day. 
 
 Twenty thousand acres at Jaffura and Batticalva 
 were purchased, some years back, for the sole cultiva- 
 tion of these trees; and in 1858 the estimated number 
 of them on the island was twenty millions. 
 
 The Coco Nut is to the people of the south and 
 the south-western parts of Ceylon what the Palmjn-a 
 is to those of the north. 
 
 Yet over the birth-place of this universal favourite, 
 and, next to the Date, the most widely known of all 
 palms, there liangs a strange mystery. A palm of 
 
THE COCO-NUT PALM. 173 
 
 botlj hemispheres, } et neither in the east or west ha3 
 it been absolutely proved to be indigenous ; nor yet 
 in either is there any record as to the time or man- 
 ner of its introduction. 
 
 In Ceylon we find the earliest notice of the Coco- 
 nut tree, B.C. 161. But tlie precious nuts then in 
 use must have been first carried there by tb.e sea at 
 a time so remote that it is beyond their historical 
 records, which are amongst the most ancient books 
 in the world. 
 
 But the great waves of the Indian Ocean, as, 
 crested with foam, they cast their treasure on the 
 shore, to be self-sown on the southern and south- 
 western coasts of the island, left no token to show 
 whence they came. 
 
 It has been questioned whether it was from the 
 mainland of India, or from the far-off continent of 
 America, that w^orld which remained unknown for 
 so many centuries subsequent to the growth of Coco- 
 nut trees in Ceylon. But India cannot prove her 
 claim ; and South America, though she boasts seven- 
 teen out of the eighteen known species of cocos, 
 ventures not to assert that the Coco Nut {Cocos 
 nucifera) is originally heis. The beautiful stranger 
 grows luxuriantly along her coasts, beloved by all 
 who know her ; but she lives not, like the Miriti 
 Palm, in the ancient traditions of the land. 
 
 To Africa, also, she is a dear adopted child ; but 
 she Ls not her own. 
 
174 THE COCO-NUT PALM. 
 
 The mysterious veil that so long ovei-luing Lodoicea 
 (Double Coco-nut), still rests in a measure on the 
 tree with whose rough-looking nuts we are so familiar. 
 The fables of other days are gone by ; we look not 
 now for trees amidst the " rocks of the ocean ; " but the 
 actual home of the coco nut has yet to be discovered. 
 
 The useful coco nut, like useful wheat, has been 
 from time immemorial so diligently propagated, that 
 the spot of ground where either of them first sprung 
 np, is likely for ever to remain in doubt. 
 
 Could we hear what, in the east and the west, the 
 rustling palms are answeiing to the boom of the sea, 
 we might perhaps learn from the messages inter- 
 changed that the earliest homes of the Coco-nut Palm 
 were on either side of Hindostan ; in the Maldives, 
 the " Coralline Islands '' of old ; and Tahiti, the gar- 
 den of the Ocean of Peace. Or it may be, brave 
 voyagers as they are, that it was from the far off 
 Western World that the kindly nuts first came, tell- 
 ing — but their voices were long unheard — of the 
 treasures their vast continent could unfold. 
 
 Coco -nut Palms are not found on volcanic islands. 
 There are none in St. Helena, Ascension, Madeira, 
 or the Cape de Verd Islands, excepting St. lago. 
 
 They grow, but do not flourish, in the Sandwich 
 Islands ; the fruit is of small size. So highly prized 
 was it, however, amongst the natives, that for cen- 
 turies a law was in force amongst them, whereby 
 women were forbidden to taste a coco nut. Con- 
 
THE COCO-NUT PAOL 175 
 
 sidered as a sacrilegious act in them, they were 
 threatened with the vengeance of their gods if they 
 dared to disobey. At length one courageous female 
 chief openly braved the threatened anger of the gods 
 of wood and stone. Her eating the coco nut was 
 followed b}^ no evil consequences ; and thus she won 
 for her sex the right to partake of the fruit of the 
 kindly palm. Yet more — assisted, perhaps, to break 
 down the barriers dark and senseless superstitions 
 ever oppose to the entrance of the true Light.* 
 
 We find the earliest mention of the coco nut in 
 the Singhala chronicle, *' Mahawanso," A.D. 161, f 
 the milk of the small red coco nut being used in 
 preparing the cement for building the Ruanwelle 
 dagoba or temple-palace. In the unchanging East, 
 tlie milk of the coco nut is still so used for its 
 adhesive properties, as it was two thousand years ago. 
 
 We have no record to tell us when the nut was 
 first used for food. Sir S. Tennent remarks that the 
 writer of the " Mahawanso," dwelling in the interior, 
 would be unacquainted with a tree which is never 
 found inland, unless planted by man. 
 
 An ancient tradition in Ceylon relates | that the 
 use of the coco nut for food was first revealed in a 
 dream to one of their rajahs. 
 
 Afflicted with leprosy as a punishment for some 
 act of irreverence to a sacred tree, no cure could be 
 
 ♦ Seemann's " History of Palms." 
 
 •f Tennent's " Ceylon." 
 
 X Bennett's "Wanderings in New South Wales." 
 
176 THE COCO-NUT PALM. 
 
 discovered fur the siiftering monarcli. At length, 
 having by his penitence removed the anger of the 
 gods, a beneficent being appeared to him in his sleep. 
 By him the king was directed to make his way from 
 his inland home to the coast. On the brink of the 
 ocean he should find a tree, the fruit of which, capable 
 of satisfjnng both hunger and thirst, he was desired 
 to make his only food for an allotted time. Gladly 
 was the journey undertaken, and with joy the 
 unknown ocean and unknown tree were both dis- 
 covered, and the healing fruit accomplished the cure 
 of the grateful prince. Grateful in their turn for 
 this new and delicious fruit now first made known 
 to them, the people raised a monument to the dis- 
 coverer of the coco nut. In the present day a 
 oranite rock is seen, in the midst of a grove of Coco- 
 nut Palms, at Bellingham, a fishing hamlet to the 
 south of Colombo. It has no date, but on it is a 
 ■gigantic representation, sixteen or eighteen feet high, 
 of the Kustra Rajah. 
 
 Manuscripts of the fifth ceiitur^^ distinguished 
 amongst palm trees those that bore "the great Indian 
 nut " (coco nut), and " the smaller aromatic one " 
 (areca nut). Sopater, a merchant, the first travellei- 
 who described Ceylon from his personal knowledge, 
 and who visited it early in the following century, 
 : speaks of her Coco-nut trees. In Singhalese chron- 
 icles, A.D. 115 3, the planting of Coco-nut trees is 
 recorded as one of the munificent acts of a kinoj of 
 
THE COCO-KUT PALM. 177 
 
 Ceylon. In the following century these palms sn|)- 
 plied the ''wine drawn from trees," of which Marco 
 Polo partook when he rested at the island on his liome- 
 ward route from the coast of Kubla Khan. 
 
 Of this palm wine a wondrous tale w?.s told by 
 Arabian travellers in the ninth century. They spoke 
 of fish which, issuing f]"om the waters, ascended 
 Coco-nut trees to drink of the sap, and then returned 
 to the sea. 
 
 A new competitor for that fascinating toddy which, 
 we have ab-eady seen, allures flies, and birds, and 
 cats ; to which may be added lizards, bats, and bees. 
 But the trees' worst enemies are the rhinoceros beetles 
 that attack the leaf-bud, and the sea-swallow, macaws, 
 and cockatoos, that peck at the flowers and destroy 
 their fertility. The nut itself is another attraction ; 
 hard as the outer shell may be, animals of various 
 kinds, inspired by the rich reward within, accomplish 
 the task of getting at the interior. 
 
 In the Mauritius and elsewhere, an enormous kind 
 of crab, two and sometimes three feet long, makes 
 its way up the tall stem of the tree to get at the 
 nuts. Darwin relates that this crab has been seen 
 to tear away the husky fibre from that part of the 
 shell where the eye holes are situated ; on one of 
 these, as the softest place (for the passage of the 
 germinating plant), it hammers away with its strong 
 claws till an opening is made, to get at the jelly 
 within. As this is a work of three or four days, the 
 (I) 12 
 
178 THE COCO-NUT PALM. 
 
 crab is said to have a storehouse of nuts in different 
 stages of progress. Bats are also fond of this delicate 
 food ; they are constantly found hidden amongst tlie 
 leaves at the summit of the tree. There are also 
 palm-squirrels and palm-martens. Elephants and 
 wild hogs are so eager to get at the tender leaves of 
 the Coco-nut tree, that young plants are protected 
 from them by strong fences, and occasionally lighting 
 fires and firino- muskets. 
 
 o 
 
 Monkeys are also extremely fond of these nuts. 
 Of all animals, they have the best claim to a share 
 of them, as the name by which this palm is so 
 generally known is derived from the Spanish for 
 monkey, coco — their own peculiar cry, co-co. Coco 
 nut, or monkey nut, is the name which, with slight 
 modifications, has been adopted into all European 
 lanouao-es for this fruit. The name is said to have 
 been given fi-om the resemblance of the rough hairy 
 nut, Avith its three black scars, to a monkey's face. 
 
 Monkeys are also connected with coco nuts from 
 an ingenious manner in which sailors through them 
 obtain the fruit. The men throw stones at the 
 monkeys as they sit at the top of the trees ; the 
 chattering little creatures, with no other missiles at 
 hand, angril}* snatch at the nuts, and with them 
 return the enemy's fire, much to the satisfaction of 
 tlieir assailants. 
 
 Our blue-jackets may have learned this trick from 
 stories of Sinbad the Sailor, the real true sailor, " all 
 
THE COC0->aT TALM. 179 
 
 of the olden time/' " SinbaJ of the Sea " of the ninth 
 century. But the custom was older still. The 
 Chinese have practised this craft from earliest times 
 to the present day; and paintings in Egyptian tombs 
 represent that most ancient people having their fruit 
 gathered by monkeys. 
 
 Coco nuts, comino' to Enoland in the humble 
 capacity of wedges to fill up vacant places in the 
 freighting of ships, are comparatively low-priced and 
 common in England. In 1857 one thousand five 
 hundred and seventy-five tons of coco nuts were im- 
 ported into England. 
 
 They find their way to the humblest fruit-stores 
 of English villages ; and coco nuts are perhaps the 
 only strictly tropical fruit with which the ver^- poorest 
 in our land are acquainted. The delicious orange, 
 though a native only of sunny climes, is not so con- 
 fined to the torrid zone as the fruit of the palm. 
 
 But how little does the boy or girl, who buys a bit 
 of coco nut from the fruit woman's barrow imagine 
 the preciousness of the tree which bore that fruit in 
 its native land, wherever that land may be — in the 
 Eastern or Western world. 
 
 The little girl sits sewing at her cottage door. She 
 is making a shirt for her father. He is a fisherman, 
 and the boy runs to join him as he pushes his boat 
 from shore. Within doors the mother is setting aside 
 the tea things and the remains of a loaf of bread. 
 
 The simple recpiirements of that humble home, 
 
180 THE COCO-^■UT PALM. 
 
 from what countless resources have they been drawn ! 
 Hundreds of mih^s have been traversed, thousands and 
 thousands of hands employed to furnish those few wants. 
 From far-off continents the pods of the cotton- 
 plant come to be manufactured into cloth by compli- 
 cated machinery in vast factories at home. Through 
 similar preparations the child's thread of cotton or 
 flax must have passed, and a bit of steel wire was 
 fashioned into her needle by the hands of one hun- 
 dred and twenty different operatives. The little 
 boat, with sails, ropes, oars, and nets, from how many 
 countries were the materials for each supplied, how 
 many hands were required to fit them for their 
 present use ! For the simple meal, — a Chinese herb, 
 a West Indian grass, and grains perhaps of Polish 
 wheat, — what various manipulations did they undergo 
 before they became tea and sugar and bread ! Cups 
 and plates, too. How many hands were busied, and 
 for how long a time before clay dug out of the ground 
 was fashioned into those forms. 
 
 '* The Indian's nut alone 
 Is clothinj,', meat, and trencher, drink, and can, 
 Boat, cable, sails, and needle, all in one." 
 
 Do we wonder, when we read of the simple 
 islanders of the Marquesas, who say that the Coco- 
 nut tree was brought to one of their islands by the 
 very hands of a god. 
 
 It was, indeed, by the hands of a God — the God 
 and Father of all — that the seeds of this precious 
 
THE COCO-NUT PALM. 181 
 
 tree were especlall}- bestowed on the Indians of the 
 south, his simpler children, the little ones, as it were, 
 of the human flimily. Their mental powers are not 
 full grown, their intellect and energy are less fully 
 developed than in the long civilized nations of Europe; 
 and so for their few wants this loving Father provides 
 for them close at hand. 
 
 Where the heat of the clhnate renders human 
 nature less capable of bodily exertion, the develop- 
 ment of the vegetable kingdom is increased. In 
 one tree alone, of eaR}^ abundant, and peculiarly 
 rapid growth, men find in the regions of the sun all 
 things they absolutely need. 
 
 Therefore in Malacca, where the coco nut furnishes 
 the chief food of the poorer classes, a nut is planted 
 on the birth of each child, designed for his especial 
 benefit. The child and the tree o-row too-ether. The 
 Palm tree, servant of God and friend of man, begins 
 to bear "good fruit" at five 3'ears old ; at eleven it 
 is in full bearing ; for fifty years it is considered in 
 its prime, and it will continue to bear for a hundred 
 years. Tlie annual produce of a vigorous tree is 
 from one hundred and fift}^ to three hundred nuts, 
 or from one to two tons of fruit. A nut, before it 
 is fully ripe, sometimes weighs fifteen pounds. 
 
 The nuts grow in clusters of from five to fifteen. 
 Twenty clusters are together on the tree in diflferent 
 stages of ripeness, so that fruit may be gathered 
 four or five times in the year. The Coco-nut tree, 
 
182 THE COCO-NUT PALM. 
 
 like the orange tree, has fruit and flowers at tlie 
 same time. The flowers, when the}" first appear, are 
 pure white, with the scent of the magnolia. They change 
 to cream colour, and finally become of a golden hue. 
 
 The Coco-nut Palm is amongst the loveliest of its 
 race. Its slender stem attains from sixty to ninety 
 and one hundred and ten feet in heiglit.* Less firmly 
 erect than the Areca, and many other equally .slender 
 stemmed palms, the Coco-nut and the Lodoicea have 
 a peculiar grace of their own in their ever-undulating 
 movements. 
 
 But though she sways to the breeze, the Coco-nut 
 Palm never forgets her love for the ocean ; her crown 
 is ever inclined seawards. 
 
 Nor does she foro^et to " hold fast" thouo-h she 
 stands on wave-washed rocks and on slipper}^ sands. 
 Almost wrenched from the ground by the sudden 
 hurricanes of tropical climates, these palms are seen 
 clinging with singular tenacity to their allotted soil, 
 putting out fre-sh suckers from the undermost side 
 of their stems. Uprising still, the summit of each 
 slender stem is raised, holding the crown erect. 
 
 Could there anywhere be found a more exquisite 
 illustration of the righteous in misfortune? Children 
 of light, who "have treasure in earthen vessels;" 
 though " persecuted," '' not forsaken," though *' cast 
 down," "not destroyed. "'f 
 
 * " History of Coco-nut Tree."— Jrarslmll. 
 
 t A drawing was made in the .Mauritius of a Coco-nut Palm, wliicli, three month* 
 after it kad been overthrown by a storm, still retained this half raised attitude. 
 
THE COCO-NUT PALM. 183 
 
 The leaves of the Coco-nut Palm are always twenty- 
 five in number, five new leaves replacing five old ones 
 every year. They are upwards of fifteen feet in 
 length, in form pinnate or feather}^, divided into long, 
 narrow, sword-shaped leaflets like the Date Palm. 
 They are more varied in colour than palm-leaves 
 generally. Usually of a In-ight, vivid green, the 
 older leaves before falling off assume somewhat of 
 an autumnal tint. These occasional tints of red- 
 dish brown and gold have a peculiar and lovely 
 effect. In Tahiti the yellow leaves are much prized 
 for plaiting into sun-screens. 
 
 Our children sitting at home in the shadow of the 
 soft grey cloak of English skies, read breathlessly the 
 daring romances of the East. With children of the 
 tropics dazzling Arabian tales of trees of gold with 
 jewelled fruits take yet firmer hold of the imagination, 
 for to them they do not appear (piite so unreal. 
 Their every evening is passed in such gardens as 
 Aladdin's — gardens of palms. Tn the blaze of the 
 setting sun their slender shafts are of gold, their 
 leaves of emerald and topaz, and their fruit amber. 
 
 What pen or pencil coidd do justice to the gor- 
 o;eous sunset colourino- of an avenue of these Coco- 
 nut Palms bordering a tropical sea ? 
 
 Young plants growing luxuriantly on all sides 
 cover the sandy soil with the rich green of their 
 waving plumes, and from out of their feathery fronds 
 spring up the tall resplendent trees. 
 
184 THE COCO-^-UT PALM. 
 
 Between these glittering shafts and jewelled plumes 
 is seen the glowing west. There, like Caesar of old, 
 the kingly sun as he sinks enfolds himself in his 
 purple robe, while a crimson flush overspreads the 
 surrounding skies. On the deep blue of the horizon 
 are silvery specks. The}^ are vessels speeding awa}', 
 " homeward bound." 
 
 In shore the waves of molten gold whisper low 
 as they break on the white coral strand. They 
 bring love-gifts from the mighty deep, and rings of 
 pearl roll to tlie feet of the ocean palms. With 
 bowed heads and rustling plumes the queenly trees 
 respond to the message of the sea. 
 
 When daylight is past, and the radiant moon and 
 glittering stars come forth, land and sea are lustrous 
 still. 'Tis but that the jewels are changed ! A sea 
 of sapphires and diamonds shimmers in the clear, 
 white cloudless light, and the palm-trees' golden 
 shafts and amber fruit become columns of silver and 
 clusters of pearls. 
 
 There are other trees which affect a sandy soil, 
 but they are very different in character to the 
 ocean palm. 
 
 On the shores of West Indian Islands the dark 
 green of the full-leaved branching Manchineal is often 
 seen intermixed with Coco -nut Palms. 
 
 But the rosy apples of the Manchineal are poi- 
 sonous. Raindrops passing over its leaves will blister 
 the skin, and the \vood is so injurious to workmen's 
 
THE COCO-NUT PALM. 185 
 
 hands that, though it is veiy beautiful, resembling 
 satin wooci, it is seldom made any use of. Not a 
 blade of grass will spring up beneatli the bhghting 
 shadow of its branches. 
 
 The Coco-nut Palm grows side by side with the 
 Manchineal on that white glistening shore, but its 
 every part is devoted to good works in the service 
 of man, — root, and marrow, and bark of its stem ; 
 leaves, and their mid-ribs ; fruit, and their fibres, 
 and shells ; flowers, and their spathes. 
 
 An Indian Islander, to whom a Portuguese was 
 expatiating on the luxuries of Europeans at home, 
 asked the boaster if in Europe they had the Coco- 
 nut tree ? On hearing they had not, his admiration 
 was changed to pity. His island-home, he said, 
 with that one tree, was worth the possession of all 
 Europe if deprived of it. 
 
 Self-sown on the sea-coast, the nut must be planted 
 inland by human hands. In negro villages in the 
 West Indies the Coco-nut tree, like the Date in 
 Egj^pt, is often the only redeeming feature. The 
 kindl}^ Palm trees bend over the ugly little black 
 huts, unadorned like English ciottages with hanging- 
 vines and gay gardens in front, and their graceful 
 forms crowned with green leaves and clustei'ing fruit, 
 give a cliarm to the scene. 
 
 They are always planted near wells, and frequently 
 close to the suQ-ar mill. The flickering]: sunshine 
 plays througli tlie overshadowing palms on gay 
 
186 THE COCO-XUT PAOr. 
 
 groups of negro women brilliantly attired in white 
 dresses, with handkerchief-turbans and aprons of red 
 and yellow checks, and the rustling of palm-leaves 
 mingles with tlie peals of merr\" laughter and inces- 
 sant chatter of the child-like blacks. 
 
 But little use is unfortunately made of tliis pre- 
 cious tree in the West compared with its infinite 
 capabilities in the East. 
 
 In Ceylon Coco-nut trees still form, as tliey did 
 centuries ago, an important feature of the landscape. 
 On the one side of the island extends;, for nearly 
 fifty miles, a continuous garden of these palms, and 
 on the other a splendid avenue, seventy miles long, 
 reaches from Point de Galle to Colombo. 
 
 Along this Ijeautiful road may be seen, says Sir 
 J. Tennent, '' in active illustration the multifarious 
 uses of tlie Coco-nut tree." Houses are timbered 
 with its wood, and roofed with its plaited fronds ; 
 gardens are fenced and partitioned with them. 
 Women are at their doors rasping the nut for the 
 preparation of various dishes. By the roadside are 
 pits where the nuts are steeped to convert the fibre 
 into coir, and the kernels of the nuts are spread out 
 to dry in tho sun preparatory to being made into 
 oil. While on all sides " men are ascending the 
 trees to collect the sap from the wounded spathes of 
 unopened flowers." This will be drunk as toddy, 
 distilled into arrack, or boiled into sugar. 
 
 The formation of a Coco-nut tree plantation is 
 
THE COCO-NUT PALAF. 187 
 
 said to be* by planting tlie ripe nuts in squares, 
 each square containing four liundred. They are 
 covered an inch deep with sand and sea-weed, or soft 
 mud from the beach, and watered daily till they 
 germinate. Nuts sown in April are sufficiently 
 grown to be planted out before the rains of Sep- 
 tember. They are then set separately in holes 
 bedded with soft mud and sea-weed, three feet deep, 
 and from twenty to thirty feet apart. For the first 
 two }'^ars they are protected from the fierce glare of 
 the sun by plaited fronds of kindred Coco-nut 
 Palms, or the broad fan-shaped leaves of the Palmj-ra. 
 Encii'cled by fences, they are guarded, too, while 
 young, from the attacks of elephants, wild hogs, and 
 rats. The tree flowers in its fifth year. Each nut 
 requires twelve months to ripen. The time of its 
 beginning to bear fruit depends much on its locality. 
 An Indian islander told Mr. Crawford: — " If I plant 
 a coco nut by the sea shore, I shall myself eat the 
 fruit of it ; but if I plant it inland, the fruit will be 
 for my grandchildren to eat." 
 
 The most precious inheritance of the Singhalese is 
 his ancestral garden of coco nuts. An attempt to 
 raise a tax on them in 1797. roused the populace to 
 rebel lion. 7 
 
 The genealogical lionoiu-s of the Coco-nut Palm 
 in Ceylon is beyond a question ; but not on them 
 does she rest her claim to their reverence and attach- 
 
 * Tennent's '-Cejlon. " t Tennent's "Ceylon." 
 
183 THE COCO-NUT PALM. 
 
 ment. If, conscious of tlie traditions of the past, 
 her motto is, " noblesse oblige," the good done by 
 her ancestors she still strives to equal or outdo ; and 
 in the island her resources ai-e constantlj^ more and 
 more developed. 
 
 As a matter of fact, legal proof, of the value of 
 these trees, may be mentioned a cause very recently 
 decided in a court of law in Ceylon. The subject 
 in dispute was a claim to a tw^o thousand liv^e hun- 
 dred and twentieth part of ten Coco-nut tree^. 
 
 Sir George Barrow mentions the one hundred and 
 lift3^-fourth part of a Coco -nut tree being advertised 
 for sale in a Ceylon paper ; the proprietor of a 
 whole tree being considered in the colony a ricli 
 man. 
 
 The Palmyra or Tala is to the Singhalese a sacred 
 tree ; but the Coco-nut Palm — the Hindustani Na- 
 rij^e, the Sanscrit Narikela — is as a loved member 
 of his family, and to it he clings with superstitious 
 fondness. The natives sa}^ the Coco-nut Pahn will 
 not grow out of the soimd of the human voice ; thej^ 
 will not flourish unless you walk under them and 
 talk to them. If the villages where they grow are 
 deserted, they die. 
 
 Groves of these trees are everywhere landmarks 
 of happy human homes. Amidst the wild glens and 
 I'ecesses of the Kandi3^an hills, the nodding plumes 
 of the friendly Coco-nut Palm always betoken a cot- 
 tage near. 
 
THE COCO-^■UT PALM. ISO 
 
 Tn every garJen of the rich and poor Narikela 
 stands the guardian genius of the land, as she is also 
 of the countless isles that gem the seas of the 
 south. 
 
 In the island of New Caledonia (New Hebrides), 
 these trees are, as in Ceylon, looked upon as part 
 of the family. When a chief dies, his palms are 
 wounded, that they may share the grief of the house- 
 hold. Besides their infinite usefulness, there is in 
 some countries a peculiar mode of raising these trees, 
 which lielps to make them individually dear to the 
 people. In parts of Ceylon and other places, the 
 nuts are not put into the ground until after they 
 have sprouted, and even attained three feet in 
 height. During this stage they are kept close to 
 their houses, so that in their early youth Coco-nut 
 Palms are actually dwellers in the family home, if 
 not within the house, at least close beside it, and 
 under the shadow of its roof. 
 
 In a lovely little island in the Pncific, Rutuma, 
 Bennet saw these nuts ranged in great numbers be- 
 fore the house, unplanted, but growing luxuriantly. 
 
 The natives of Tahiti, where this palm is regarded 
 with peculiar affection, have a tradition that the tree 
 was produced from the head of a man. The name 
 Uto given by the people of Tonga (in the neighbour- 
 ing group of the Fee-jee Islands) to the nut when 
 germinating, is in singular accordance with this 
 strange superstition, for it also signifies the brain. 
 
190 THE C•OCU-^■UT PALM. 
 
 As their most precious possession, Coco-nut trees 
 are often devoted to their gods by the Singhalese, 
 to Buddhist temples, or to Roman Catholic altars, 
 superstitiously regarded by them. Consecrated trees 
 are distinguished by having a band of leaves fastened 
 round their stems by the owner. Sometimes the 
 nuts are converted into oil to be burned before the 
 shrine to which the trees belong. 
 
 In times of sickness offerings of young plants are 
 made, or where other gifts have been offered, a palm 
 branch is laid upon them, by means of Avhich the god 
 is supposed to enter into the offering, or it is at- 
 tached to the sick person, and then the evil spirit is 
 supposed to depart through it. 
 
 At Tahiti, a branch of the Coco-nut Palm is used, 
 as the leaf of the Talipat is in Ceylon, as an emblem 
 of authorit3\ Like Clan-Alpine's fiery torch, or the 
 wooden halberd — the budstikke of ancient Scan- 
 dinavia — a branch of the Coco-nut tree is sent b}^ 
 Tahitian chiefs to summon their dependants. There 
 too, the leaves, which form a principal part in all 
 their i-eligious ceremonies, were frequentl}^ suspended 
 in their temples as offerings to their gods. Strings 
 and bunches of the segments of the leaves were hung 
 up in the manner of rosaries, to show the order of 
 the pra3^ers. 
 
 Thei'e are, in various parts of the East, religious 
 ceremonies connected with tliis so long venerated 
 fruit. lu them a ni3'sterious sort of connection is 
 
THE COCO-NUT PALM. 191 
 
 always set forth ay existing between the Coco-nut 
 Pahn and the sea. 
 
 At Trincomalee, where the Poi'tugaese destroj^ed 
 the temple of a thousand columns, a yearly proces- 
 sion of devotees takes place. Fruits and flowers of 
 various kinds are carried to a rock which projects 
 four hundred feet above the sea. Amongst other 
 ceremonies which there take place, is the mysterious 
 breaking of a coco nut against the cliff. After this 
 is done, the officiatinof Brahmin swincr.s a brazen 
 censer above his head, which, being filled with in- 
 flammable materials, blazes up to a great height, 
 casting a red fiery glow far out over the sea.* 
 
 At Bombay, and at all the seaports on the western 
 coast of India, there is, amongst the great yearly 
 festivals of the Hindus, one known by the name of 
 " Coco-nut Day." This festival takes place in 
 August, at the termination of the rainy season, when 
 the navigation of the sea is again open with safety. 
 The natives, in holiday dresses, with bands of music, 
 go in procession to the sea side, where numerous 
 ceremonies take place over a coco nut, which is 
 covered with gold and silver leaf The principal 
 person present then throws this nut into the sea. 
 Every boat owner and trader having made a similar 
 offerino' on his own account, the first boat of the 
 season, gaily decorated Avith flags, immediately 
 afterwards puts to sea. 
 
 * Tciiucnt's " Ceylon." 
 
192 THE COCO-NUT TALM. 
 
 In this Eastern ceremon}^ the gilded coco niifc — ■ 
 considered a symbol of mai'riage in many parts of 
 India — is as the .marriage ring with which the Doge 
 of Venice was wont to wed the Adriatic. It would 
 also seem as if this ceremony, confined to the western 
 coast of Hindostan, had its origin in some ancient 
 tradition of the coco nut having been bestowed by 
 the sea on their shores. This would point to the 
 Maldives and the Laccadives as the home of the 
 Coco-nut Palm. 
 
 In the Friendly or Fee-jee Islands these nuts are 
 used as charms ; answers are supposed to be given 
 by them to anxious inquirers as to the recover}^ of 
 sick friends. The nut, in its natural state, is placed 
 on the ground. After prayer has been made, it is 
 spun, and, according as the upper part of it does or 
 does not point to a quarter previously determined 
 upon, the answer is believed to be favourable or 
 the reverse. Spinning these nuts is at all times a 
 favourite amusement ; they are frequently spun by 
 women to determine disputed questions at games. 
 
 But not yet have we attempted a detail of the 
 actual uses of the Coco-nut Palm. 
 
 The conjuror with his tricks never wants for an 
 admiring audience ; far greater marvels surround us 
 on all sides. How few take heed of them ! Palm 
 trees, children of the south, give into our hands 
 to have and to hold, gifts more marvellous in 
 their variety than wizards of the north can do, 
 
THE COCO-NUT PALM. 193 
 
 masters though they be in the art of prestidigita- 
 tion ! 
 
 Let us call the rough coco nut — the seed of the 
 tree — a wizard's box, and count, if we can, the 
 number of infinitely varied articles that may be 
 summoned from it. That we may the better re- 
 member, we will try to classify them under fruit, 
 fibre, shell, floivers, leaves, ster)i, and root 
 
 The first service the kindly Coco-nut tree does to 
 man, is without any exertion or almost consciousness 
 on his part, and at the peril of its own life. In 
 tropical climates, where terrific thunder storms are 
 frequent and sudden, these stately palms protect the 
 palace and the hut while the households are perhaps 
 asleep. The lightning's fiery arrows are abroad, but 
 their crowns are uplifted as shields ; their tall stems 
 interrupt the discharge, and conduct the electric 
 matter to the ground, especially when drenched with 
 rain. " In the neio-hbourhood of these trees acci- 
 dents from lightning are very rare."* 
 
 The fruit, or nuts, are, of course, the chief boast 
 of the Coco-nut tree. Bernardin de St. Pierre says 
 — " The sound of falling cocos are intended to call 
 guests to their refreshment." 
 
 o 
 
 There are red, yellow, and black, or rather dark 
 green, coco nuts. Various writers mention five 
 kinds as known in Ceylon. Of these the most 
 
 ♦ Tcnneiit's " Ceylon." 
 
 (1) 13 
 
104 THE COCO-NUT TALM. 
 
 highly prized is the king coco nut — the Tembili of 
 the natives. They are planted near temples, and a 
 draught from these nuts is presented to visitors as a 
 mark of distinction. 
 
 One very diminutive kind, the size of a Turkey's 
 egg, is much esteemed in Ceylon as a curiosity. 
 
 The aricuri, or accu-uri of Gu^^ona (Cocos sckizo- 
 phylla — Martius) bears a still smaller nut, the size 
 of a bantam's egg, and of the same shape. When 
 polished, it is black as jet, and when set in silver, 
 forms a peculiarly elegant scent bottle. 
 
 As the fruit passes through its progressive stages 
 to maturity, it is applied to different purposes. 
 
 In its earliest state, small, green, and undeveloped, 
 it is serviceable to man. Grated down it becomes a 
 valuable medicine ; when mixed with the oil of the 
 matured nut, a healing ointment. 
 
 When further advanced, the albumen, or Vvhite 
 lining of the shell — a semi-transparent jelly, like 
 wdiite cornelian, with a flavour of almonds — furnishes 
 a most delicate food. That portion of the albumen 
 which remains still liquid, called the " milk" of the 
 coco nut, or coco-nut water, aftbrds a most deli- 
 cious draught. This opalescent nectar, when iced, 
 cannot be surpassed by any compound of European 
 luxuiy. 
 
 Where milk cannot be procured, coco -nut milk is 
 sometimes used as a substitute in tea. This is a 
 milky liquor obtained by pressing the nut. 
 
THE COCO-NUT PALM. ] 05 
 
 It is in tlieir unripe state that coco nuts are used 
 as regular food. With no other food but this Sin- 
 ghalese will labour for days ; so also will the people 
 of Malacca. At one time these nuts formed part of 
 the provision of negroes in Jamaica. The natives of 
 the Isthmus of Panama principally subsist on grated 
 coco nuts, boiled with rice and water. In the 
 Maldives they are the price of labour. 
 
 The delicate jelly, called by the natives of Tahiti 
 Ni-a-a, enters into the composition of various dishes 
 there, and in all tropical countries. It is also pre- 
 pared as a favourite sweetmeat, and makes an excel- 
 lent emulsion. 
 
 The milk, besides affording so delicious a draught, 
 is, when mixed with fresh cows' milk, a remedy for 
 ophthalmic complaints. It is also used as a cosmetic, 
 and in the preparation of cement. As the nut 
 ripens this milk becomes unfit to drink, and finally 
 dries away altogether. 
 
 It is in the kernel's transition state, from a jelly 
 to a nut-like substance, that coco nuts form with 
 rice the basis of all Singhalese cookery. They form 
 the ancient dish of the Island, Curry, or Kuri, which 
 dates back to the second century, B.C. It is the 
 addition of this grated kernel which constitutes the 
 excellence of East Indian curries. 
 
 When fully ripe the grated nut is, both in the 
 East and West, made into delicious puddings and 
 cheese-cakes. A most delicate article of confectionary 
 
196 THE COCO-NUT PALM. 
 
 is also prepared from it. When mixed with a little 
 water and boiled with sugar the.se coco-Tiut cakes 
 are, in the West Indies, cut into fanciful shapes ; 
 some are coloured with the crimson juice of the 
 Prickly Pear (a species of Cactus Opiintia vulgaris'), 
 and some are left pure white. 
 
 A tray with these white and rose-coloured con- 
 fections makes a tempting display, carried about to 
 sell on the turbaned heads of smilino- black and 
 coloured girls. A love of making presents is a 
 marked characteristic of the negro race ; and a tray 
 of these sweeties is a favourite offerinoj from the 
 upper servants of a West Indian household to the 
 3^ounger members of the family. The nut preserved 
 in sugar is an excellent sweetmeat. 
 
 The same nutty substance, the kernel of the nut, 
 affords the valuable coco-nut oil which, with the 
 fibre of the outside husk caUed Coir, constitute in 
 European markets the most valuable products of the 
 tree. The preparation of these two articles principally 
 engages at this moment the industrious poor of 
 Ceylon. 
 
 Sir George Barrow mentions, that in 1854 one 
 hundred and forty-eight Coco-nut tree estates existed 
 in the island ; the names given to some of them be- 
 ing wlioU}' unpronounceable, — Galle tville moohelane 
 vxdte and KoorooppooatcJiia. onookelane luatte. 
 
 Since then the cultivation of these has greatly 
 increa.sed. Sir J. S. Tennent, quoting from the 
 
THE COCO-NUT TALM. 197 
 
 Ceylon Ohservev, December 25, 1858, gives an 
 interesting summary of facts connected with it : — 
 
 " Tlie average export of coco-nut oil for the four 
 years ending 1841 was said not greatly to have 
 exceeded 400,000 gallons, value under £26,000. 
 In 1857 the export rose to 1,767,413 gallons, 
 valued at £212,184. As much oil being consumed 
 in the colony as was sent out of it. To afford the 
 whole quantity of oil, 3,534,826 gallons, 141,393,040 
 nuts are required. The refuse, oil-cake or poonak, 
 being most valuable as food for animals and for 
 manuring land." 
 
 Of the twenty million Coco-nut trees estimated 
 for as on the island, one sixth seems to be devoted 
 to the produce of oil, and five millions to toddy 
 drawing, — large proportions of tliis liquor being- 
 distilled into arrack and converted into suo-ar. Tliere 
 remains eleven millions five hundred thousand trees 
 yielding four hundred and sixty million nuts to sup- 
 ply food for the people, and to be exported either in 
 their natural state or as copperah, — the nut dried in 
 the sun preparatory to expressing the oil. 
 
 Crushing mills, identical with those used fi'om 
 time immemorial for the same purpose, are erected 
 under the shadow of the Coco-nut Palms grow- 
 ing near the natives' dwellings. They are very 
 simple. The trunk of a tree, the stem perhaps of a 
 Coco-nut tree, is hollowed into the shape of a huge 
 mortar, in which a heavy upright pestle is worked 
 
198 THE COCO-NUT PALM. 
 
 by means of a bullock yoked to a transverse beam * 
 In 1815 a steam engine for expressing the oil was 
 erected by government in Ceylon. The ordinary 
 estimate in that island is, that one thousand full- 
 grown nuts of Jaffna will produce five hundred and 
 twenty- five pounds of copperah, a ton of which will 
 yield twenty-five gallons of oil. 
 
 The natives of Malo.bar, Tahiti, and the Polynesian 
 Islands, all prepare oil from their favourite nut ; the 
 process is everywhere very simple. The Indian 
 Islanders boil the nut before pounding it ; the milky 
 liquor obtained by pressure is again boiled, and the 
 oil skimmed off from the top. In some of the 
 islands this operation, performed by women, is of the 
 most primitive simplicity. The palm of the left 
 hand is laid on the svlrface of the liquor, and the 
 Qflobules of oil that attach to the skin are brushed 
 off by the right hand into another vessel, the shell 
 of the coco nut itself. It is said that two quarts of 
 oil may be procured from fourteen or fifteen nuts. 
 
 Freshly made this oil is excellent for cooking, 
 even to European tastes. Coco-nut oil, it is asserted, 
 keeps fresh longer than any other oil ; it does not 
 become rancid for years. 
 
 Employed in England in the manufacture of soap 
 and candles, and for pharmaceutical purposes, coco- 
 nut oil is much esteemed for burning in lamps. 
 Deville, a great experimentalist in the illuminating 
 
 ♦ Engraving, Tennent's "Ceylon." 
 
THE COCO-NUT PALM. 199 
 
 qualities of different gases, gave his testimony in 
 favour of that procured from this oil as that which 
 nearest approached the light of day. By no other 
 artilical light could flowers of sulphur and flour of 
 wheat (in otlier words, the palest shade of yellow, 
 and white) be distinguished from each other. 
 
 On the Gulf of Cariaco, on the Venezuelan Coast, 
 near Cumana, regular plantations of Coco-nut trees, 
 " Haciendas de Coco," exists as in Ceylon. A great 
 quantity of oil is made at Cumana. Humboldt 
 witnessed the frequent ai-rival of canoes containing 
 three thousand nuts. One hundred nuts yielded on 
 an averao;e eiorht fiascos ; the fiasco sold at sixteen 
 pence. 
 
 The natives of Tahiti used to make forty and 
 fifty tons of this oil ; it was brought off to the ships 
 in calabashes. Tahitian oil is usually scented with 
 sandal wood and sweet smelling flowers. Some j-ears 
 back four or live gallons would be sold for a fathom's 
 length of calico.* 
 
 In all places, as at Ceylon, the refuse from which 
 the oil has been expressed is used to feed and fatten 
 pigs, poultry, and cattle. 
 
 Coco-nut oil, esteemed in England where it has so 
 many worthy competitors, is prized beyond measure 
 in those far away lands where it is witliout a rival. 
 The food in those countries, consisting chiefly of rice 
 and fish, is always dressed with it. In the islands 
 
 * Bennett's " Wanderings in New Soutli Wales," «S:c. 
 
200 THE COCO-KUT PALM. 
 
 of the Indian and Pacific Oceans it plays another 
 and most important part as a necessary article of 
 toilette. Scented with sandal-wood or odoriferous 
 flowers the natives delight to pour it over their liair, 
 but that is not all. Anointing with oil is with all 
 savage races what the most elaborate toilette is to 
 civilized people. 
 
 Even European travellers describe their dark 
 skins as having an undressed look when this adorn- 
 ment has been neglected. Not only in appearance, 
 but in actual utility this anointing oil stands tliem 
 instead of garments, for it preserves their skins from 
 blisterino' with the heat. AVhen in North Africa 
 Captain Lyon himself practised this oiling himself all 
 over after a journey, and described it as ver}- re- 
 freshing I 
 
 In Ceylon the Mahouts dress the elephants under 
 their care by rubbing them over wdth this oil, their 
 skins having been previously scrubbed with some 
 porous substance. This oil, when mixed with resin, 
 is applied in the East to paying the seams of ships 
 and boats. It has very valuable medicinal properties, 
 and is considered to cure rheumatism. 
 
 An interesting notice of coco-nut oil is found in 
 missionary records. On the first setting up a print- 
 ing press in one of the islands of the South Pacific, 
 so anxious were the poor islanders to obtain copies 
 of the precious " speaking leaves," that three thousand 
 copies of St. Luke's Gospel in the native language 
 
THE COCO-NUT PALM. 201 
 
 were immediately sold. They had no money, but 
 the price given for each copy was three gallons of 
 oil. Thrice blessed oil to them, thus purchasing the 
 lamp of life, a light to guide their feet into the way 
 of everlasting peace ! 
 
 In 1857 the imports into England of coco-nut 
 oil were ten thousand three hundred and sixty-one 
 tons, and about one thousand five hundred and 
 seventy-five tons of nuts. The quantity has dimin- 
 ished of late years. 
 
 The product of the Coco-nut Palm, almost, if not 
 quite equal in value to its oil, is its fibre, or stringy 
 covering of the husk of the nut. Coir, the name by 
 which it is now known all over the world, is either 
 derived from the Tamil word " cayer," a name given 
 by them to rope of every kind, or the Tamils them- 
 selves must have learned the name as they did the 
 art of making these ropes from those ubiquitous 
 instructors in useful arts, the Arabs of olden days, 
 by whom centuries ago this fibre was called " cayro." 
 
 On the first discovery of India by the Portuguese 
 the Moors of Sofalah were found sewing their boats 
 with "cayro." Itn Batuta, a pilgrim traveller in 
 the fourteenth century, described this sewing together 
 of the planking of boats as practised at Zafar. 
 
 The Arabian merchants of ancient days divided 
 the Maldives and the Laccadives into the islands 
 that produced cowries, and those that produced 
 
'202 THE COCO-NUT PALM. 
 
 coir.* Natives of Oman and Yemen were wont to 
 resort to Ceylon to prepare cordage from the fibre of 
 the coco nut, even as in this day it is the occupation 
 of the people on the rsouth and south-west coasts of 
 the islands. 
 
 Not on]}^ cordage of all kinds, but sail-cloth also 
 was made from this fibre more than two centuries 
 ago. Throughout the East it has alwa^^s been a 
 most valued article of commerce. While jet scarcely 
 known in England, the annual export of coir from 
 Ceylon to Calcutta and other parts of India was 
 three million pounds. 
 
 What years of practical experience had taught the 
 people of the East has been confirmed by Dr. Rox- 
 burgh in a series of scientific experiments. Coir 
 was proved by him to be tlie very best material yet 
 known for the manufacture of cables, on account of 
 its great elasticity, strength, and durabilit3\ Until 
 chain cables were introduced all vessels in the Indian 
 seas were furnished with this kind. 
 
 Ropes and cables made from coir, and all fibrous 
 material derived from palms, requires no tarring to 
 preserve them. Sea-water improves rather than 
 injures all cordage made from coco-nut fibre. 
 
 True to its strange instinctive love the Ocean 
 Palm supplies the seaman's every want, and its 
 produce, like the tree itself, is strengthened by the 
 salt sea spray. 
 
 * Tcnnent's "Ceylon." 
 
THE COCO-XUT PALM. 203 
 
 The manner of obtaining this fibre from the busk 
 is described by Mr. Marshall, a resident for many 
 years in Cej^lon, as very simple and expeditious. 
 The nuts having been gathered before they are quite 
 ripe, an iron spike or piece of very hard wood is 
 fixed in the ground, and the nut forced upon its 
 point in such a manner as to separate the rind from 
 the shell. By this means one man can clear about 
 a thousand nuts in a day. 
 
 Tliese husks are steeped in water for several 
 months ; they are then beaten on a stone, dried in 
 the sun, and again beaten or rubbed with the hand 
 to separate the fibrous portion from the rind. Forty 
 nuts will supply six pounds of coir. 
 
 Almost innumerable are the uses now made in 
 Encrland of this valuable fibre. In the East it has 
 
 o 
 
 long been preferred to horse hair for stufiing beds, 
 couches, cushions, chairs, and saddles, as it is inde- 
 structible, has no unpleasant smell, and does not 
 harbour vermin. It is now largely imported into 
 Endand and North America for the manufacture 
 of brushes, brooms, rugs, and various other articles. 
 The finer kinds of coco -nut matting, when dyed in 
 various colours, is a pretty carpeting in summer 
 for halls and passages. A coarser sort is spread in 
 winter over garden walls, shielding delicate plants 
 from the cold. 
 
 Strange are the destinies of plants, more especi- 
 ally those of the friendly palm tree's race ! From 
 
204 THE COCO-NUT PALM. 
 
 the fibres of a fruit which cannot ripen except be- 
 neath the glowing sun of the tropics, is woven a 
 covering to protect children of the North from the 
 snows of their own native land. 
 
 Even the dust or refuse of the fibre is valuable. 
 The gardeners' journals of late years strongly recom- 
 mend " coco-nut dust" as '' the ver}^ best medium for 
 promoting the throwing out of roots in cuttings." 
 It is applicable to all roots, from seedling geraniums 
 to the finest roses and coniferce. " For encouraging 
 roots to the surface there is nothing like it."'^ 
 
 Is not the Coco-nut Palm a kindly tree ? 
 
 At Tahiti, and other islands in the Southern Seas, 
 a fabric called "sinnet" is largely manufactured 
 from this fibre. At Tonga it is dj^ed in various 
 colours, and called ''kafa." It is beautifully braided 
 and applied to various purposes. In these once 
 mis-called ''Friendly'' (now Fiji) Islands, Captain 
 Cook noticed beautiful aprons worn by the women, 
 composed of this fibre, called by them '•' bulu." 
 Small pieces of the material were sewn together, so 
 as to form stars, half-moons, squares, &c. These 
 were studded with beads, and shells, and red 
 feathers, ''so as to have a pleasing effect." Combs 
 made of the midrib of the leaf were adorned with 
 this " bulu," beautifully w^orked. A variety of 
 strong and elegant baskets were made from the 
 twisted fibres, dyed in dififerent colours, and orna- 
 
 * Cottage Gardener, Nov. 17, 1857. 
 
THE COCO-XUT PALM. 205 
 
 mented with shells and beads of mother-of-pearl and 
 tortoise-shell. 
 
 Bunches of it attached to human bones consti- 
 tuted the %-fia]3S of this savage people. Every- 
 where it supplied lishing-lines equalling European 
 ones in strength, and cordage, plaited in all lengths 
 and all degrees of thickness, larger ropes being made 
 by twisting smaller ones together. A rope called 
 *' fire-rope," because it so long retained fire, is made 
 from the coarser fibres. It is used in Batavia for 
 lighting cigars. 
 
 But the apron of the Fiji woman may be matched 
 with the head-dress of a Tahitian chief, made of the 
 same materials. This broad fillet of worked fibre 
 was adorned in the centre with circular pieces, alter- 
 nately of mother-of-pearl and tortoise-shell, rising 
 perpendicularly from the forehead — the lowest the 
 size of a saucer, the topmost as small as a shilling. 
 Sometimes the sides were similarly decorated. This 
 Tahitian coronet was surmounted by feathers of 
 brilliant hues. 
 
 In the museum at Kew are to be seen two 
 singularly contrasted articles, both composed of coco- 
 nut fibre, — a Tahitian war-dress and a model of a 
 heathen temple in the Fiji Islands. 
 
 Plaited with the same material is a bonnet and 
 hat of European shape. 
 
 Throughout the East strips of cane-palm and coco- 
 nut fibre also supply the place of nails and screws. 
 
206 THE COCO-NUT PALM. 
 
 With these strong ligatures rafters of houses are 
 tied aud boats fastened, with but the addition of a 
 few wooden bolts. These strange fastenings now in 
 use illustrate tales of old, of ships navigating Indian 
 seas being without nail or iron bolt, then believed to 
 be necessitated by the loadstone mountains supposed 
 in the fifth century to occur in those seas. 
 
 In contrast to the garments of honour it supplied, 
 the husk in its natural state, with the fibre attached, 
 presents an admirable ready-made sci'ubbing-brusl), 
 constantly used as such in Ceylon. 
 
 But it is not only scrubbing-brushes that the 
 kindly Coco-nut Palm presents us with read3--made. 
 Supplying in her valuable fibre a material on which 
 human industry and ingenuit}' may be employed, 
 she also, as if to startle men with her liberality, fur- 
 nishes them besides with a ready-made fabric, almost 
 a ready-made garment. 
 
 We learn from Forrest's "Voyage to New Guinea," 
 that the Papuans and natives generally wear a thin 
 stuff" resembling a coarse kind of cloth, which comes 
 from the Coco-nut tree. At Tahiti also this cloth 
 is worn simply joined together, leaving a hole in the 
 centre, in the fashion of a poncha. From its strength 
 and durability, and being uninjured by sea water, it 
 was especially adapted ibr their fishing dress. 
 
 This curious substance — a web direct from Nature's 
 loom — does indeed present an exact resemblance to 
 coarse brown cloth, the threads crossing each other 
 
THE COCO-^'UT PALM. 207 
 
 with singular regularity. It is found at the bases 
 of the fronds or leaves, enclosing each young leaf in 
 a net- work of fibre. It is stripped from the tree in 
 large pieces. 
 
 In its earliest stage it is beautifully white, trans- 
 parent, and delicate looking as lace. This fairy-like 
 net is used in Ceylon as an infant's cradle. From 
 white it changes to green, the women of the South 
 Sea Islands use it in this stage for aprons ; becoming 
 darker and stronger with age, it then forms a water- 
 proof cloak for men ; the friend of rnan supplying 
 in turn a wrapper for infants, for women, and men. 
 
 This cloth, called Matulla by the Singhalese, is 
 also used in the preparation of two of the products 
 of the tree as a strainer for the toddy, and as a bag 
 through which the oil is expressed from the kernels. 
 It also serves in the East and West as a sieve for 
 arrow -root* and other flour. 
 
 Palm trees generally complete their good offices to 
 men with singular gracefulness. They not only 
 supply useful substances, but in almost every case 
 they at the same time furnish some other article, by 
 means of which such substance- can be prepared to 
 suit men's necessities. 
 
 Palmyra leaves are plaited into the mats on which 
 the preserved fruits of the tree are laid to be dried 
 in the sun. The pith of Sago Palms is prepared in 
 
 * Maranta Arundinacea. 
 
208 THE COCO-NUT TALM. 
 
 troughs hollowed from the stems of the trees; and 
 many other like instances will be found in palms of 
 the East and West. But the Coco-nut Palm, more 
 than any other, has the power of thus admirabl}' 
 perfecting her gifts to mankind. She herself affords 
 the young leaf for the loop by which the toddy- 
 drawer ascends the tree, and the fibrous cloth as a 
 strainer for the toddy, and a bag for expressing the 
 oil. A little of the grated nut thrown on the surface 
 of the boiling liquor determines when her juice is 
 sufficiently boiled to become jagghery or coarse 
 sugar, and into baskets plaited from her leaves the 
 juice is poured to cool into a partial crystallization. 
 
 The coco nut's shell is the ever ready cup in which 
 she offers a delicious draught to the thirsty children 
 of tropical climes; it is the bowl also from which 
 they can eat its delicate jelly, and in a more advanced 
 state, the rich nut grated and mixed with rice. When 
 the fruit is allowed to ripen, the shells are extremely 
 hard, strono- and durable. The husk removed and 
 carefully scraped, they take an exquisite polish, and 
 are of a beautiful dark brown colour, — a representa- 
 tion of the tree is frequently carved upon them; they 
 are sometimes set in silver as goblets for Europeans. 
 They everywhere furnish domestic utensils of infinite 
 variety, drinking cups, water vessels, and measures. 
 In the East their size is expressed by the number of 
 cowries they contain, — " Cocos of five hundred," or 
 *' one thousand cowries.'' Bowls, plates, dishes. 
 
THE COCO-NUT PALM. 209 
 
 ladles, skimmers, spoons, and pipe-bowls, are made 
 from nuts of different sizes, cutting the shells accord- 
 ing to the shape required. 
 
 At Monte Video the favourite " mate," or Paraguay 
 tea is drunk from richl}^ ornamented coco-nut shell 
 cups ; it is sucked up from them through long silver 
 tubes. This shell, as the original cup, has given its 
 name to cups of other materials. In South America 
 "silver cocos" are spoken of 
 
 In Tahiti drinking cups are made from shells 
 before the nuts are ripe, they can then be scraped 
 so thin as to be ahnost transparent, and are of a 
 beautiful pale brown colour. Gathered at a still 
 earlier period when green, these shells are translucent, 
 and are used as lamps by the Singhalese. Here 
 again the coco nut does double service, lamp and 
 oil both furnished b}^ her. 
 
 When burned, the shells make good " lamp-black;" 
 when reduced to charcoal and powdered, an excellent 
 tooth powder. 
 
 Amongst the various uses to which in the East the 
 coco-nut shell is applied is the bowl of the hookah, 
 or Indian pipe. It seems not improbable, remember- 
 ing the Arab name for the Coco-nut tree, "Narghyl" 
 (from the Hindu Naryel), that the earliest suggestion 
 of the Turkish pipe, Narghileh, is to be traced to 
 Arabian travellers of old, and their recollections of the 
 pipes of Serendib (Ceylon) furnished by the Narghjd. 
 
 The flowers of the Coco-nut Palm, when they first 
 0) U 
 
210 THE COCO-NUT PALM. 
 
 expand, are of a beautiful milky whiteness, with the 
 fragrance of the Magnolia; they afterwards change to 
 cream colour, and finally become of a golden hue. 
 They are powerfully astringent, and are much used in 
 the East for medicinal purposes. Their juice, when 
 mixed with new milk, has afforded, in many cases of 
 a complaint very prevalent in hot climates, instant 
 relief, and an effectual cure. 
 
 The flowers of the Coco-nut Palm are called by 
 the Tahitians Ti-ari, signifying '^ the flowers," as the 
 nuts of the Betel Palm are called by the Indian 
 Islanders " the fruit." The spathe is called Pa-tiari, 
 or the '' shell of the flowers." The spathe, or sheath 
 which envelopes the flowers, has, like the young 
 leaves, a fibrous covering; like every part of the 
 Coco-nut tree, it is very inflammable, and in the 
 East, they are burned as torches. In the sugar and 
 vinegar, both obtained from the toddy of the tree, 
 the flowers are either preserved or pickled. 
 
 In Ceylon, the toddy, — a clear sweet liquid, which 
 flows from the wounded spathe of the unopened 
 flowers, — is principally converted into the coarse 
 sugar called Jagghery. Toddy itself is there used 
 as yeast by the bakers; it is considered to make 
 very light and excellent bread. A powerful cement, 
 said to be capable of taking a high polish, is said 
 to be made from Jagghery, with an infusion of the 
 husks of unripe nuts. In Madras and other parts of 
 India roofs are covered with this cement, and also 
 
THE COCO-NUT PALM. 211 
 
 the floors of I'ooms, and pillars. Ifc is sometimes 
 coloured to resemble marble. 
 
 From toddy is also distilled arrack, the only 
 pernicious gift which the Coco-nut Palm bestows. 
 " Arrak'' is the general word throughout the East 
 for spirituous liquors; it is principally distilled from 
 rice. In Java a species of arrack is made from rice 
 and sugar, with the addition of palm wine or toddy. 
 
 One hundred gallons of toddy will yield twenty- 
 five gallons of arrack. A few years ago the export 
 of arrack from Ceylon was from five thousand to six 
 thousand leaguers, each leaguer containing one hun- 
 dred and eighty gallons. In the East Indies arrack 
 is issued to the navy instead of rum. 
 
 Not yet have we touched on the especial glory of 
 all palms — the leaves. Always beautiful, they are 
 always infinitel}^ useful. 
 
 The leaves of the Coco-nut Palm are behind none 
 in value. In their very earliest stage, as a leaf-bud 
 or " cabbage," they afiord a far more delicious vege- 
 table than the name given to it suggests. This 
 ivor^^-looking substance, resembling sea-kale in fla- 
 vour, was likened by old writers on palms to an ele- 
 phant's tusk, both in form and colour. In the 
 Cabbage Palm {Areca olevacea) it attains its highest 
 perfection. 
 
 In their next stage the leaves, formed but unex- 
 panded, still beautifully white, of a satiny texture, 
 
212 THE coco-xuT palm. 
 
 and senii-transpavent, are used for various purposes. 
 Exquisite wreaths and crowns are made from them 
 for the decoration of dwellings and triumphal arches 
 on festival days. The Singhalese make with them 
 translucent lanterns. 
 
 A tree of light as well as love is indeed the Coco- 
 nut Palm 1 See liow eagerly her every part lends 
 itself to the blessed mission of giving and caiTying 
 light. Her nut gives oil, her fibre the wick, her 
 shell the lamp. Her young leaves make lanterns, 
 and wdien old and dry, torches called " chules" are 
 made in Ceylon from them. " They are bound to- 
 o'ether in bundles six feet lonof, and three or fonr 
 inches in diameter. If dexterously carried, they 
 burn for about half-an-hour."* 
 
 In reading plain matter-of fact accounts of these 
 various uses of palm trees, how constantly are we 
 reminded, b}" the beautiful analogies they suggest, of 
 their mission — the mission of the righteous — to be 
 servants of God and friends of onan. 
 
 These young leaves, white as paper, are used by 
 boys and girls in tropical countries, to write verses 
 upon, to send to each other on certain holidays. 
 These ivory-looking tablets, written upon with st}^- 
 lets, answer to the gaily-decorated valentines of 
 English shops, but are far more elegant. The older 
 
 • Tennent's "Ceylon." It may be noticed, as a proof of the continual strange 
 varieties to be met with in the palm family, that a small South American palm, a 
 species of Geonoma, growing at Kew. is marked with the name of the '■^ Fire-pruoj 
 Palmr 
 
THE COCO-^a^T PALM. 213 
 
 leaves of the Coco-nut Palm, like those of the Tali- 
 pat and Palmyra, are also used for older letters and 
 graver purposes of books. Prepared in like man- 
 ner, they too are called Olas. 
 
 The leaves, when very young, are tough and 
 stronger even than old leaves. Strips of them are 
 used for all kinds of ligatures. With them the 
 wounded spathe of the tree is bound when toddy is 
 to be drawn, and with them the toddy-drawer makes 
 his loop by which to ascend the tree. 
 
 Full-grown leaves are from fifteen to twenty feet 
 long. They are everywhere used for thatch. Roof- 
 ing mats, called "cajans" in Ceylon, are made of 
 entire leaves, the leaflets being interlaced on either 
 side of the midrib. Not only native dwellings, but 
 also European bungalows are roofed with them. 
 The waggons carrying coffee from the hill plantations 
 to the sea coast are covered with these plaited 
 fronds. 
 
 Throughout the islands of the South Pacific, native 
 huts are often entirely constructed from different 
 parts of the Coco- nut tree. 
 
 Faithful to her instincts, the Ocean Palm furnishes 
 in her leaflets a material for the Malays to plait into 
 sails for their prahus. 
 
 Like all palm-leaves, when cut into strips, they 
 are plaited into all kinds of mats, screens, baskets, 
 panniers, bags, fans, sunshades, and hats. 
 
 In the dear old pages of Captain Cook, we find 
 
214 THE COCO-NUT PALM. 
 
 the Tahitians of his day excelled in this pretty manu- 
 fiicture. A Coco-nut leaf would in a few minutes be 
 made to assume the shape of whatever article was 
 required. It was with great neatness and surpris- 
 ing quickness woven into a thousand different forms. 
 
 From the leaflet entire the women made them- 
 selves bonnets, exceeding even the most extravagant 
 European belles in the number of their bonnets ; for, 
 '' freshly made each morning ere the sun had risen, 
 at night-fall they were thrown away, to be replaced 
 by new ones.'' 
 
 At the Marquesas and Washington Islands, Ben- 
 net describes a distinctive dress of the priests — a cap 
 and cape, both of them entirely consisting of the 
 leaves of this tree. 
 
 The cap was formed by about six or eight inches 
 of the leaf-stalk rising perpendicularly from the fore- 
 head, the leaflets attached to it, passing on each side of 
 the head, were neatly fastened together at the back. 
 The cape or tippet was more singular. The leaf stalk, 
 split to within an inch or two of its furthest end, 
 was passed round the neck, and the split end tied 
 toofether. The leaflets, from which the midribs had 
 been removed, hung loosely over the chest and back. 
 
 These articles constituted the usual dress of the 
 priests; but when they performed any religious 
 ofiice, it was imperative that they should be worn. 
 
 In Tahiti, also, the branch or leaf of the Coco-nut 
 Palm was the emblem of authority, and, as such, was 
 
THE COCO-NUT PALM, 215 
 
 sent by the chiefs to sunimon their dependants 
 whenever their services were required. 
 
 In all places these leaves are used for adorn- 
 ment, and are connected with relio'ious ceremonies. 
 Amongst the Singhalese, branches, and in some cases 
 whole trees, are, in times of sickness or sorrow, 
 dedicated as propitiatory offerings to their gods. 
 On occasions of public rejoicing in Ceylon, triumphal 
 arches spring up like magic. All over the island 
 the upright stems of Coco -nut trees are connected 
 by arches, interlacing with each other in a most 
 graceful manner; the whole structure being en- 
 wreathed with Coco-nut leaves, either green, or in 
 their early stage of a beautiful pale yellow. 
 
 In Christian Churches in tropical countries, wher- 
 ever the Date Palm's leaves cannot be procured, 
 those of the Coco Nut, which are of the same 
 feathery shape, are used for decoration on Palm 
 Sunday and other festival days. 
 
 Elephants are particularly fond of these leaves. 
 They are always brought to captive wild ones as 
 soon as the first paroxysm of rage and grief are over. 
 Hunger and his favourite food then tempt the poor, 
 exhausted animal to eat. 
 
 The juice of the leaves, mixed with fresh oil 
 from the nut, is considered a m.ost valuable medi- 
 cine. 
 
 The water in which the burnt ashes of the leaves 
 have been steeped contains so much alkali that 
 
216 THE COCU-NUT PALM. 
 
 Siiio'halese washerwomen use it to cleanse their linen, 
 without the addition of soap. 
 
 The midrib, or large vein which passes from the 
 leaf stalk to the end of the leaf, is, in all palm trees, 
 a most valuable article. These midribs are to the 
 natives of tropical countries what osiers are to us; 
 but they are still more serviceable from their greater 
 strength and elasticity, and their capability of being 
 split into the very finest segments. They are at the 
 same time fitted for workmanship of tlie strongest 
 and most delicate nature. All kinds of basket and 
 wicker work are made from them, and many other 
 articles not to be reckoned under these heads, — 
 amongst others, lanterns and buckets. 
 
 At Tonga taboo, one of the Fiji Islands, the 
 favourite head-dress is, as it is with some Indian 
 tribes of South America, a high comb. These combs 
 are made from the midrib of the Coco-nut Palm leaf 
 They are stained with the bark of the Ko-ha tree, so 
 as to resemble tortoise-shell. The upper part of these 
 combs are beautifully worked with the coco-nut fibre. 
 
 Indian sail-cloth of two centuries ago was made 
 from the fibre of the Ocean Palm; the sails of the 
 Mala}'' prahus are now made from her plaited leaf- 
 lets ; and the Indians of Briti-sh Guiana manufacture 
 for their canoes or corials stiU more durable sails 
 from the midribs of her leaves. Split into exceed- 
 ingly fine and thin strips, they are interlaced and 
 
THE C0CU-2hUT palm. 217 
 
 attached together by means of a silky grass, forming 
 a rude but ahiiost imperishable sail. 
 
 But the tree that, with inclined head, listens so 
 lovingly to the voice of the sea, loves also the music 
 of the winds. Her leaves, that ever rustle in the 
 breeze, whispered to the childi-en of the palm regions 
 of South A.merica anuther use to be made of them. 
 These midribs or elastic strings, stretched between 
 two pieces of the wood of the tree, become musical, 
 and form the ^olian harp of Guyana. 
 
 The so-called musical instrument — a favourite one 
 with all savages, and called by the same name in the 
 East and West — Tom-tom or Tam-tam — is generally 
 made from the stem of the Coco-nut tree. To 
 European ears the music of this instrument is more 
 than doubtful, consisting only of the unvarying re- 
 petition of its own name. Undoubtedly it "has 
 charms," not on] 3^ to " soothe savage ears," but also 
 more highly cultivated ones ; for we read of an 
 exactly similar instrument, and struck precisely in 
 the same manner, amongst the ancient Egyptians. 
 Amonofst the Hindus, also, it has existed from time 
 immemorial. Old chronicles of the East describe 
 the march of an army enlivened with the rattling 
 of sixty-four of these drums, and the piercing 
 screams of trumpets of cliank shells. 
 
 The tom-tom is the Hindu's call to prayer. 
 Public proclamations are still made accompanied by 
 it in the East, and in the West Indies and Guyana 
 
218 THE COCO-NUT PALM. 
 
 it is the tom-tom's ever welcome sound that sum- 
 mons to the dance. To its monotonous sound de- 
 lighted blacks continue to lift their feet alternately 
 for hours together. 
 
 When old, the wood of the Coco-nut tree is of 
 great hardness, and is considered extremely valuable. 
 By Eastern nations it is applied to various purposes. 
 In the Maldive and Laccadive Islands boats are made 
 from the hollowed stems, and planked with the 
 wood. Spears are made from it in the Polynesian 
 Islands. From one of the South American species 
 of Cocos the powerful Indian tribe of tlie Puris in 
 Brazil make their best bows. 
 
 The wood of the Coco-nut tree is brought to 
 Europe under the name of porcupine wood. It is 
 much esteemed for the manufacture of all fancy 
 articles of cabinet work, elegant work-boxes, and 
 costly articles of furniture. It is of a rich chocolate 
 colour, spotted with black, and streaked with little 
 veins. Hard as ivory, of a veiy fine grain, it takes 
 an exquisite polish. Choice pieces, resembling dark 
 agate, have been set in the lids of silver snuff- 
 boxes. 
 
 Before the trees have become ao^ed, the interior of 
 the stems of Coco-nut Palms, according to the habit 
 of the race, afford a pith which, when converted into 
 a floury substance, is not only eatable, but sweet and 
 "very agreeable;'' and may be called the bread of 
 the tree. 
 
THE COCO-NL'T PALM. 219 
 
 A sort of gum is extracted from the stem, Avhich 
 the Tahitian women spread over their hair. 
 
 The root of the tree, boiled with ginger, is an 
 efficacious remedy in cases of fever. The same de- 
 coction, when mixed with Coco-nut oil. is used us 
 gargle. In the East, wherever Areca nuts can- 
 not be procured, the roots of the Coco-nut Palm are 
 chewed. 
 
 From a very remote period, the Sultan of the 
 Maldives has sent a 3^early embassy to the reigning 
 government of Ceylon. It commenced in the time 
 of the Chinese supremacy in that island, in right of 
 which they claimed sovereignty in the Maldives. 
 This claim was continued by the Portuguese and the 
 
 Dutch, and the embassy — a sort of feudal homage 
 
 continues to the present time. His Highness now 
 assures the English Government of his fidelity, and 
 claims the protection of the Queen of Great Britain. 
 In old books we find it stated that the Coco-nut 
 tree alone supplied everything required for this em- 
 bassy, — the boats that conveyed it, the food and 
 clothing of the persons who composed it, and the 
 various presents of which they were the bearers. 
 
 But this would seem to be a little too imaginative, 
 as, on the undoubted authority of Sir J. S. Tennent, 
 we learn that amongst the presents brought by these 
 Maldivian ambassadors, which are identical with 
 those carried by their ancestors for a thousand yeais 
 or more, tliere are cowries and conch shells. 
 
220 THE COCO-NUT PALM. 
 
 But the story may be almost, if not quite true. 
 
 We have seen that in tliese ishmds boats are made 
 from the hollowed stems of the Coco-niit tree; and 
 we Ivnow that its fibre furnishes ropes, its leaflets 
 sails, its leaf-stalks oars. The kindly tree gives also 
 ready-made garments for the body and coverings for 
 tlie head; food and drink of various kinds — nuts, 
 jelly, cabbage, and bread, milk, wine, and spirits ; 
 and dishes, bowls, cups, and spoons, necessary for the 
 partaking of tliem. For light at night she affords 
 oil and wick and lamp; and if sickness come, medi- 
 cines of various kinds from fruit and flower, leaf and 
 root. All that man wants, b}^ land or sea, this 
 friendly palm tree will provide. 
 
 Enthusiasm here is shared alike by the poet, the 
 traveller, and the "Commercial Dictionary." All 
 tell the same tale. Supreme in usefulness as in 
 beauty is the kindly Coco-nut Palm. She is as a 
 mother to the children of her own sunny lands; in 
 her they find all that they need, and they love her 
 as one of themselves. But to the stranger of distant 
 lands she is as a generous friend, sending them useful 
 gifts; and shall they not repay her with affectionate 
 gratitude ? 
 
 A touching incident, recorded by De Lille as hap- 
 pening at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, is retold 
 by Mrs. Hemans in the following beautiful lines : — 
 
 " I-'iiir the exiled Palm tree grew, 
 jMidst foliage of nu kiuilrcd hue ; 
 
THE COCO-NUT PAL!\r. 22i 
 
 Through the laburnum's dropping gold 
 
 Rose the light shaft of Orient mould. 
 
 Strange looked it there ! The willow streamed 
 
 \Yhere silvery waters near it gleamed ; 
 
 The lime tree lured the honey bee 
 
 To murmur by the ocean's* tree. 
 
 There came an eve of festal hours, — 
 Rich music filled that garden's bowers, 
 And bright forms glanced — a fairy show- 
 Under the blossoms to and fro. 
 But one, a lone one midst the throng. 
 Seemed reckless all of dance or song. 
 He was a youth of dusky mein, 
 Whereon the Indian sun had been ; 
 Of crested brow and long black hair ; — 
 A stranger, like the Palm tree, tliere. 
 
 And slowl)-, sadly moved his plumes, 
 Glittering athwart the leafy glooms. 
 He passed the pale green olives by, 
 Nor won the chestnut flowers his eye ; 
 But when to that sole Palm he came, 
 There shot a rapture through his frame ! 
 
 To him, to him its rustling spoke, 
 
 The silence of his soul it broke ; 
 
 It whispered of his own bright isle, 
 
 That lit the ocean with a smile ; 
 
 Ay, to his ear that native tone 
 
 Had something of the sea-wave's moan. 
 
 His mother's cabin home, that lay 
 Where feathery Cocos fringed the bay. 
 The dashing of his brethren's oar. 
 The conch note heard along the shore,— 
 All through his wakening bosom swept 
 He clasped his country's tree— and wept." 
 
 Though not to be reckoned among Palms of the 
 East, two species of Cocos may be here rapidly 
 noticed, harmonizing with each other with the won- 
 
 * Substituted for "desert's," which does not suit the Coco-nut tree. 
 
222 THE COCO-NUT PALM. 
 
 drous aptitude of a fairy tale — trees yielding bread 
 and butter ! 
 
 {Cocos coronata. — Martius., 
 
 This Brazilian palm is distinguished for its state- 
 liness and grace. It is one of the most rapidly grow- 
 ing palms. Its local name is Urucuri-iba. From its 
 nuts oil is extracted, and the farina obtained from 
 its pith the natives make into bread. 
 
 {Cocos hutyracea. — Lixx^eus.) 
 
 From the fruit of this tree, which is mucilaginous 
 and very oily, the natives of New Granada make a 
 kind oi butter. 
 
 Like the kindred Coco, which 3'ields bread, it is of 
 majestic height, and bears a royal designation. Its 
 local name is "PalmaReal;" it is also called " Palma 
 Dulce.'' 
 
 In the valley of the Magdalena this tree is known 
 as "Palma de Vino" — Wine Palm. Humboldt calls 
 it " the vine of the country." By many the wine of 
 this palm is considered equal to Champagne. It is 
 procured by hollowing out a part of the tree at the 
 top. The sap collects in the cavity, and is then 
 drawn off. 
 
f alms of tbe Mtst. 
 
 IN the threshold of the New World, palm 
 branches met Columbus. They were 
 carried in the hands of the poor natives, 
 unconscious as they were of the full 
 significance of these green branches of 
 welcome. 
 
 The Promise-branch of Victory was for him, the 
 follower of Christ, who came with auspicious name 
 to conquer that glorious land in the name of the 
 Prince of Peace — Christopher Columbus, the Chrisi- 
 hearer, the dove ! Well had it been for conquerors 
 and the conquered had those that followed in the 
 track of the high-souled Columbus, combined, like 
 him, the nature of the eagle and the dove. 
 
 Where is the conqueror fighting his way to em- 
 pire through fields of blood braver than he, who, 
 calm in his unshaken trust in God, unwaveringly 
 endured the bitter mockeries and ridicule of men 
 whose standards were lower pitched, who, with un- 
 swerving purpose, ran the gauntlet of a sceptic 
 world, and resolutely, in his tiny craft, put forth into 
 an unknown sea? He saw what none beside him 
 (i> 15 
 
226 PALMS OF THE WEST. 
 
 saw, an Almighty hand directing his helm. Strong 
 in faith, terrific perils glooming over the untrodden 
 deep, had no power to frighten him back. 
 
 Where is the saint meeker than he, who, when 
 the hopes of his whole life hung on the capricious 
 mood of his sullen and discontented crew, asked but 
 for one day more? At evening prayer, having com- 
 mended his prayer to God, ascending the upper deck 
 of his little vessel to look for the answer to his 
 prayer, and there on the horizon hung the glimmer- 
 ing lights, for his pra3^er had gone up to heaven. 
 When on that Elysian shore he placed his foot, and 
 his followers, rapturous then, kissed the hem of his 
 cloak, was there one thought of self to tarnish the 
 victory he had through God's help achieved? Colum- 
 bus' first act was to kneel down and return his 
 thanks to God; his next, as he rose, was to un- 
 sheath his glittering .steel. Was it to smite the rebels 
 of his crew ? Was it to terrif}^ the poor natives into 
 yielding up their treasures? Was it to begin at 
 once to dig for the favoured gold of the soil? 
 
 Oh, no; it was in that soil to find a place where 
 he may securely plant the Banner of the Cross. 
 
 On the dove's wing fell heavily again in later 
 years the rain-drops of sorrow; but the eagle's eye 
 was his; and he, who, across a misty ocean, beheld 
 a new world, saw plainly also beyond the narrow 
 stream of death a brighter and a better world. 
 
 Kings of this world may forget faithful services. 
 
TALMS OF THE WEST. 227 
 
 Columbus' matchless gift of a new world Ferdinand 
 of Spain repaid with a grave-stone. But the King 
 of kings never forgets. A cup of cold water given 
 in his name brings a rich reward, and victories, 
 through faith, such as Columbus achieved, are repaid 
 with immortal crowns. 
 
 Palm-branches of the West were a fitting welcome 
 to him who carried on his dove's wings tlie olive- 
 branch of the Cross. Once more was it the mission 
 of a dove to tell of a new world. 
 
 " Gloiy to God in the highest, on earth peace, and 
 good-will towards men." 
 
 The depths of the ocean which Columbus traversed 
 have since vibrated to those words, the message sped 
 by brave hearts, who, like the discoverer of old, un- 
 discouraged by prophecies of failure, did achieve their 
 task. Would that the Atlantic Telegraph might be 
 made again to succeed; but if not, if never again 
 through those mighty depths the electric wires do the 
 bidding of man, a glorious triumph has been theirs, 
 which no after disaster can take away. The ocean 
 has carried the angel's message, and the glory of the 
 sublime work they accomplished shall for ever rest 
 on the waters of the great Atlantic. 
 
 Beautiful and varied as are the palms of the East, 
 those of the West equal them in beauty, and exceed 
 them in variety. The tropical zone uf the western, 
 world is considered as the especial regions of palms. 
 
228 PALMS OF THE WEST. 
 
 The New World has its Oil Palms — its palms 
 distinguished for excellent fruits, valuable fibre, and 
 useful leaves, and besides these, some which afford 
 the singular products of wax and ivory. 
 
 Von Martius speaks of palm trees as " the splen- 
 did offspring of Tellus and Phoebus — their native 
 land being those happy regions within the tropics, 
 where the beams of the latter for ever shine." 
 
 In striving to paint the magnificent forests of South 
 America, travellers exhaust the most brilliant colours 
 on their palettes, and yet, when the pictures are ac- 
 complished, acknowledge what inadequate represen- 
 tations they are. Not by man's feeble pen or pencil 
 can they be portrayed. Only in the purple light 
 of dreams may dwellers in temperate climates con- 
 jure up, perhaps, for themselves pictures of inde- 
 scribable magnificence of the vegetation that springs 
 up beneath the glowing sun of the tropics. 
 
 The individual plants themselves that languish 
 imprisoned in our hot-houses can but faintly suggest 
 ideas of their full and majestic development in their 
 native lands. 
 
 Humboldt speaks of these splendid South Ameri- 
 can forests as composed of '' trees about as lofty as 
 our oaks, adorned with fiowers as large and beauti- 
 ful as our lilies." Some are infinitely larger. The 
 crimson flowers of the climbing Aristolochia are four 
 feet in circumference. Indian lads draw them over 
 their heads in sport as helmets. 
 
PALMS OF THE WEST. 229 
 
 There, too, spring up strange cacti of grotesque 
 and singularly varied forms, and aloes, from whose 
 rigid and immobile leaves, tall spikes of golden blos- 
 soms arise like giant's candelabra. Bamboos inter- 
 lacing their reed-like stems, form labyrinths of 
 silvery green; their slender pointed leaves dancing 
 in the bi'eeze with childlike restlessness and airy 
 grace. Graceful plantains and bananas spread to the 
 golden light broad satin leaves of most delicate tex- 
 ture, while the bright azure of the skies gleams 
 through the feathery foliage of mimosse and tamarinds, 
 and the exquisitely fringed fronds of the tree fern, the 
 ''Lady'' of tropical Avoods. Dazzling tapestries of 
 nian^^-coloured blossoms hang from the branches of 
 the trees, and overspread the ground with marvel- 
 lous beauty, and fill the air Avith delicious fragrance. 
 Orchidese, some of gorgeous colouring, and others 
 with startling resemblance to insect or bird, brilliant 
 passiflorse, with golden fruit, and flowers white, blue, 
 crimson, or purple. There, too, are plants with 
 purple leaves, and stems, and blossoms of rich scar- 
 let, and othei's, where stem and leaf are completely 
 hidden by profuse clusters of blossoms white as new- 
 fallen snow. 
 
 But still, each traveller joins with Humboldt in 
 saying, "The loftiest and noblest of all vegetable 
 forms to which the prize of beauty has been assigned 
 by the concurrent voice of all nations in all ages, are 
 — Palms." 
 
230 PALMS OF THE WEST. 
 
 Pre-eminenfc are they, too, for usefulness as well 
 as beauty. In the East we have seen the infant's 
 cradle, the Avoman's apron, the man's waterproof 
 cloak, furnished in its progressive stages by a curious 
 cloth found at the bases of the leaves of Coco-nut 
 Palms. Indian mothers in the West cradle their 
 babes in the hollowed leaf stalks of Areca Oleracea, 
 and in the spathe of the lofty fruit-bearing palm, 
 Maximiliana regia; and men find a ready-made cap 
 in the fibrous cloth afforded by Manicaria saccifera. 
 And on the banks of the Orinoco we find the skele- 
 tons of an extinct nation preserved in sacks or bas- 
 kets, at once their coffins and their shrouds — those 
 garments of the dead prepared from the leaf stalks 
 of the Ita Palm (Mauritia jiexuosa). In the 
 marshy rice lands of Bengal we have seen (as may 
 also be seen in many other Eastern countries) a little 
 Protestant Church built of palms, the pillars formed 
 by their unwrought trunks, the roof and walls com- 
 posed of their plaited fronds. On the banks of the 
 Orinoco we find (and may find in other parts of 
 South America) a Roman Catholic chapel entirely 
 built of the stems of palm trees. 
 
 Within a very small circle, comprising some of the 
 loveliest scenes ever beheld by man, we shall find 
 palms in their living beauty and grace, and palms in 
 their after usefulness building with their upright 
 stems a Christian Church, and wrapping in their 
 kindly leaves the bones of a perished Indian race. 
 
TALMS OF THE WEST. 231 
 
 Where the Orinoco breaks through a chain of 
 granitic mountains to receive the waters of the Apure, 
 and then to roll its mighty waters eastwards to join 
 the Atlantic dividing the impenetrable forests of 
 Guyana from the boundless Savannahs that stretch 
 to the west, the scenery is desciibed as magnificent. 
 
 Vast masses of granite, with serrated outlines, gro- 
 tesque in shape, and of silvery whiteness, form vivid 
 contrasts to the dark thickets out of which they rise. 
 From one of these dense palm forests an abrupt mass 
 of rock arises vertically more than two hundred feet 
 in height, its sharp outline telling dazzlingly white 
 against the blue and cloudless sky — its lofty summit 
 diademed with palms, uplifts "a forest above a 
 forest." 
 
 Near to this spot, on a grassy terrace overhanging 
 the river is the Palm-tree Church, attached to the 
 missionaiy village of Maypures. 
 
 Descending from the village to the bed of the 
 river by the Manimi rock, a scene of enchantment is 
 displayed. 
 
 The foaming surface of the river for four miles in 
 extent is overspread by a magnificent curtain of 
 dazzling spray glowing in the sunlit atmosphere 
 with every imaginable hue. The dark-green waving 
 plumes of lofty palms pierce through this glittering, 
 gleaming veil. High over them again float and 
 interlace, appear and disappear, rainbows of match- 
 less brilliancy. When in the evening breeze the 
 
232 PALMS OF THE WEST, 
 
 jewelled curtain sways to and fro, glimpses of scenes 
 of magical beauty are disclosed in the river itself 
 
 Rocks of iron blackness rise out of the crystal 
 flood, assuming the most picturesque shapes. Castles 
 with tall towers and steep battlements appear, gar- 
 risoned with armed men; plumed helmets, as it were, 
 of watchful sentinels, are seen on the heights ; and 
 serried ranks of soldierly forms below upright with 
 uplifted heads, their green plumes curling in the 
 breeze, while many-coloured banners stream from the 
 walls. There, too, are cathedrals with flying but- 
 tresses, pinnacles and spires tipped Avith gold, open 
 doors revealing pillared aisles whose pointed arches 
 are seen to rest on slender shafts with richly-sculp- 
 tured capitals — all dark and shadowy, save where 
 the vista closes with a window of gorgeous bril- 
 liancy — not coloured glass, but rubies, emeralds, and 
 topazes, seem to compose the dazzling panes. 
 
 They are but the crystal drops flung up by the 
 foaming waters to sparkle in the sunlight. The 
 many-coloured banners are wreaths of wild flowers 
 clinging to the rocks; and helmeted soldiers and 
 slender shafts are palm trees growing on the rocky 
 islets. 
 
 Far away in the blue distance an abrupt cone, 
 terminating a mountain chain, glows as with roseate 
 flames at every returning sunset. This memorable 
 rock, whose strange glitter is supposed to proceed 
 from the reflecting surface of decomposed mica or 
 
PALMS OF THE WEST. 233 
 
 talc, in the fifteenth century lured thousands to ruin 
 and death with its promise of El Dorado. 
 
 But let us follow on, with Humboldt still for our 
 guide, to the Randal, a cataract of Atures, resembling 
 that of Maypures. The river forces its way through 
 a cluster of islands, each crowned with a forest of 
 palms rising from the midst of the foaming waters. 
 The scene is glorious, but we will not tarry there. 
 
 Beyond the glittering splendours of the cataract's 
 jewelled spray, beyond the musical sound of the 
 water's silvery fall, is the Cave of Ataruipe, closely 
 hemmed in by high and barren rocks. All is deso- 
 late — all silent there — save for the scream of the 
 vulture, and, when twilight falls, the goatsucker's or 
 night-jar's hoarse cry, as they hover in mid air, 
 hungering for prey, or, flapping their dark wings, 
 glide like ill-omened shadows along the stony face 
 of the precipice. At the further end of the valley 
 is the Cave of Ataruipe, formed by an overhanging 
 cliff, in the midst of a dense forest. It is the 
 sepulchre of an extinct nation. Fragrant vanillas 
 and golden blossomed plants curtain the entrance of 
 the rocky vault, while on either side, standing erect 
 like warriors guardinsj the orrave of warriors, are 
 stately palms. 
 
 Within the cave are about six hundred skeletons, 
 well preserved in baskets woven from the stalks of 
 palm-leaves. These baskets, called by the Indians 
 " mapires," resemble square sacks ; like coffins, they 
 
234 PALMS OF THE WEST. 
 
 are suited in size to the body they are to con- 
 tain. Some of these skeletons are of infants, but 
 in all cases the frames are perfect ; not a bone is 
 wanting. 
 
 The bodies had been variously prepared. Some 
 are embalmed like mummies with sweet smelling 
 resin, and wrapped in plantain leaves ; of some the 
 bones are bleached, and some are coloured red. No 
 certain information could be gained by Humboldt as 
 to the age of the skeletons or of their palm-leaf 
 coffins. They were supposed to be a century old. 
 
 Besides the mapires, this burial vault contains 
 urns of half-baked clay of a greenish colour, with 
 handles shaped like snakes and crocodiles, " labyrin- 
 thine ornaments" traced on their margins " similar 
 to those which cover the walls of the Mexican 
 palace at Mitla." These urns appear to contain the 
 bones of whole families. 
 
 A tradition exists amongst the Guareca Indians 
 that, pressed upon by cannibal Caribs, the brave 
 Atures withdrew to the rocks of the cataracts, and 
 finally perished in their rocky fortress. 
 
 A mournful history. What strange impressive 
 pictures haunt that valley of the shadow of death ! 
 What piteous tales these palm-leaf coffins so ingeni- 
 ously woven could repeat ! 
 
 Hopeless of rescue, the healthy and strong shut 
 up to die by famine's lingering torture ! For a while 
 the Ita Palms would furnish food, but what were 
 
PALMS OF THE WEST. 235 
 
 they where hundreds were to be fed from the palms 
 of that valley alone ? So as the long days went by 
 the dead outnumbered the living ; the door of the 
 sepulchre never closed ; and ceaselessly from the 
 echoing rocks came back the mourner's wail. As 
 one by one of the doomed race, men, women, and 
 children, consumed by hunger, fell away from the 
 narrowing circle of the survivors, their lifeless bodies 
 claimed and received the tenderest care. To guard 
 the bodies of the beloved dead from future desecra- 
 tion was now the only work of the living. But the 
 palm trees cut down to furnish food, they too were 
 passing away, and each day a coffin of palm-leaves 
 became a more rare and precious thing. 
 
 What woeful pictures were then beheld ! 
 
 Some dying warrior, his grim face lighted by a 
 smile as he looked on the wife of his bosom sitting 
 by his side engaged in her labour of love. She was 
 weaving his palm-leaf shroud. Dulled by long 
 suffering, the worker tearless at her task feebly and 
 impassively wondering the while whose hands, if 
 any, will prepare a like garment for her ? 
 
 A mother wrapping her babe in its leafy robe, a 
 gleam of ghastly joy sweeps over her haggard coun- 
 tenance. It is because the Great Spirit has called 
 her little one before herself, for now no rough or 
 hasty hand will approach those tender limbs ; her 
 darling will now be safe in that long-enduring shroud 
 and within that sheltering cave. Now without 
 
236 PALMS OF THE WEST. 
 
 shuddering she may hear the thronging vultures 
 scream ; they can but tear her own unresisting flesh, 
 but their cruel eyes cannot see, nor their cruel beaks 
 come near her babe. 
 
 The language of the brave Atures has perished 
 with them. It survived their extinction for a time, 
 but not in human speech. In the village of May> 
 pures a parrot of extreme old age uttered words 
 that were unintelligible to all. They were believed 
 to be the language of the extinct tribe of the 
 Atures. 
 
Sbc lllauritia |palm. 
 
 {Mauritia flexuosa. — Linx^us. Miriti, Indians of Brazil. 
 Murichi, Venezuela. Ita, Guyana.) 
 
 :H0 does not number amongst their 
 friends some kindly nature whose 
 peculiar and most loveable character- 
 istic it is to abound in sympathy ? 
 Be it in man or woman's form, such 
 kindly spirits seem nowhere out of 
 place. Where the young and gay make holiday, 
 none are more joyous than they, for theirs is the 
 secret of perpetual youth. In the chamber of 
 sorrow or by the sick-bed, no voice is so low 
 and gentle as theirs, for theirs is the nature of 
 angels — their ministry love and peace and joy. 
 Doves' wings are theirs : the most churlish open 
 their hearts to them. At home Avith the rich, at 
 home with the poor, beloved of young and old, like 
 pilgrims from the Holy Land of yore, they are free 
 to pass over every threshold. Even as the warmest 
 place by the fireside was for those whose palm-tree 
 staff betokened whence they came, so in these days 
 (sometimes perhaps unconsciously given) our warmest 
 
238 THE MAURITIA PALM. 
 
 liearfc-coriiers are theirs — not always the greatest, 
 the wisest, the fairest — but those whose kindly 
 sympathies, like sweet harps always in tune, respond 
 to our every touch. 
 
 Absence or death robs not such friends of their 
 accustomed places in our heart of hearts ; memory 
 still cherishes them. Other scents, fragrant though 
 they be, are powerless to displace from vials that 
 have once held the rich attar of rose, that strongest 
 and sweetest of all perfumes. 
 
 In venturing as we have to typify human beings 
 by our loved palms, we have personified the time- 
 honoured Date as a queen, the aspiring Calamus as 
 a conqueror, the "married Palmyra" as a wife, the 
 devoted Sago as a mother. The image of such a 
 friend as we have attempted to sketch should be 
 associated with the Coco Nut and Miriti Palms. 
 
 They are alike in the absolute surrender of their 
 every part to carrying out their friendlj^ mission to 
 mankind, — fruit, flowers, leaf, fibre, stem, and root, 
 all are of use to men. 
 
 The Coco-nut tree has a world-wide reputation ; 
 two of her products, her oil and fibre, being of such 
 excellence as to render them valuable to all nations. 
 The Miriti's name is confined to a narrower circle. 
 It is in her own home only she is well known, dearly 
 loved, thoroughly appreciated. 
 
 To the Indians of Brazil, Venezuela, and Gu3^ana 
 the Mauritia fiexuosa is a ''tree of life," even as 
 
THE MAURITIA PALM. 259 
 
 the Palmyra is to the inhabitants of the north of 
 Ceylon. Old traditions cling about her ; love for 
 her is a thing of the past as well as of the present. 
 
 One peculiarity distinguishes her amongst her race, 
 marking her out as the type of the friend in need. 
 Infinitely varied as are the localities in which we 
 find the members which compose the palm-tree 
 family, yet each individual, as we have seen, shows 
 a marked preference for some distinctive kind oi 
 country. 
 
 The Date loves the desert, the Palymra the plain, 
 the Cane Palm the forest, where he can raise him- 
 self above his companions, the Coco Nut is the ocean 
 palm, but the Miriti or Mauritia flexuosa flourishes 
 in positions most singularly opposite to each other. 
 
 Those boundless savannahs or llanos of South 
 America, which are divided by the Orinoco from 
 the dense forests of Guyana, are during part of the 
 year grassy plains, but during the other part burnt 
 up by the scorching sun of the tropics. They are 
 desolate as the sandy Lybian wastes. Humboldt 
 describes " the turfy covering under the vertical rays 
 of a never clouded sun" as actually " carbonized and 
 falling into dust, the indurated soil cracking as if 
 from the shock of an earthquake." 
 
 These arid plains have, like the sand storms of 
 the desert, whirling columns of hot dust filling the 
 air with sufi*ocating particles ; while, as it is described 
 by Humboldt, " in the dim straw-coloured light shed 
 
240 THE MAURITIA PALM. 
 
 rom tlie lowering sky on the desolate plains, the 
 steppe seems to contract, and with it the heart of 
 the wanderer." 
 
 There, languid and drooping herself from excess 
 of heat, the Miriti Palm, like the Date in the deserts 
 of the East, spreads over each scanty pool her friendly 
 branches to guard them from the fierce and greedy 
 sun, so that thirsty men may drink, and poor half- 
 maddened beasts moisten their burning tongues. 
 So lovingly does she keep watch over these precious 
 water-drops which are as the lives of men and beast, 
 that the Indians believe some mysterious attraction 
 exists in her roots, enabling her to draw water out 
 of the parched soil. 
 
 Is it not really so with them whom these palm- 
 trees typify ? Is it not given to them that power to 
 draw from hidden wells ? 
 
 To those who carry the palm-branch of faith, even 
 from hot sands and arid rock waters of comfort flow. 
 
 Like the queenly Date the gracious Miriti also 
 affords abundant fruit. According to Humboldt, 
 " were it not for the occasional presence of single 
 individuals of this life-supporting tree, these steppes 
 would be abandoned entirely to wild animals/' 
 
 Can any overlook the analogy of these gracious 
 beings, true followers of the Prince of Peace, 
 whose lovely lives exercise such mighty though un- 
 acknowledged influence over their fellow men, that 
 without them the world would be as a howling 
 
THE MAURITIA PALM, 241 
 
 waste, where men's unbridled passions would, like 
 wild beasts, bite and devour one another. 
 
 On those burning sandy wastes, those Fan Palms, 
 with their pale and drooping leaves, are like '' foot- 
 2:)rints," that many " seeing shall take heart again." 
 Planted there by an Almighty hand, they are wit- 
 nesses, faint but resolute, that His hand is over all 
 His creatures, '' caring for all," " not willing that any 
 should perish" of temporal or spiritual need. 
 
 See now the Miriti in wholly different circum- 
 stances. In the flooded lands, the "gapo" or mouth 
 of the Amazon, we read of " a virgin forest of lofty 
 trees, whose stems are every year, during six months, 
 from ten to forty feet under water."* 
 
 These lofty trees are also Miriti Palms. 
 
 From the delta of the Orinoco, extending north- 
 wards to the Sierra de Santa Imataca, we find 
 Miriti Palms overspreading the land, and feeding 
 and housing the unsubdued nation of the Guaranis. 
 To these trees an ancient people owe their inde- 
 pendence. In the half-submerged soil in which 
 alone these poor Indians can dwell secure from 
 their enemies, Mauritia fiexuosa affords them safe 
 dwelling places, even when the mighty river, swollen 
 with rains, bursts its banks and rolls its sea-like 
 waves over the plain. She gives them food of 
 various kinds, — fruit, and from the pith of the tree 
 a wholesome flour from which bread is made, and 
 
 * Wallace's " Palms of the Amazon." 
 
 (1) 16 
 
242 THE MAUKITIA PALM. 
 
 wine from the sap. With her plaited leaves the 
 floors of their aerial dwellings are constructed, and 
 her twisted leaf-stalks furnish cordage of every kind. 
 And so it is that the Ita Palm is almost wor- 
 shipped by those whose protector and benefactor 
 she is. 
 
 It is to this tribe that Humboldt alludes when he 
 speaks of " the existence of an entire people bound 
 up with that of a single tree, like the insect which 
 lives exclusively on a single plant or a particular 
 flower/' 
 
 We read of the Guaranis in very early chronicles. 
 Cardinal Bembo, a contemporary of Columbus, speaks 
 of them in 1551. Sir Walter Raleigh, in his " Dis- 
 covery of Guyana," tells the strange story of their 
 dwelling in trees. In the Latin edition of his book 
 there is a drawing representing the fires of the 
 Oua-raa-etes (called by the Caribs U-aru-a), or 
 Guaranis, "high up in the trees," as he expressly 
 describes having seen them himself from the river, 
 the flames appearing in the darkness of night to be 
 suspended in the air. Trees crowned with light 
 rising out of the waters. 
 
 But now we saw the Miriti, with pale and droop- 
 mg leaf, guarding in the desert a scanty pool. See 
 her now with her dark plumes wa^^ng richly. A 
 broad rivei- flows at her feet. But the Ita Palm, as 
 she is here called, carries her light steadily. She is 
 a home for the oppressed, and wanderers, as they 
 
THE :mauritia talm. 243 
 
 rock to and fro on the dark river of life, look up and 
 bless her light. 
 
 These fires of the Giiaranis rested on a coating of 
 damp clay, which covered the flooring of their dwell- 
 ings on the tree tops. The floor itself was composed 
 of mats and strono^ cords interwoven amonof the 
 branches — mats and cords both made from the leaf- 
 stalks of the tree. 
 
 To another tribe of Indians, not dwellinof in the 
 living trees, bnt having their habitations raised out 
 of the marshy soil upon their massive stems, Ame- 
 rigo Vespucci refers, their homes " fondata sopra 
 I'acqua come Venezia ;" whence came the name of 
 Venezuela. 
 
 Mauritia flexuosa flourishes on the banks of the 
 Amazon and Rio Negro, as well as on the Orinoco. 
 These palms are also found in Trinidad. 
 
 First of the nations of the Old World, England 
 possessed the fruit of this wondrous tree, named by 
 the Padre Jose Gumilla, who twice visited the Guaranis 
 as a missionary, " Arbo de la vida,'' or tree of life. 
 
 The fruits of the tree were brouo-ht to Ensfland 
 by Raleigh, wdio compared them to fir-cones, which, 
 from their scaly covering, tliey much resemble. They 
 are the size of small apples, and, according to their 
 degree of ripeness, furnish a variety of food. Un- 
 ripe, they are dry and farinaceous, like unripe plan- 
 tains, like them becoming sweet and pulpy as they 
 attain maturity. 
 
244 THE MAURITIA PALM. 
 
 The kernels are also used as food. They are 
 ground into flour, from which cakes of bread are 
 made, as well as from the pith or interior of the 
 stem, which affords the usual farina of palms, said 
 in this instance to resemble cassava. 
 
 A favourite Indian beverage is prepared from the 
 fruit. They are soaked in water till they begin to 
 ferment, and are then strained off through a sieve. 
 It is slightly acid, and is not at first palatable to 
 Europeans. 
 
 Wallace informs us that " a spadix of Mauritia 
 Rexuosa loaded with fruit, is of immense weight, 
 often more than two men can carry between them. 
 Describing the appearance of the tree on the banks 
 of the Amazon, he says — " The majestic Muruti (or 
 Miriti) Palm was abundant ; its straight, cylindrical 
 stems, like Grecian columns, with its immense fan- 
 shaped leaves and gigantic bunches of fruit, produce 
 ia,n imposing spectacle. Some of these bunches, eight 
 and ten feet in length, weighed probably two hun- 
 dred or three hundred pounds' weight." The fruit 
 itself, large and reticulated. 
 
 These stately trees, growing to the height of eighty 
 or one hundred feet, are often clothed with orchideaa, 
 which climb to their lofty summits — their gorgeous 
 blossoms glowing in the sun-light, intermixed like 
 jewels with their ray-like crown, superb fan-shaped 
 leaves forming a complete circle round the head of 
 the tree. 
 
THE MAURITTA PALM. 245 
 
 *' A full grown fallen leaf," is said by Wallace 
 to be *' a grand sight. When entire it is a load for 
 a man. The expanded sheathing base is a foot in 
 diameter ; the petiole (or leaf stalk) is a solid beam, 
 ten or twelve feet long, and the leaf itself is nine or 
 ten feet in diameter." 
 
 Leaves and leaf stalks are applied to the innu- 
 merable purposes for which, in all lands where palm 
 trees flourish, they are found to be so admirably 
 fitted. Baskets, boxes, bird cages, window blinds 
 and shutters, lattice-work doors, through which air 
 but not insects can penetrate, partitions, and even 
 entire houses, are constructed from them. 
 
 These Indian houses are of the simple description. 
 Models of them are made by the Indians on the 
 Demerara and Essequibo rivers, and brought into the 
 colony to sell. A few upright posts support a slop- 
 ing roof of palm-leaf thatch ; the interior is divided 
 into two or more rooms by partitions of plaited 
 palm leaves ; two or three stems laid parallel and 
 attached to the upright posts, form the sides of the 
 house. They are not filled in, so that there are no 
 walls. 
 
 These models show great ingenuity. All the 
 domestic utensils required by an Indian household 
 are to be found within in miniature. A few wooden 
 stools, and some hammocks swung in the centre of 
 the hut, constitute the furniture. There are black 
 pots for cooking, and finely plaited sieves and 
 
246 THE MAUPJTIA PALM. 
 
 baskets, with the indispensable '' tipiti," or elastic 
 cylinder for squeezing grated Mandiocca. Bows and 
 arrows are also there, and fairy-like fans plaited 
 with minutest strips of the leaf fibres. Throughout 
 the whole there is not a nail, or screw, or piece of 
 wire ; all the fastenings are furnished by strips of 
 the leaves or leaf stalks of palms. 
 
 Broad bands plaited from young leaves of this 
 palm, are used b}^ all Indians for carrjdng burdens. 
 They are suspended from the forehead. Men carry 
 weights of twenty-five pounds ; and women carry 
 their infants in this manner. 
 
 Hats, fans, mats, and, in Guyana, baskets of ele- 
 gant form and various design, are made from the leaf 
 stalks of Ita Palm. Cut into narrow strips some 
 are left to be the natural colour, and some are dyed 
 black. When plaited the effect is singularly pretty. 
 Their shape is peculiar — an outer basket completely 
 covering an inner one. Some, made large and quite 
 flat, are used by Europeans as letter cases. Some 
 are of fairy-like texture, scarcely exceeding an inch 
 in length, and others of sufficient size to carry 
 bonnets or dresses. In the country they are called 
 Peghals, which some derive from pack-all. 
 
 Somewhat similar baskets, made of the leaves and 
 leaf-stalks of palms, are to be found in Antigua and 
 St. Vincent's. They are tliere called Carib baskets. 
 They are generally black and w^hite, or black and 
 cane coloured. Red and green stripes are sometimes 
 
THE MAURITIA PALM. 247 
 
 introduced in Antigua. These baskets are stronger 
 and more durable than Demarara baskets, for be- 
 tween the outer and inner plait made from the leaf 
 stalks, leaves are introduced, so that the baskets will 
 hold water, and are impervious to dust. The '' mat- 
 2)oi,'' or instrument for squeezing the poisonous juice 
 from the grated Cassava, and the " etami," or sieve 
 for sifting the flour, are both made in Guyana from 
 the leaves of this palm. 
 
 From the petioles of the Ita Palm, as well as from 
 those of the Coco Nut, the coast tribes of Gu3'ana 
 make sails for their corials or canoes. Some of these 
 of large size, capable of carrying one hundred men 
 and a three-pounder, are constructed by the tribe of 
 the Warows. Made without line or compass, they 
 are said to be models for speed and for elegance of 
 form. Like the Orientals, the natives of the West 
 put these admirable boats together without nail, or 
 screw, or iron bolt. The Ita Palm, or the Coco 
 Nut, supplies their sails and cordage ; but for the 
 timbers and masts incomparable timber is found 
 in the magnificent forests of Guyana ; some of it, 
 light and easily worked, is almost impervious to 
 worms. 
 
 A rude kind of viol is made by raising the upper 
 fibres of the petiole, and placing a bridge under 
 them. To the music of this instrument they dance. 
 Another so-called musical instrument is made from 
 the young leaves of the Ita Palm. The narrow 
 
248 THE MAURITIA PALM. 
 
 strips are dyed various shades of brown, and plaited 
 in very pretty designs like the baskets, a sort of 
 oblong bag is made — the ends fastened together 
 round a handle. Seeds are put inside this plaited 
 bag. The Indian name, " shaak-shaah" at once 
 describes the kind of music produced by this instru- 
 ment, which exactly resembles a child's rattle, and 
 is used as such in the nurseries of English residents 
 in British Guyana. The Indians dance to the 
 sound. 
 
 As in Venezuela, the massive trunks of these trees 
 serve as piles on which houses are built, in the tidal 
 districts about Para. They form causeways to houses 
 along the banks of the river, a large expanse of soft 
 mud extending at low water between them and the 
 water's edge.* 
 
 Humboldt, Schomburgh, Wallace, Gardiner, and all 
 travellers in this part of South America, unite in 
 homage to the beauty of these trees, and their ex- 
 ceeding utility. We read of the majestic Mauritia 
 flexuosa overspreading the banks of the Essequibo, 
 as the solitary charm of the great savannahs stretch- 
 ing from the Orinoco to the foot of the mountain 
 range where Duida raises her lofty summits to the 
 skies ; or as a social palm covering large tracts of 
 tide-flooded lands in the lower Amazon ; no under- 
 wood to break the view along interminable rangea 
 of her stately columns which rise from the water, 
 
 ♦ Wallace's " Palms of the Amazon." 
 
THE MAURITIA PALM. 249 
 
 unbroken by leaf or branch, to eighty and a hundred 
 feet in height. 
 
 " A vast natural temple, which does not yield 
 in grandeur or sublimity to those of Palmyra or 
 Athens."* 
 
 It is said that no supposition can be formed of the 
 probable age of these trees, though they are known 
 to be extremely old. 
 
 To this tree — the bulwark of the freedom of the 
 Guaranis — the strange tradition of the Tamanaas 
 refer. After the *' age of water," one man and 
 woman being saved on the mountain of Tamanacu, 
 on the banks of the Asiveru, they cast over their 
 their heads the fruits of the Mauritia Palm, and from 
 their seeds men and women sprang up to re-people 
 the earth. 
 
 In the " old museum" at Kew are to be seen 
 mats, baskets and hammocks, made from the Miriti 
 Palm. The shaak-shaak is also there. 
 
 There are other species of Mauritia Palms to be 
 found in the same localities, but none of them 
 approach in value the useful Mauritia fiexuosa. 
 
 Mauritia vinifera, as the name denotes, produces 
 wine, which is of an excellent quality. It is described 
 by Gardiner as one of the loftiest of Brazilian 
 palms, reaching sometimes to one hundred and fifty 
 feet in height. From the reddish, oily pulp of the 
 fruit, a sw^eet meat and a beverage is prepared. 
 
 • Wallace's "Palms of the Amazon." 
 
250 THE MAURITIA PALM. 
 
 Mauriiia aculeata, a palm of Guyana, discovered 
 b}^ Humboldt and Bonpland, is a thorny palm. Its 
 leaves are singularly coloured with concentric yel- 
 lowish stripes, like a peacock's tail. 
 
 Mauritia gracilis (or " Caranai," in native lan- 
 guage), grows on the edge of the waters of Rio 
 Negro, and is distinguished for its beauty. Its 
 slender stem, from twenty to thirty feet high, is 
 ringed Avith spines; it has drooping leaves of an ex- 
 quisite silvery green, and clusters of rich brown fruit. 
 
 A very singular looking smooth, stemmed species, 
 allied to Mauritia flexuosa, was lately discovered by 
 Wallace, growing in the district of Rio Negro and 
 the Upper Orinoco, named by him Mauritia Ca- 
 rama, its native name being '' Carana." Its singular 
 appearance is occasioned by the immense quantity 
 of fibre which clothes the bases of the leaf stalks, 
 giving to the tree a bearded look. As yet this fibre 
 seems not to be applied to any use. The entire 
 leaves are preferred to all other for thatch from their 
 great durability ; but the leaf fibres, or epidermis, 
 are not used, as with the Miriti, for making cordage.* 
 
 * Wallace's " Palms of the Amazon." 
 
e ^minxci. 
 
 {Desmoncv.s Macracantlnts. Jaciidm, Lingoa GeraJ.) 
 
 \ "^^^ [KEES of the forest and flowers of the field, 
 l>y divine teaching made instruments for 
 conveying spiritual truth, have also les- 
 sons of temporal wisdom intrusted to 
 them. How often, amidst life's anxious 
 care, might they be our comforters, if we 
 would listen to them ! Do they not show us again 
 and again how God's purposes of love are worked 
 out by a variety of means — some of them, to us, 
 short-sighted ones, apparently insufficient. 
 
 We have seen the independence of a whole Indian 
 tribe secured to them by means of some kindly palm 
 trees. Pillars of strength i-ising out of the waters 
 which overflow the land, the tall and stately Miritis 
 have been to the Guaranis a sure refuge from their 
 enemies ; men, like birds, building their nests of 
 safety in trees, and feeding upon their fi'uits. 
 
 In another part of the countrj^- amongst the 
 Catinga forests of the Upper Rio Negro, we find the 
 same good office of protecting the poor children of 
 
252 THE JACITARA. 
 
 the soil, carried out in a different manner, by a palm 
 tree of a wholly different character. 
 
 The Jacitara is a, climbing palm, but, unlike her 
 giant brothers in Himalayan forests, she shows no 
 signs of ambition. Her long and flexible stem, 
 sometimes seventy feet long, is furnished, like the 
 Cane Palms of the East, with hooked spines ; but 
 the Jacitara cares not to attain a giddy elevation by 
 mounting on the shoulders and heads of her com- 
 panions. Like a graceful child at pla}^, she throws 
 her green garlands from tree to tree, or trails them 
 along the margins of silvery streams that sparkle 
 amongst the forest glades. With the sportive mis- 
 chief, also, of a child, she provokes the good- 
 humoured reproaches of ardent entomologists,* when 
 she snatches from him his insect net, or plucks the 
 cap from his head, or suddenly detains the sleeve of 
 his jacket. 
 
 But the childlike Jacitara is kindly and brave ; 
 she is the poor Indian's defence against his enemies. 
 He blesses the hooked spines that cover her trailing 
 stem, as warily through the thorny barrier he guides 
 his light canoe up the " igaripes," or forest streams 
 that lead to his sheltered hut. Only in the depths 
 of those almost impenetrable forests is the home of 
 his wife and little ones safe from the cruel outrages 
 of unprincipled men.-f* 
 
 The round red fruit of the Jacitara is not eatable, 
 
 * Wallace's " Palms of the .AmaBon." + Ibid. 
 
THE JACITARA. 253 
 
 but its prickly stem is instrumental in preparing 
 other food. This pretty palm, which to the Indian 
 men is like a wall of bayonets, furnishes to the 
 women an article indispensable for domestic com- 
 fort. 
 
 On the Mandiocca root (Jatropha Manihot, or 
 Manihot utilissima) the Indians of this part of the 
 country principally depend for food. It is grated 
 by means of the tubercular air roots of another 
 palm, the Pashiuba (Iriartea exorhiza), but so long 
 as it retains its natural juices it is poisonous. The 
 Jacitara furnishes the "tipiti," or elastic plaited 
 cylinder, by means of which this poisonous juice is 
 got rid of The grated pulp being placed in the 
 cylinder, it is suspended to a pole. A lever at- 
 tached to a loop at the other end of the cylinder 
 is worked by a woman. This powerfully con- 
 tracts the " tipiti," and all the poisonous juice runs 
 out. 
 
 Other cylinders are used in the preparation of 
 this universal article of food, also called "cassada" 
 and "farinha;"' but none are so lasting as those 
 made from the Jacitara, so that they are greatly 
 prized by the Indians. 
 
 This interesting palm is singularly unlike every 
 other member of its family. The leaves grow 
 alternately along the stem, instead of meeting at 
 the summit to form the crown which, in every other 
 
 * Wallace's " Palms of the Amazon.'' 
 
254 
 
 THE JACITARA. 
 
 case, is the distinguishing characteristic of the pahn 
 tree. 
 
 The leaflets are somewhat of an oval shape, and 
 pointed at the ends. Leaf-stalks and spathes are 
 covered with spines, as well as the long, slender, 
 waving stem. 
 
Mm faint of ibj %ni>tn. 
 
 {Inartea or Ceroxylon Andicola. — Humboldt and Boxpland, 
 Palma de Cera.) 
 
 JUMBOLDT, by whom the Wax Palm ol 
 
 the Andes was discovered, gives to its 
 mountain home an elevation of nine 
 thousand seven hundred feet above the 
 ,,,, level of the sea, and to the superb tree 
 l"^^'"!, itself a height of from one hundred and 
 seventy to one hundred and ninety -two measured feet. 
 Itself one of the most magnificent of its race, its 
 singular characteristics, combined with the gTandeur 
 of the wild solitudes in which it delights to dwell, 
 uplifted far above the usual homes of its kindred, 
 give to the Mountain Palm a peculiar interest. In 
 those elevated forests the Wax Palm reigns as a 
 king amongst oaks and pines. The monarchs of our 
 woods are but as attendant nobles in the mightier 
 presence of the crowned tree. 
 
 Amongst the stupendous passes of the giant 
 Andes, the loftiest mountains of the world, nature is 
 beheld in her grandest and most impressive form. 
 
256 ^VAX PALM OF THE ANDES. 
 
 Up the rugged roads of the Cordilleras nor horse, 
 nor ox, nor mule can force its way ; the adventurous 
 traveller must submit to be carried in a chair 
 strapped to the back of a man. 
 
 Men accustomed to these savage scenes from 
 infancy become enamoured of the rude and lawless 
 life, and devote their strong limbs to the enormous 
 fatigue of this office, making themselves wholly and 
 solely beasts of burden. These '' carqueros," or 
 bearers, whether Indians, half-breed, or white men, 
 will, with scarcely any covering on their bodies, 
 journey with heavy loads for eight or nine hours, 
 over toilsome mountain paths, for but a miserable 
 pittance. They risk, too, a terrible fate, which is 
 known to have befallen some, — that of being left 
 by their cruel employers to die in the pathless forest, 
 where they have fallen, sick or overburthened. 
 
 Yet such is the extraordinary fascination this 
 wretched life has for the youths of the district, that 
 Humboldt mentions that a project for making some 
 of these roads passable for mules was laid aside by 
 the Government, solely on account of the urgent 
 remonstrances against it whicli they received from 
 these carqueros themselves. 
 
 Humboldt and Bonpland crossed the central chain 
 of the Andes by the mountain of Quindiu, in their 
 journey to Popayan from Santa Fe de Bogota. 
 
 This last beautiful city, the capital of New 
 Granada, stands on an elevated plain, eight thousand 
 
WAX TALM OF THE ANDES. 257 
 
 seven hundred and twenty seven feet above the 
 level of the sea (higher than the summit of St. 
 Bernard,) lofty mountains surrounding it on every 
 side. This fertile plain was once the bed of a lake. 
 The variety of climate of the surrounding country, 
 owing to the different elevations, affords the markets 
 of Bogota a wonderful and delicious variety of fruits 
 and vegetables. The strawberries, apples, and 
 peaches of temperate climes stand side by side with 
 the pine apples, bananas, and palm fi-uits of the 
 tropics. The English traveller may breakfast on 
 native chocolate and tortillas of maize, freshly 
 shelled and ground, and dine on roast mutton and 
 vegetables familiar to him at home. 
 
 The Pass of Quindiu is the most difficult of the 
 crossings of the Andes, and cannot be traversed 
 imder ten or twelve daj^s. But what a lifetime of 
 impressions, of glorious recollections these few days 
 would have power to bestow ! All that is most 
 sublime in Nature seems gathered together there. 
 
 Giant mountains towering to the skies, crowned 
 with dazzling pinnacles of perpetual snow ; thick 
 and almost impenetrable forests, stretching upwards 
 on all sides, oirdle the o-iants with massive emerald 
 belts ; while, in the rendings of the mountain chain, 
 the valleys of the Cordilleras disclose abysses of 
 unfathomable depth. Could the traveller with 
 steady eyes look down one of these narrow fissures, 
 he would behold natural bridges of picturesque form, 
 (1) 17 
 
258 WAX PALM OF THE ANDES. 
 
 in endless succession, spanning the immeasurable 
 depths behnv ; enormous masses of rock that, jutting 
 out from the cliffs on opposite sides, meet together, 
 over-arching the black gulfs — paths of peril, untrod- 
 den by the feet of men. The silvery-footed torrent 
 alone, flinging itself from the precipice above, im- 
 petuousl}^ leaps from one to the other of the gigantic 
 ladder steps, down, down into the unseen abyss. A 
 reckless spendthrift indeed, scattering, with hoarse 
 laughter as he goes, showers of sparkling gems on 
 tree, and shrub, and flower. In gentle and confid- 
 ing beauty, many plants cling about the rough rocks, 
 undismayed by the wild tumult around ; nay, cling 
 the closer and more tenderly because they feel their 
 presence is the one sweet charm those dark, unquiet 
 cliffs can ever know. 
 
 So doth the world's rude buffetings draw closer 
 to the bosom of her troubled lord the loving wife ; 
 so kindly little ones instinctively caress those whom 
 they see in sorrow and distress. 
 
 In such scenes as these, far removed from the 
 fevered restlessness of communion with men, safe 
 from the bewildering mirage that floats over the 
 loAver places of eai-th — in the clear, pure atmosphere 
 of these elevated regions, the soul feels drawn into a 
 nearer communion with its God. It seems to see 
 in close reality the gates of heaven and hell set open 
 for their choice. 
 
 Look on that fathomless depth where a thick 
 
WAX PALM OF THE A^DES, 259 
 
 darkness broods, and whence arises the mad torrent's 
 unreal lauQ-hter, mino-led with the doleful cries of 
 liideous birds that shun the light. 
 
 Now look above I 
 
 That pure, snow -covered mountain peak that tells 
 so brightly against the azure sky, — is it not like the 
 Heavenly City's gate of pearl ? 
 
 The noble Ceroxylon is the sole representative 
 here of that kingly race to which the Word of God 
 has likened the righteous. His choice is made. 
 He stands on the brink of a great precipice where, 
 by the providence of God he has been placed; but 
 his foot stands firm. He looks not down, but up. 
 Erect he stands, a pillar of strength, clothed, as it 
 were, in white, and wearing on his head an unfading 
 crown. 
 
 He is as one to whom it has been given, while yet 
 on earth, to show forth the beauty of the sons of 
 God. 
 
 Is not the palm tree a witness-bearer here ? 
 
 A strange beauty indeed must be imparted to 
 these wild scenes of mountain gTandeur by the pre- 
 sence of these majestic palms. Their lofty stature, 
 averaging one hundred and eighty feet ; their superb 
 crowns of plume-like leaves, eighteen and twent3^ 
 feet in length ; their erect columnar trunks, uplifted 
 on perial roots, having a peculiar whiteness, from the 
 incrustation of wax which is their peculiar and dis- 
 tinguishing characteristic. This marble-like column 
 
260 WAX PALM OF THE ANDES. 
 
 is surmounted by another more slender shaft, 
 smooth, and of a silvery green. It is the sheathing 
 base of the magnificent leaves which form the circu- 
 lar crown of this kingly palm. The leaves have a 
 silvery lining, their imder surface being covered with 
 a soft Avhite down. 
 
 It is sorrowful to read that, to obtain the wax, 
 these noble trees are felled. An " arroba," or 
 twenty-five pounds, is the quantity obtained from 
 each tree. 
 
 This substance, called in tlie country palm wax, is 
 said by Vauquelin strictly to consist of one-third 
 wax and two- thirds resin. The mode of obtaining 
 it is very simple. A man will cut down two trees, 
 and scrape them, in one day. The wax so scraped 
 off is melted and run into calabashes, and sold to 
 the villagers in the neighbourhood of the Tolema 
 range. Mixed with tallow, it is made into candles. 
 It is said to burn too rapidly alone. Considered as 
 wax, candles are made from it unmixed, as offerings 
 to Roman Catholic shrines. Purdie informs us that 
 though in great demand, this wax is so easily and 
 abundantly procured, that in the town of Ibaque, at 
 the foot of the Quindiu, it is sold at half a real, or 
 threepence a pound. 
 
 Bonpland noticed " that the wax or inflammable 
 matter is not exuded from the rings formed by the 
 falling away of the leaves," the incrustation being 
 ft.n-med on the spaces between the rings, which are 
 
Vv'AX PALM OF THE ANDES. 261 
 
 smooth as the stem of a reed, and of a pale yel- 
 low. 
 
 This singular product is not the only advantage 
 derived from the tree. Its superior height recom- 
 mends it for hollowing into canoes and aqueducts, 
 and its durable wood is used in the construction of 
 houses. Its leaves form admirable thatch, and the 
 filaments at their base are applied to innumerable 
 useful purposes. 
 
 Both in the Great Palm-house at Kew, and at the 
 Crystal Palace, there are several fine young speci- 
 mens of Ceroxylon Andicola. 
 
 (Jriartea Exorh i:a~^l ARTirs. FashiUha, Lingoa Geral. 
 Zanora, Panama, 
 
 The Pashiuba Palm, so called in the language of 
 the country, is said by Wallace to be very common 
 in the foi-ests about Para and on the banks of the 
 Amazon. It sometimes reaches seventy feet in 
 heio'ht. Its stem is of moderate thickness, and is 
 almost perfectly smooth, no rings or scars being left 
 by the fallen leaves. 
 
 Belonging to the same family of Iriarteas, this 
 palm has the upper shaft noticed in the Wax Palm» 
 but that of the Pashiuba is dark green in colour, and 
 swollen at the base. Below this upper column the 
 spadices or fruit-bearers appear, four or five in num- 
 ber, growing upwards. The small red fruits are 
 bitter, and are only eaten by birds. 
 
262 WAX TALM OF THE ANDES. 
 
 Amongst the lovers of palm fruits must be reck- 
 oned the brilliant humming-birds, whose jewelled 
 splendours outshine even the gorgeous hues of the 
 flowers of tropical climes. Pi'ince Maximilian of 
 Weid, in examining the flower of a Brazilian palm, 
 found attached to it the dainty little nest of a 
 humming-bird. Those tiny cradles, seldom exceeding- 
 one and a half inch in length, are most exquisitely 
 constructed. The one just referred to was lined with 
 moss, but cotton, thistle-down and lichens are also 
 used. Some of the lichens of South America are of 
 the purest wdiite, and the ground overspread with 
 them seems covered with snow. The framework of 
 these nests are generally spiders' webs, which are 
 warped over fragments of plants, down, and other 
 tender materials.* 
 
 The leaves of the Pashiuba, or Zanora as it is 
 called by the natives of the Isthmus of Panama, are 
 pinnate or feathery; they curl with peculiar grace. 
 The great peculiarity of the tree consists in its aerial 
 roots, which descend diagonally from the stem. 
 These loft}' palms, seventy feet higii, are sometimes 
 seen supported by only three or four roots, uplifting 
 them so higli above the ground that a man may 
 walk erect beneatli the tall and massive trunk. 
 
 The young plants are described by Wallace as 
 amusing copies of their parents; they seldom possess 
 more than three legs. Soft and pithy in the interior, 
 
 * " Naturalist's Library," Huniming-Binls. Sir W. Jardine. 
 
WAX PALM OF THE ANDES, 263 
 
 the outside of the stem is very bard, and being per- 
 fectl}^ straight, is much used for flooring houses and 
 canoes, for shelves, seats, and other domestic pur- 
 poses. Large quantities of it are said to be imported 
 into the United States to be made into umbrelLi 
 sticks.* 
 
 From its sti'ength and durability this wood is 
 employed in making fish-weirs. Harpoons are also 
 made from it. 
 
 The air roots, which are covered with " tubercular 
 prickles," are used as graters by the Indians of the 
 Amazon to grate their Mandiocca or Cassada, and by 
 the natives of the Isthmus of Panama to reduce the 
 inside of the coco nut to the pulpy mass, in which 
 state it is boiled by them with rice and water. Some 
 Indian tribes of Guyana are famed for the manu- 
 facture of tliese Cassada graters, in which Schomburgh 
 informs us they carry on a brisk traffic with tlieir 
 neighbours. 
 
 This admirable substitute is furnished by the 
 palm tree in moist climates, where, as Seemann 
 observes, " tin graters soon get rusty." Two of 
 these graters were sent by Dr. Seemann to the 
 Museum of Economic Botany at Kew, where they 
 are exhibited with other curious products of palms. 
 
 To the same museum Mr. Spence, for some time 
 the companion of Mr. Wallace, contributed a yet more 
 singular and interesting article. '' A loud bassoon," 
 
 * Seeniann's ■' Histovv of Palms." 
 
2G4 WAX PALM OF THE ANDES. 
 
 which might well lure to its side, not only the 
 " wedding guest," but the ancient mariner himself. 
 
 The Indians of San Antonio de Javita are said by 
 Humboldt to have two great objects of worship, the 
 Good and the Evil Principle. The}^ have no idols, 
 but the Boluto or sacred trumpet is looked u])on with 
 extreme veneration. 
 
 This singular instrument, or rather pair of instru- 
 ments, consisting of a monster flageolet and huge 
 trumpet, are devoted to, and played in honour of, the 
 Evil Principle. They are called Juri-pari, or devil's 
 music, aptly so named. Hedged about with such 
 superstitions and cruel reverence, that for a woman 
 to look upon them the penalty is instant death. 
 Should the glance have been accidental, or the poor 
 creature be only suspected of the crime, her doom is 
 not the less certain, no mercy is shown — f\\thers 
 have put their children to death, and husbands their 
 waves. 
 
 Wallace describes the sounds of tliese fearful in- 
 struments to be wild and pleasing as he heard them 
 played by the Nape Indians coming down the river 
 at dusk. A simple air was given from pairs of 
 different .sizes being blown together in tolerable 
 concert.* 
 
 The instruments at Kew are thus described by 
 Mr. Spence, who sent them. •' The two larger in- 
 strunients are portions of the trunk of the Pashiuba 
 
 * Wallace's " Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro." 
 
AVAX PALM OF THE ANDES. 265 
 
 [Irimiea exorhiza), witli a square hole near the 
 upper extremity. AVheii about to be used this end 
 is nearly closed by a piece of clay, and a piece of 
 uaruma leaf is tied on above the square hole, so as 
 to form a monster flageolet. The smaller ones consist 
 of a tube of Pashiuba wrapped in a long strip of the 
 tough bark of the jebaru, which descends in widening 
 folds to some distance below the tube, thus forming 
 a sort of trumpet, w^hich is simply blown into at the 
 upper end." 
 
 [Triartea Seii^era—^lARTirs. Pashifiba Miri, Lingoa Geral.) 
 
 If the poor Nape women tremble at the sound of 
 the " Botuto," made from the larger Pashiuba, the 
 sight of the noiseless " gravatana," furnished by 
 smaller species of Iriartea spreads equal dismay 
 amono; the birds and beasts of the forests of Brazil 
 and Guayana. 
 
 This almost unerring weapon is as constant a 
 companion of the Indians of South American forests 
 as the rifle is of his red brethren in the north, and 
 also of the backwoodsman and fur- trapper. 
 
 Known in Guyana as the '' Ourah and Samourah," 
 it is described in Waterton's "Wanderings" as made 
 of reeds, reed-like palms, or bamboos. This blow- 
 pipe or blow-tube, a weapon noiseless but deadly, is 
 simple in construction. " Two straight tall stems of 
 the Pashiuba Miri are selected of such proportionate 
 thickness that one may be contained in the other. 
 
^fiG ^VAX PALM OF THE ANDES. 
 
 With a long slender rod, prepared from the hard 
 black wood of the Pashitiba barriguda {Iriartea 
 ■centvicosa), and a little bunch of the roots of the 
 tree-fern, the Indian cleans and polishes the inside 
 till the bore becomes as smooth and polished as 
 ivory." The slenderer tube inserted in tlie larger, it is 
 fitted with a mouthpiece of wood, and a sight formed 
 by a large tooth of the Paca or water hare of Suri- 
 nam is fixed on with pitch. The work is ornamented 
 Avith a spiral twisting of the shining bark of some 
 creeper. These tubes are never less than eight, and 
 often more than ten and twelve feet long. '•' The 
 arrows, fifteen or eighteen inches in length, are fur- 
 nished by the singular black spines of the Patawa 
 Palm {(Enocarpiis Batawa) sharply pointed. They 
 are dipped in " curari" poison three or four inches 
 deep, and are notched so as to break off in the 
 wound." 
 
 The Gravatana thus described by Wallace is said 
 by him to do more execution in an Indian's hands 
 than a double-barrelled Manton in those of the best 
 European sportsmen. 
 
 Invaluable, therefore, to the Indians of Brazil and 
 Guyana is the palm tree, whose smooth cylindrical 
 stem furnishes the indispensable weapon without 
 which they dare not penetrate the pathless forests, — 
 without which their wives' cooking vessels would 
 lack their supplies of various kinds of food. 
 
 The slender stem of Pashiuba Miri varies in 
 
WAX PAL^I OF THE ANDES. 267 
 
 size from the thickness of a finger to that of the 
 wrist, its height is from fifteen to twenty feet ; its 
 leaves are pinnate, its roots only slightly raised above 
 the ground ; its small crimson fruits are the size of 
 our " hips," or wild-rose fruit. 
 
 The home of these graceful palms is in the virgin 
 forests of the Upper Amazon and Rio Negro, where 
 the soil is dry. 
 
 Other blow-pipes are made in Gu3^ana from a 
 kind of bamboo, which has been named Arundinaria 
 Schomhurghi. Schomburgh speaks of some of these 
 reeds measuring upwards of sixteen feet, perfectly 
 straight, and free from knots. To prevent their 
 splitting, one end of these reeds is tied round with 
 silk o-rass, and the other is inserted into the seed of 
 the ''Acuero/' or Accu-uri Palm [Cocos scMzophylla). 
 The arrows used with them by the Maiong-hong 
 tribe of Indians are more than twenty-four inches 
 long ; they are made of the middle fibre of a palm 
 leaf, and dipped in poison three inches from the 
 point. The " Cucurito Vadgihai" Palm, one hundred 
 and six feet high, noticed bv Humboldt as adorn- 
 ing the cataracts of the Orinoco and the lonely banks 
 of the Cassequiare, supplies some Indian tribes with 
 their arrows. 
 
 {Copernicia C'e/v/g/YA.— ^[artius. Carnaiila, Brazils.) 
 The Wax Palm of Brazil affords a striking con- 
 trast to the Wax Palm of the Andes. They are the 
 
2C8 WAX PALM OF THE ANDES. 
 
 only two palms as yet known who yield tins singular 
 product. 
 
 Of majestic height, and crowned with waving 
 plumes, the kingly Ceroxylon reigns amidst the lone 
 sublimity of the loftiest mountains in the world, 
 w^hile, comparatively low in stature, the fan-leafed 
 Copernicia cerifera dwells in the crowded forest of 
 Brazil. 
 
 Amongst her many companions she is without 
 doubt the most exquisitely proportioned, and might 
 therefore be deemed the queen of beauty; but like 
 a drawling-room beauty, erect and immobile, she 
 seems almost too conscious of her charms. The 
 careless grace of the Coco-nut Palm, always in motion, 
 slender stem, green leaf, and silvery flower swaying 
 in the breeze, would be to many eyes more at- 
 tractive. 
 
 The appearance of the Carnaiiba Palm is quite 
 peculiar, and unlike any other member of its noble 
 race. It is of faultless proportions, and exquisite 
 regularity of shape. Never exceeding forty feet in 
 height, the thickness of its stem, the shape and size 
 of its almost spherical crown, the length and breadth 
 of its fan-shaped leaves, and the proportion they 
 bear to the foot-stalks from which they spring, are 
 all in wonderfully exact relation to each other. 
 
 A beautiful representation of this palm tree of 
 faultless proportions is given in Martius' work. 
 
 Remains of the ffxllen leaves which adhere to the 
 
WAX PALM OF THE ANDES. 2G9 
 
 stem give it a reticulated appearance; and as they 
 catch the glowing rays of the ever cloudless sunshine 
 of those regions, have a look of fretted goldsmith's 
 ^vork^ — a fitting robe for a court beauty. The leaves 
 have a peculiar glaucous bloom, and the fruits are 
 the colour of chrysolites. 
 
 Statuesque as she may be, Carnaliba is even more 
 valued for her utility than admired for her beauty. 
 
 The wax of this palm has no admixture of resin ; 
 it is perfectly pare, '' as much so as that procured 
 from our hives."* It is easily obtained ; the young 
 leaves, when detached from the tree, only require to 
 be shaken for the wax to fall off from them. Each 
 leaf yields about fifty grains of a whitish scaly 
 powder, this is pure wax ; melted in pots over a fire, 
 it is then ready for the market. 
 
 It is imported into England for the manufacture 
 of candles, and has been used at Price's Candle Com- 
 pany, Yauxhall. Its only defect is its yellow colour, 
 which is that of raw wax. As yet no means has 
 been discovered of bleaching it. 
 
 A kind of farina is prepared by the Brazilians 
 from the pith of the tree, which furnishes w4iolesome 
 food, and in times of scarcity of provisions for horses 
 and cattle, the young leaves chopped up make ex- 
 cellent fodder. 
 
 Its fruit, though bitter, is eaten by the Indians 
 either raw or boiled. 
 
 * "Wallace's " Palms of the Amazon." 
 
270 WAX PALM or THE ANDES. 
 
 The wood is strong and veiy durable, frameworks 
 of houses and inclosures for cattle are made from it. 
 It is also applied to innumerable otlier purposes. 
 It is occasionally met with in the timber-yards of 
 London. 
 
 The leaves are infinitely useful, they make excel- 
 lent thatch ; pack-saddles, hats, and many otlier 
 articles are manufactured out of them. 
 
 Pretty specimens of these plaited leaves are to be 
 seen in the old museum at Kew. A mat plaited in 
 various shades of yellow, from palest straw up to 
 dark brown; bunches of the strips of leaves, dyed 
 and undyed, ready for plaiting, and a hat plaited of 
 fine strips. 
 
 Lumps of the wax of the tree are in the same 
 compartment. 
 
 /^ 
 
^^,: 
 
 -^mr/ 
 
 Wfi 
 
 yit'<^-,M 
 
 m f alms of Ik Mcst. 
 
 HE mineral kingdom never wants for ex- 
 plorers. The very name of '' gold dig- 
 gings" summons to all parts of the globe 
 thousands of adventurous spirits ^Yilling 
 to undergo any danger and any toil. 
 But how few care even to inquire 
 into the wonders of the vegetable world. Few hands 
 are stretched out to receive the ^^'ealth that generous 
 plants are eager to bestow. The palm tree is no 
 churlish giver; she gives bountifully, and requires no 
 painful seeking after; and yet, year by year, a pro- 
 fusion of precious gifts absolutely perish because there 
 are none who care to accept of them. 
 
 Humboldt tells of South American forests where 
 are to be found palm fruits lying three inches deep 
 on the ground. 
 
 Almost all these fruits are available for some pur- 
 pose; but some kinds are of great value, and may 
 easily be turned to excellent account. 
 
 Amongst those which are of a nature particularly 
 serviceable to man are the fruits of Oil Palms. The 
 Western world boasts herself of several of these. 
 
272 OIL PALMS UF THE WEbT. 
 
 Could European enterprise and industry be directed 
 towards them, how wide a sphere of usefulness might 
 they occupy, and without in any way interfering 
 with the almost sacred mission of tlie African Oil 
 Palm — the neo-ro's friend. 
 
 Light is a blessing so universally desired, the de- 
 mand for it must be illimitable. It scarcely seems 
 possible too many sources can be opened up to sup- 
 ply it. 
 
 {Elais Melanocca — Gaertxer; or, Alfonsia Oleifera — Humboldt. 
 Corozo Colorado, Venezuela and New Granada.) 
 
 This American Oil Palm, of the same genus as the 
 Oil Palm of Africa, resembles it in all points ; its 
 trunk is, perhaps, more decumbent or reclining. It 
 has the same shaggy appearance from the remains of 
 fallen leaves adhering to the stem. Its leaves are 
 pinnate, and its fruit, as its Spanish name signifies, 
 is brightly -coloured, vermilion with a golden tint. 
 The oil is obtained from the pulpy part surrounding 
 the kernel. The fruit having been boiled in water, 
 is crushed in wooden mortars, separating the husk 
 from the seed. The oil floats on the surface of the 
 liquid mass thus obtained. 
 
 This oil is used in the houses and churches of the 
 country, but appears as yet not to have been ex- 
 ported in any quantity.* This tree is a native of 
 New Granada, and is also commonly found in the 
 
 * Secniann's " History of Palms." 
 
OIL PALMS OF THE WEST. 273 
 
 Isthmus of Panama. In parts of New Granada, its 
 leaves, twenty-four feet long, are manufactured into 
 ropes. 
 
 Its fertility may be imagined by the fact noticed 
 by Humboldt, that its spathe contains two hundred 
 thousa.nd flowers. 
 
 {Acrocomia Sderocarpa.—'MAiiTivs. Great Macaw Tree, W. Indies, 
 Macoya, Guyana. Acrocomia Lasiospatha. — Martius. Mu- 
 cuja, Lingoa Geral.) 
 
 These two palms are only distinguishable from 
 each other by botanists, and they afford the same 
 product. Not remarkable for stature, averaging 
 from forty to fifty feet in height, they, however, 
 form striking objects in the landscapes they adorn. 
 
 Acrocomia La siospatha is a native only of Brazil; 
 but the Great Macaw inhabits Jamaica, Trinidad, 
 Barbados, and some of the adjacent islands, as well 
 as the continent of South America, where it extends 
 as far south as Rio Janeiro. 
 
 Their stems, slightly swollen towards the centre, 
 are covered, as are also their leaf-stalks and spathes, 
 w^ith long black or brown spines. Their especial 
 beauty is their crown. It is almost spherical in 
 shape, their magnificent feathery leaves of a brilliant 
 green, extending evenly on all sides — some erect, 
 some are horizontal, and some are drooping. 
 
 Their fruits, the size of apricots, are round and 
 greenish olive on the outside. The seed is enveloped 
 (1) 18 
 
274 OIL PALMS OF THE WEST, 
 
 in an orange-coloured pulp. From this the oil is 
 obtained, which exactly resembles African palm oil, 
 and is sometimes sold as such in the markets at home. 
 It is esteemed in like manner by the natives as a 
 remedy for boneache, and is used as an emollient. 
 
 The fruit having been slightly roasted, is ground 
 into a paste, which is heated and mixed with boiling 
 water, and then pressed between heated plates of 
 iron. It yields about seven-tenths or eight-tenths 
 of oil.* 
 
 The fruit, though oily and of a bitter taste, is 
 much esteemed by the Indians of Brazil. The shell 
 of the nut takes a high polish, and is often curiously 
 carved by the natives. 
 
 {Attalea Cohune. — ]Martiu3. Palma real, Panama.) 
 
 This is another of the Oil Palms of the West, of 
 whose value we are slowly becoming aware in 
 Europe. 
 
 Natives of Honduras, the Cohune groves of that 
 country are described by Mr. Temple, Chief Justice 
 of British Honduras, as of vast extent, and striking 
 beauty. 
 
 " Long avenues, which closely resembled the nave 
 and aisles of a cathedral. The arched leaves meeting 
 overhead, and producing an exact imitation of the 
 vaulted roofs; and, if the sun was declining, the 
 horizontal rays shining at intervals through one side 
 
 * Wallace's " Palms of the Amazon." 
 
OIL PALMS OF THE WEST. 275 
 
 of the avenue, created the splendid effulgence of the 
 most richly- painted window." 
 
 Seemann in his " History of Palms," gives this 
 letter, and also describes from personal knowledge 
 the Cohune Palm as a native of the Isthmus of Pana- 
 ma, where it was called " Palma real," and " Corozo 
 gallinazo." The measurements given by him are — • 
 the stem, forty feet in height; the pinnate, or 
 feathery leaves, thirty feet long, each leaflet being- 
 three feet in length. 
 
 Its fruit consists of three and sometimes four 
 bunches of nuts the size of small turkey's eggs, and 
 clustering together like grapes. On an average, 
 eight hundred are in one bunch. 
 
 The oil expressed from these nuts, Mr, Temple 
 affirms, is of a most excellent quality, in his opinion 
 superior even to coco-nut oil, and burning double the 
 time. 
 
 From Cohune oil forwarded to him, the manager 
 of the " British Sperm Candle Company/' made 
 candles, and the experiment was considered by him 
 to be most satisfactor3^ 
 
 The shell of the Cohune Nut, like that of the Coco 
 Nut, admits of a beautiful polish, and may be turned 
 into a variety of useful and ornamental articles. 
 
 Yet with abounding forests, where for miles and 
 miles extend these abundantly-bearing trees, it is 
 said, "No one has been found to turn them to a 
 profitable account. Over these vast fields of wealth 
 
276. OIL PALMS OF THE WEST. 
 
 a few old negro women occasionally wander picking 
 up the nuts which have accidentally fallen, with 
 which, in their rude and clumsy way, they manu- 
 facture as much oil as will supply their personal 
 wants, and even their luxuries of pickled pork, gin, 
 pipes, and tobacco/' * 
 
 In Panama, where these trees are not so neglected, 
 not only is oil expressed from their nuts, but from 
 tlie sap wine is obtained. Its leaves suppl}^ the 
 usual thatch, '' and play an important part in the 
 religious ceremonies observed on Palm Sunday 
 throughout the country." 
 
 The unexpanded leaflets are wrapped round Tor- 
 tillas (cakes made of maize or Indian corn) previous 
 to cooking them. 
 
 * Seemann'a " History of Palms." 
 
k!^ 
 
 frutt f alms of tljc Mesf. 
 
 ;OyERS of palms, as they read their his- 
 tories in many lands, will often exclaim 
 with Linnteus, " The human race should 
 be classed as i:)al'Y)iivoroiis, as those 
 whose birth-place is the land of palms. 
 Man dwells naturally within the tropics, 
 and feeds upon tlie fruit of the palm tree." 
 
 Centuries of ever-progressing civilization, with all 
 its artificial and acquired wants, have indeed long 
 since made stronger food desirable to a large propor- 
 tion of mankind, even in regions of palms ; while in 
 cold climates, where palm fruits cannot be procured, 
 not only bread-corn, but also animal food seems 
 almost a necessity. 
 
 But when the world was young — in the sunny 
 lands which were as the seed-plot for peopling the 
 earth — how unnatural such food would have ap- 
 peared ! To Adam and our gentle mother Eve how 
 odious would have seemed the necessity that any 
 creature should die to furnish a repast for them. 
 
 The glorious trees of Paradise had supplied abun- 
 dance of delicious fruit to satisfy their hunger, the 
 
278 FRUIT PALMS OF THE WEST. 
 
 crystal rivers that made glad their garden- home had 
 satisfied their thirst, and when Cherubim and a flam- 
 ing sword shut them out of Eden, still to the fruits 
 of trees, we may be sure, they looked for food, both 
 they and their immediate descendants. After the 
 Deluge, to Noah and his sons, was given " every 
 movinor thiucr that liveth to be meat for them." 
 
 Palms that we read of in the heavenl}^ paradise 
 surely adorned the paradise on earth. Touching 
 must have been the scene when our first parents be- 
 held them first again beyond the threshold of the 
 home of their innocence. Sorrowing to see remem- 
 brancers of the joys they had lost, yet glad to recog- 
 nise, in their familiar forms, tokens of their heavenly 
 Father's pitying love. 
 
 "We have seen in the East many millions of human 
 beings fed by palm trees of various kinds: the Sago, 
 the Palmyra, the Coco-nut. Palm trees of the West 
 are in no way behind their sisters in like usefulness, 
 though their spheres are narrower. 
 
 (Euterpe Oleracea.—'MARTivs. Assai, Lingoa Geral.) 
 
 At Para half the population are said by Wallace to 
 look to the Assai for their dailj^ meal, while hundreds 
 make it their chief subsistence, with only the addi- 
 tion- of a little farinha or Mandiocca flour (Jatropha 
 onanihot) called in Guyana Cassada or Cassava, 
 known in Europe in a granulated form as Tapioca. 
 
 In baskets neatly plaited with the leaves of the 
 
FRUIT PALMS OF THE WEST. 279 
 
 tree, the fruit of tlie Assai Palm, or Euterpe oleracea, 
 is brought daily into the city from the neighbouring 
 forests which cover the thousand islands of the river, 
 and overspread vast tracts of swampy land on either 
 side of it. From the great variety of soil and 
 climate in these extensive forests, Assai Palms, with 
 ripe fruit, are to be found there throughout the whole 
 year. 
 
 A delicious beverage is also to be obtained by 
 pouring water on the ripe fruit, the pulp being 
 rubbed off and kneaded into the water, and then 
 strained oif. The thick creamy liquor is of a fine 
 plum colour, and has a nutty taste. With or with- 
 out sugar, but generally accompanied by a handful 
 of farinha, the usual substitute for bread, this fruity 
 beverage is considered one of the chief luxuries of 
 Para. A cheap one also, for " a penn3^-worth fills a 
 tumbler." * 
 
 It is sold daily and hourly in the streets of Para, 
 the shrill cry of " Assai '' an ever welcome sound, as 
 Indian and Negro girls are said by Wallace con- 
 stantly to walk about with earthen pots on their 
 heads, filled with this pleasant and refreshing drink. 
 
 W^hen ripe, the fruit is the 'size and colour of a 
 sloe. The tree itself is very beautiful, tall and 
 slender ; its stem of a pale colour, and extremely 
 smooth, is about four inches in diameter, and reaches 
 from sixty to eighty and one hundred feet in height. 
 
 * Wallace's " Palms of the Amazon," 
 
280 FKIIT PALMS OF THE WEST. 
 
 Its feathery leaves Ijave drooping leaflets, they are a 
 delicate pale green. In the i/^?(^e?7)e genus is found 
 the same elegant slender upper shaft formed by the 
 sheathing bases of the leaves, which distinguish tlie 
 Iriarteas, including the Wax Palm of the Andes, and 
 the Arecas, including the Betel Nut of the East, and 
 the Cabbage Palm, or Areca oleracea, and Oredoxa 
 regia of the West. 
 
 Wallace notices, in his " Travels in the Amazon 
 and Rio Negro," " clumps of the graceful Assai 
 raising their stems one hundred feet in the air, or 
 bending in graceful curves till they almost meet from 
 opposite banks of the river." 
 
 Their straight smooth stems are much valued for 
 poles and rafters, but one rejoices to hear that these 
 trees are considered too precious on other accounts to 
 be often felled for such purposes. Wallace speaks of 
 " veiy fine specimens of this tree growing in the 
 great palm house at Kew as luxuriantly as in their 
 native forests." The unopened spathe, the flowers 
 and the fruit, are found at the same time on the 
 tree. 
 
 (Euterpe Catin^a.—W AJiLxcE. Assai de Catinga, Liiigoa Geral.) 
 
 This new species was discovered by Wallace in a 
 district of tlie forest of the Upper Rio Negro, called 
 by the natives " Catinga Forests." It is of the same 
 graceful character as Euterpe oleracea, its still more 
 fragile looking stem reaches only fifty feet in height, 
 
FRUIT PALMS OF THE WEST. 
 
 281 
 
 its leaves are more erect, and the upper shaft is red 
 in colour. 
 
 The fruit, too, is of the same kind, but, though 
 smaller, is much sought after on account of its fuller 
 flavour, a less quantity affording a larger proportion 
 of the cherished " Vinho d' Assai," Assai wine. 
 
Itatlj f aim. 
 
 {Gulielma Speciosa. — Martius. . Faripa, Piritu, Guyana. 
 Pirijao^ Venezuela. Pupunha., Brazil.) 
 
 Gulielma speciosa, a universal fav- 
 ourite, and known by many names, is 
 described by all travellers as one of tlie 
 loveliest and most elegant of the palm 
 d P|^J^/j ^ family. Its slender stem, sixty feet 
 "^ ^ ^^ high, is ringed with long needle-shaped 
 spines. Its stature is erect. Its crown is nearly 
 spherical, and is composed of very numerous leaves 
 pinnated, curled, and waving, their leaflets also curl 
 and wave, giving to the foliage an exact resemblance 
 to a rich plume of dark green feathers. The leaves 
 of young plants are entire like those of the Mani- 
 caria or Bussu Palm, but as the tree becomes older, 
 they divide into the usual segments or leaflets. 
 
 Humboldt and Wallace speak with peculiar ad- 
 miration of this beautiful palm. Its " delicate flag- 
 like foliage curled at the margins " is noticed by the 
 former, who adds that, among the fruits of palms, 
 there are none to equal in beauty those of the Peach 
 Palm. 
 
PEACH TALM, 283 
 
 They are egg-shaped, mealy, usually without seeds, 
 two or three inches thick, of a golden colour, which 
 is on one side overspread with crimson. These 
 richly-coloured fruits, seventy or eighty in number, 
 are crowded together like a bunch of grapes, they 
 hang from the summit of the majestic tree. 
 
 These magnificent clusters of fruit form an im- 
 portant article of food with the Indians of the 
 Amazon. 
 
 Indigenous to countries in the neighbourhood of 
 the Andes, the beautiful strangers once introduced to 
 the banks of the Amazon and Eio Negro have been 
 so thoroughly appreciated there, that even the in- 
 dolent children of these tropical climes have been led 
 to plant and propagate them. Like the Coco-nuts 
 in the garden of the Singhalese, we read of native 
 huts on the islands and along the banks of these 
 noble South American rivers being overshadowed by 
 the waving plumes of the Pupunha or Paripa, while 
 the Indian's daily food is supplied by its abundant 
 and wholesome fruit. 
 
 They are eaten either boiled or roasted, they re- 
 semble Spanish chestnuts, but have rather a peculiar 
 oily flavour. " They are also ground into a kind of 
 flour, and made into cakes which are roasted like 
 Cassava bread, or the meal is fermented in water, 
 and forms a sub-acid creamy liquid." * 
 
 Birds and monkeys eagerly devour these tempting 
 
 • Wallace's '' Palms cf the Amanon." 
 
284 TEACH TALM. 
 
 fruits. A brilliant representation of them is given 
 in Von Martius's work. 
 
 The wood of the tree when old is l)lack and ex- 
 ceedingly hard, so much so as to turn the edge of 
 any ordinary axe. Wallace speaks of it as the only 
 wood that supplied bars strong enough to withstand 
 the continual gnawings of some sharp-beaked parrots 
 he had cao-ed. The Indians assured him that " were 
 
 o 
 
 their beaks of iron, they could not bite through 
 • Pupunha.' " 
 
 Its sharp needle-like spines are used by many 
 tribes for tattooing. 
 
 Very fine specimens are said by Wallace to be 
 growing in the great palm house at Kew. 
 
 ((Enocaijms Baccaha. — Martius. Baccaha, Lingoa Geral.) 
 
 The deep violet-coloured fruits of the Baccaba are 
 covered with the same whitish bloom we see upon 
 plums. A most delicious liquid is prepared from 
 them, said by Wallace to surpass even Assai, its 
 flavour ''resembling filberts and cream." It is of a 
 pinkish green colour. 
 
 This charming beverage is noticed also by Spruce 
 under the name of '' Patawa yutrisse," of which he 
 was " passionately fond." The tree is called by 
 liim " Patawa/' he speaks of " forests opposite San 
 Carlos, extending from Rio Negro to the Xi^, as 
 literally sown with Patawa." 
 
 The fruit is in season nearly all the year round. 
 
PEACH PALM. 285 
 
 It is said to be not so wholesome as the Assai. 
 
 From the pulp of the fruit is also expressed a 
 beautifully clear liquid, and inodorous oil. It is 
 bought from the Indians by the shopkeepers of 
 Para, mixed bj' them with olive oil, and sold as such. 
 It is indeed considered to be equally good both for 
 burning and cooking. 
 
 The smooth and well-proportioned stem of this 
 tree is from fifty to sixty feet high, its graceful 
 plumes are composed of long and large pinnated 
 leaves. 
 
 {(Enocarpiis Bataicd, — Martius. Patawd, Lingoa Geral.) 
 
 This kindred species to the above furnishes a 
 similar fruit, from which an equally excellent beverage 
 is prepared, and equally valuable oil obtained. 
 
 Its peculiarity consists in the black spines which 
 proceed from the margin of the sheathing bases of 
 the petioles. 
 
 Sharp, strong, and from eighteen inches to three 
 feet long, they supply the arrows used by Indians of 
 the Pdo Negro with the gravitana which is made 
 from the Pashiuba-miri Palm {Triartea setigera.) 
 
 (Maximiliana Regia. — Martius. Inajd, Lingoa Geral.) 
 
 Amongst Fruit Palms ma}^ be reckoned the stately 
 Maximiliana, which well deserves its royal designa- 
 tion. Its smooth and massive stem is frequently 
 
286 PEACH PALM. 
 
 one liundred feet high ; its superb leaves, exceeding 
 fifty feet in length, are pinnated, and aspiring up- 
 wards give a strikingly exalted aspect to the 
 magnificent tree. 
 
 It grows abundantly in the dry soil of the virgin 
 forest on the Upper Amazon, and at the sources of 
 the Rio Negro. 
 
 Its brown fruits have a pleasant sub-acid flavour ; 
 they are much esteemed by the Indians, and from 
 them they extract a saline flour which they use as 
 salt.* A somewhat similar substance is obtained 
 from the ashes of the fruits of the Jara-assii {Leo- 
 poldinia major.) Humboldt speaks of these '' balls 
 of an earthy impure salt," two or three inches in 
 diameter, made by the Indians from the ashes, 
 spadices, and fruits, and palms, a few grains of which 
 are dissolved in water, and dropped upon their food. 
 
 The great woody spathes of the Inaja Palm are 
 used by hunters as cooking vessels for their meat ; 
 when filled with water they stand fire. They are 
 also used as baskets to carry their farinha, earth and 
 clay, &;c., and Indian mothers find in them a ready- 
 made and convenient cradle for their infants. 
 
 * Wallace's "Travels on the Amazon." 
 
|E have seen how, in the magnificent 
 forests of South America, Oil Palms 
 and Fruit Palms abound ; materials 
 indeed are there to feed nations and 
 supply rivers of oil. "We may also 
 find fibre from palms of the West 
 sufficient to furnish ropes wherewith to girdle the 
 globe. 
 
 Some of these trees are now becoming known in 
 England, but even of these it would seem their 
 capabilities are by no means developed to their full 
 extent, while of others the precious product is disre- 
 garded, except by the natives of the countries where 
 they are found. 
 
 {Attalea funifera — Martius; or Leopoldinia Piassaha—^ l-lllcyi. 
 Fiacaba, Brazil. Piazaba, Guyana. Chiqui-chiqui, Venezuela.) 
 
 A strong black fibre called " Piassaba," has 
 lately been imported into England in large quantities. 
 It is said to be admirably adapted for the 
 manufacture of brooms and brushes ; street brooms 
 are already made from it ; but in its own country, 
 
288 PALMS OF THE WEST YIELDING FIBRE. 
 
 Piassaba fibre is found capable of doing much more 
 than this. 
 
 All kinds of cordage are made from it ; for a long 
 period of time canoes navigating the Amazon have 
 been supplied with cables manufactured from this 
 fibre. European settlers have joined with the Indians 
 in acknowledging the value of this product. 
 
 Before the independence of Brazil, the Portuguese 
 government had for some time carried on, as a govern- 
 ment monoply, the manufacture of these cables. The 
 factory was established at the mouth of one of the 
 tributaries of the Bio Negro. 
 
 The making of cordage from the Piassaba fibre, 
 seems long to have been a general occupation amongst 
 the Indian tribes, both in Brazil and Guyana. In 
 Schomburgh's explorations, many years back, of the 
 latter country, he notices villages on the Cassiquiare 
 and elsewhere, where Indians and Creoles were 
 employed in making ropes from the fibres of the 
 Chiqui-chiqui Palms, {Attalea funifera). 
 
 In settlements on the Bio Negro also, where the 
 industry of the women was devoted to netting ham- 
 mocks from the leaf-fibre of the Miriti or Ita Palm, 
 the men were busied in twisting cordage from 
 Piassaba. 
 
 In some places men, women, and children, joined 
 together in the work, cutting with knives the fibre 
 hanging from the trees of the forest, and afterwrds 
 at their own homes twisting it into ropes. The 
 
PALMS OF THE WEST YIELDING FIBRE. 289 
 
 cordage so made was cheaper than any other 
 kind. 
 
 Wallace gives us the price in the city of Barra a 
 few years past; for thirty-two pounds of fibre, four 
 hundred reis or one shilling. 
 
 The fibre itself is now brouo-ht to Enoiand in 
 
 o o 
 
 long conical bundles. " Several hundred tons are 
 annually cut on the Rio Negro and sent to Para, from 
 which scarcely a vessel sails for England without its 
 forming part of her cargo." * 
 
 This palm is represented by Wallace as Leopoldinia 
 piassaha. 
 
 Though very useful, it can by no means lay claim 
 to the usual beauty of the family. From twenty to 
 thirty feet high, it is not tall enough in proportion 
 to its large and handsome leaves which are pinnate, 
 while the fibrous hairy-like covering which is its 
 peculiar characteristic, gives to the tree a strange 
 uncanny look. 
 
 We think we see in it one of those fearful Gnomes 
 of German legendary tales — a dwarf in stature, with 
 large head and ferocious looking beard. 
 
 This beard-like fibre which is produced from the 
 bases of the petioles, hangs down in lengths of five 
 and six feet, concealing a great part of the stem. 
 When cut ofi* it is reproduced in five or six years. 
 
 This grewsome individual, altogether a strange 
 exception to his kingly race, has (gnome-like also,) 
 
 * Wallace's "Palms of the Amazon." 
 
 (1) 19 
 
290 PALMS OF THE WEST YIELDING FIBRE. 
 
 a malicious pleasure in accompanying its benefits 
 with a terrible drawback. The poor Indians often 
 fall victims to the apparently harmless work of cutting 
 off the fibres from the tree; its monstrous beard is 
 haunted by venomous snakes, and their bites prove 
 often fatal. 
 
 The large and handsome leaves of Piassaba Palms 
 are used for thatch. Their fruits are eatable, and 
 the pulp rubbed off into water, furnishes, like so many 
 of the Brazilian Palms, a pleasant drink. 
 
 The seeds of these trees, as well as the fibre, 
 have established a European reputation, they are 
 brought to England as " Coquilla nuts," and are 
 much esteemed for many kinds of turnery-work, 
 knobs to umbrellas, walking-sticks, and bell-ropes, 
 and similar purposes. 
 
 They aie hard, beautifully mottled with dark and 
 light brown, and take an exquisite polish. 
 
 {Manicaria 5acc?7(?m.— Gartner. BhssH, Lingoa Geral.) 
 
 The stem of this unique and handsome palm is 
 from ten to fifteen feet high, its leaves are very large, 
 often thirty feet long, and four or five feet wide. 
 
 Unlike all other palms (excepting young plants of 
 Gulielma speciosa), the leaves of the Bussu are entire 
 like those of Plantains and Bananas, not being divided 
 into the usual leaflets. 
 
 Like those of the Plantain also in this, the leaves 
 of the Manicaria, when older, are split irregularl}^ by 
 
PALMS OF THE WEST YIELDING FIBRE. 291 
 
 the wind. The margins of the leaves are serrated, 
 and the sheaths often cover the stem quite down to 
 the ground. 
 
 The immense leaves being entire, and of a firm 
 and rigid texture, form the very best and most 
 durable thatch. 
 
 " The leaves split down the midrib, and the halves 
 laid obliquely on the rafters, the furrows formed by 
 the veins serve as little gutters to carry off the rain. 
 A thatch of Bussii, w^ell made, wdll last ten or twelve 
 years. An Indian will often take a week's voyage 
 to obtain a canoe load of these leaves." * 
 
 The Bussti, like the Hemp Palm, and the Coco-nut 
 Palm, affords an excellent, durable, ready made 
 cloth. This singular product is furnished by the 
 spathe. Taken off entire, the Indian uses it as a 
 treasure-bag, wherein to keep the red paint which is 
 so necessary an article of his toilette, or the silk 
 cotton he requires to wind round his arrows. When 
 of a large size it furnishes him with a cap, '' cunningly 
 woven by Nature without seam or joining,'' 
 
 Cut open lengthways and pressed Hat, this smooth 
 Bussu cloth forms a wrapper, between which the 
 Indian lays his gala dresses and his delicate feather 
 ornaments, the whole kept in a chest of plaited 
 palm-leaves. 
 
 This peculiar-looking palm inhabits the tidal 
 swamps of the lower Amazon. 
 
 * Wallace'i "Palms of the Amazon." 
 
292 PALMS OP THE WEST YIELDING FIBRE. 
 
 {Astrocarum Fw?y«rg— Martius. Tucum, Lingoa Geral.) 
 
 Once more we find an exception to the general 
 characteristics of palms. The whole of this genus 
 have anything but a kindly aspect ; " armed to the 
 teeth " they present a formidable appearance. 
 
 Stem and leaf, leaf-stalk, spathe and fruit are 
 all covered with sharp spines, in some cases these are 
 a foot long. 
 
 Still as in all cases — the invariable rule — the 
 leafy crown is beautiful. The leaves are large and 
 pinnate, dark green above, and the under part silvery 
 white. With their elongated leaflets, grandly out- 
 spread, they form a redeeming feature even in these 
 species which are low in stature. Some are indeed 
 stemless. But the Tucimi of the Amazon and the 
 Rio Negro is by no means deficient in beauty, though 
 it is of the severest kind. 
 
 Its stem, fifty feet high, and six or eight inches in 
 diameter, has at regular and narrow intervals broad 
 bands, thickly set with black spines. 
 
 Although bristling all over with such sharp 
 needle-like spines, that it is difficult to handle any 
 part of it, this tree, like some really excellent but 
 unpleasant, tempered individual, is highly valued by 
 those who know its hidden worth. It is considered 
 of such importance by the Indians, that the beautiful 
 and kindly looking Pari pa is not cultiv^ated with 
 greater care and regard than the Thorny Tucum. 
 
PALMS OF THE WEST YIELDING FIBRE. 293 
 
 The severe Tucum has no lovely fruits to bestow, 
 nor is its repelling stem of much value, nor its 
 prickly leaves w4ien they are fully grown; but in 
 their undeveloped state, they are a priceless treasure 
 to the natives of Brazil. They furnish them with a 
 fibre superior even to that obtained from the leaves 
 of the w^ell- beloved Miriti. 
 
 The cordaoje manufactured from it is extremelv 
 strong and durable, but the especial boast of these 
 strong and durable fibres is their extreme fineness, 
 which renders them invaluable for fishing lines, fish- 
 ing nets, and bow strings. 
 
 The Tucum thread is kitted by the Brazilians of 
 the Rio Negro and the Upper Amazon, into a com- 
 pact web of so fine a texture, that the completion of 
 one is the work of two persons for three or four months. 
 
 These hammocks far exceed in beauty those made 
 from the fibre of the Miriti. Some adorned with 
 feather work, are to be seen at the Museum at Kew. 
 Tucum hammocks sell for about three pounds each, 
 and for double that sum when ornamented wdth 
 borders of featherwork. Most of them are sent as 
 presents to Rio Janeiro. 
 
 The threads of palm fibre are dyed in the most 
 brilliant colours, with these the hammocks are knitted, 
 with fringes about a foot long of the same material. 
 On these are fastened with the glutinous milk of the 
 Cow Tree, (Palo de Vaca, or Galactotendrum ntile), 
 sprays, stars, and flowers of featherwork. 
 
294 PALMS OF THE WEST YIELDING FIBRE. 
 
 In some peculiarly beautiful specimens of this 
 workmanship, executed by Indian women, from the 
 designs of Senhor Antonio Diaz, the arms of Portugal 
 or Brazil were placed in the centre, admirably repre- 
 sented on a ground of snow-white heron's feathers.* 
 
 The dazzling plumage of the birds of their country 
 has always attracted the Indian women of South 
 America to this kind of work, and from remotest 
 times they are known to have excelled in feather- 
 work. 
 
 In the early days of the Conquest of Mexico, 
 history tells mournful tales of cruelty and extortion, 
 in connection with magnificent dresses of gorgeous 
 featherwork, which w-as looked upon as the apparel of 
 royalty. 
 
 The Tucum Palms grow in the dry forest land of 
 the Amazon and the Rio Negro. 
 
 * Wallace's " Palms of the Amaaon. 
 
^dms of tlj^ WitBt, prhutpallg batob for 
 ihnx "^mbtB, 
 
 iSahal Mexicana — Martius. Palmato or Palmetto.) 
 
 :HE history of palms is rendered of peculiar 
 interest by the striking and continual 
 contrasts it affords. Their outward 
 forms and their uses are infinitely va- 
 rious ; their destinies, and the homes 
 they inhabit, are strangely dissimilar. 
 What varied pictures in distant lands each palm 
 tree's story unfolds for us. The sultry desert — the 
 mountain's snowy peak — dense forests and boundless 
 plains, treeless, were it not for the friend of man — 
 and fairy islets, on whose placid shores the silvery- 
 crested waves of ocean flow softty, like the white 
 locks of some old man pillowing his wearied head on 
 the lap of his gentle child. 
 
 We have looked on such scenes, and on many 
 more of different kinds ; but there is yet another 
 phase of existence entirely distinct from all that 
 have gone before, where we must seek a useful palm 
 tree. Alas, poor Palmetto! what compassion would 
 
296 PALMS OF THE WEST 
 
 she excite in the breasts of her noble kindred, could 
 they look upon and be conscious of her hard fate. 
 The mountain chief, the superb Ceroxylon — the 
 Cfraceful Coco, with unbound tresses floatino- on the 
 ocean breeze — the sportive Jacitara, roaming the 
 woods unrestrained and free ; how different their 
 destinies to the confined and artificial life of the 
 Palmetto. We read of these palms as " planted in 
 regular rows" in the Mexican states of Chiapa and 
 TabaS(io. They are thus carefully cultivated for 
 the sake of their leaves, which are used in the 
 manufacture of the " sombreros de petate." The 
 latter term, referring to the dried leaves, is sup- 
 posed to be of Aztec derivation, and signifies 
 covering. The name "petate" is also applied in 
 Mexico and Central America to a peculiar kind of 
 mat.* 
 
 Sombreros, or very broad-brimmed hats, are the 
 universal head-covering of the male population 
 throughout the Mexican States. Tliey are amongst 
 the very few articles produced b}^ native industr}^ 
 These Palmato, or Palmetto Palms, are said by Heller 
 to be from twelve to twenty feet in height. Their 
 fan-shaped leaves are prepared for plaiting, by being 
 dried and bleached in the sun. They are then di- 
 vided into narrow strips. 
 
 Sahal Mexicana, sometimes called the American 
 Palmetto, is the most northern of the palms of the 
 
 * Heller's " Bonplondia," vol. ii., p. 167. 
 
PllINCIPALLY VALUED FOR THEIR LEAVES. 297 
 
 New World, as Ghemcerops humilis is of the Old 
 World. They are both fan palms. 
 
 The Palmetto grows in Carolina and Florida ; and 
 the Americans, like the Mexicans, manufacture light 
 and durable hats from its leaves. 
 
 Humboldt, in his Travels in Mexico, speaks of a 
 Palmetto which, cut into cylinders three feet long, 
 furnishes excellent food from the farina contained in 
 the pith, 
 
 {Thrinax argentea — Todd ; or Chamcerops argentea. 
 Broom Palra. Palma de escoha). 
 
 This beautiful little palm, whose fan-shaped leaves 
 are of a pale silvery green, is a native of Cuba and 
 some others of the West India Islands. It also grows 
 on the Isthmus of Panama, where it derives its 
 homely name from the use made of its leaves — 
 brooms being manufactured from them. 
 
 In some of the AVest India Islands they furnish 
 materials for basketwork ; for which purpose they 
 are imported into England, and articles of this kind 
 are made from them at St. Albans.* 
 
 But these leaves are still more valuable as afford- 
 ing material fur those delicately white " chip" 
 bonnets, sometimes called " Brazilian grass." These 
 pretty bonnets were much worn a few years back. 
 
 * Seeman's " History of Palms." 
 
lirorg II aim. 
 
 {Phytelephas macrocarpa—'Rviz et Pavon, Palma de Marfil — 
 Spanish. 7'aj?/a— Indian.) 
 
 ^^r^'^'^ 
 
 tOT content with their acknowledged su- 
 premacy in the vegetable world, the 
 imperial family of palms occasionally 
 surprise us with some marvellous pro- 
 duct resembling those of the other king- 
 ;) doms of nature. 
 
 The wood of the Peach Palm {GulielTna speciosa) 
 rivalling iron in its hardness, will turn the edge of 
 an ordinary axe. From it harpoons are made. The 
 leaf bud of Nijpa fructicans, sharp as a bayonet, is 
 used as a spear. The seeds of Chamoerops Ritchi- 
 ana serve the purposes of lead, and are employed as 
 bullets. Ramrods are furnished by the outer bark 
 oi Areca oleracea. The sharp spines oi Sagus filaris 
 are like fine steel, and supply the place of needles ; 
 while the leaf fibres of the Coco-nut and Ita Palms 
 are substituted for the wires of musical instruments. 
 Vessels of baked clay are outdone by the ready-made 
 bowls of the shells and spathes of palms. 
 
IVORY PALM. 29\) 
 
 But these marvellous trees do not confine them- 
 selves to rivalry of the mineral kingdom ; the princevS 
 of vegetation enter the lists with beings of the 
 animal world. Horse hair is rivalled by coco-nut 
 fibre, and the honey and the wax of palms equal the 
 produce of bees. There is yet another singular 
 approach to an animal substance to be found in the 
 treasury of palms. Inside the large fruit of a palm 
 of New Granada we find a substance apparently 
 identical with the tusks of elephants. 
 
 These ivory-looking balls or seeds so closely re- 
 semble animal ivory, that they are sometimes mis- 
 taken for it. The name of vegetable ivor}^ has been 
 given to them, and the tree is called by the Spaniards 
 " Palma de Marfi." 
 
 These singular trees were discovered on the banks 
 of the Magdalena, towards the end of last cen- 
 tury, by two Spanish botanists, Euiz and Pavon, 
 but the account given by them attracted but little 
 notice except amongst scientific men. Later tra- 
 vellers, Humboldt, Bonpland, Purdie, Seemann, and 
 others, have given to the world their respective per- 
 sonal observations, and the Ivory Palm has for some 
 years excited much interest. The name Phytelephas, 
 given by its discoverers to the tree, is derived from 
 two Greek words, signifying plant and elephant. 
 Macrocarpa signifies large fruited. The fruit has 
 been commonly called " Cabeza de Negro,'' negro's 
 head. 
 
300 IVORY PALM. 
 
 To the Indians of the Magdalena the tree is known 
 as the Taqua. 
 
 By some writers this palm is described as a stem- 
 less plant. By others the creeping stem is said to 
 reach twenty feet in length ; but it is stemless in 
 appearance ; for, dragged down by the weight of its 
 superb leaves and enormous fruit, the summit of the 
 tree scarcely measures six feet above the ground. 
 
 But although deficient in stature, the Ivory Palms 
 form striking and beautiful objects along the banks 
 of rivers, and in the moist places they love to in- 
 habit, forming groups by themselves, seldom inter- 
 mixed with other trees or plants. 
 
 The Ivory Palm's feather}^ leaves, of a delicate 
 pale green, are sometimes twenty in number, and 
 from eighteen to twenty feet long. Gracefully out- 
 spread, with the central leaves erect, they seem to 
 spring out of the ground like a magnificent plume of 
 feathers ; while the great nuts, large as a man's head, 
 which are their distinguishing characteristic, cluster 
 thickly round the stem. The plant bears six or eight 
 of these nuts at a time, each of them weighing, when 
 ripe, twenty-five pounds.* Each drupe or fruit con- 
 tains from six to nine seeds, the usual number being 
 seven. The seeds are as large as a golden pippin. 
 
 The fruit at first contains a clear insipid liquid, 
 with which travellers allay their thirst. This gra- 
 dually thickens and becomes milky and sweet, like 
 
 * Seemann's " History of Palms." 
 
R^ORy PALM. 301 
 
 tlie albumen of the coco nut. By degrees its taste 
 and substance is altogether changed, and it is con- 
 verted into a hard, solid ball, to all appearance, of 
 ivory. A very close comparison will, however, show 
 that vegetable ivory is whiter, and has not the soft, 
 creamy look which is so beautiful in real ivory. 
 
 In its intermediate state, the yellowish, sweet, oily 
 pulp in which the seeds are enclosed, and which 
 ultimately will be absorbed by them, is much 
 esteemed by the natives as a delicacy. At the 
 proper season it is collected and sold at Ocana for 
 one real a pound. Purdie informs us — " A spoonful 
 of it, with a little sugar and water, make the cele- 
 brated ' Chicha de Taqua,' said to be the most deli- 
 cious beverage of New Granada." He also adds, 
 that this singular substance will, for nine months, 
 retain all its peculiar flavour and quality. 
 
 The germination of the seed is described as equally 
 curious with its formation. Through successive 
 stages of water, milk, and oil, it becomes ivory ; 
 but this ivory, or albumen, is intended for the food 
 of plants. ; and so, in the process of germination, the 
 hard ivory is again dissolved, and the milky fluid 
 passes into the young plant, feeding it until it is 
 able to feed itself from the stronger food of the soil. 
 Then ivory and milk alike disappear. The empty 
 shell of the seed alone remains. 
 
 These seeds of vegetable ivory con3titute a consi- 
 derable article of commerce. Man}^ hands are em- 
 
302 IVOKY PALM. 
 
 ployed in collecting them, aad large quantities are 
 shipped from all places where Ivor}^ Palms are found. 
 The trade is principally with England and the 
 United States. In some years not less than one 
 hundred and fifty tons have been imported into 
 England. 
 
 If bought in large quantities they can be obtained 
 at a very cheap rate. Seemann informs us that in 
 August 1854, a thousand nuts were sold in London 
 for seven shillings and sixpence. 
 
 They are adapted for a great variety of turnery- 
 work, knobs of walking sticks and parasols, rests 
 of spindles, spools for thread, thimbles, numerous 
 articles for the work table, and tiny toys of many 
 kinds. Pretty specimens are sold at the Crystal 
 Palace, with the outside of the seed only partially 
 cut away, so as to show the vegetable ivory in its 
 natural state. 
 
 These seeds soften in water, but soon grow hard 
 again when dried. The young fruit is devoured 
 with avidity by bears, hogs, and turkeys. 
 
 The beautiful leaves of the tree are used by the 
 Indians of the neighbourhood for thatching. They 
 are said to be not so durable as the leaves of other 
 palms ; but Purdie mentions that all the houses of a 
 mountain district near the Magdalena were thatched 
 with them. 
 
 The Ivory Palm prefers moist localities, but it is 
 also found at elevations of more than three thousand 
 
IVORY PALM. 303 
 
 feet above the level of the sea.* Introduced into 
 Europe by Purdie, these plants have flowered at 
 Vienna, and at Kew in 1855. Fine plants are now 
 to be seen there. 
 
 The snowlike flowers have a smell of almonds. 
 When the trees are in flower the country is said to 
 be scented with their fragrance. 
 
 The seeds of the Doum Palm of Africa also bear a 
 close resemblance to ivory, but they are of smaller 
 size. 
 
 * Seemaun's " History of Palraa." 
 
Clje irag f aim. 
 
 (Preodoxa regia. — Humboldt and Kunth. 
 Pahna real. — De la Havana.) 
 
 N the threshold of the great continent of 
 America, in the lovely island of Cuba, these 
 stately palms met the eyes of Columbus, 
 the discoverer of the New World. 
 
 "While yet in the first eager excitement 
 of wonder and delight at the splendours 
 of tropical scenery unfolding themselves to him, these 
 superb trees, two hundred feet high, and crowned with 
 waving plumes, must have looked to Columbus like the 
 magnificent nobles of some mighty kingdoms tanding 
 in the antechamber of their sovereign, to greet the 
 arrival of an honoured guest. But these matchless 
 palms were as monarchs themselves ; for even amongst 
 their kindred, in beauty and in majesty they are 
 unrivalled. Their kingly designation, conferred on 
 them by the people of their country, has been con- 
 firmed by the most accomplished of European tra- 
 vellers. 
 
 The splendid forests of the mainland revealed no 
 
^Baim oi the ^^oxe^ 
 
THE KING PALM. 305 
 
 iiKire beautiful creation than this island king and 
 his sister palm, Oreodoxa, or Areca oleracea. To 
 the general observer they seem in all points to re- 
 semble each other. 
 
 Like some stately column of ancient Greece, the 
 King Palm, two hundred feet high, is perfectly erect, 
 and reveals, in the outline of its stem, swelling to- 
 wards the centre, the subtle entasis of the Greek, 
 expressive of strength. Out of this dark grey column 
 a more slender shaft arises, perfectly smooth, and of 
 a delicate gi'ass green ; and from this the leaf stalks 
 spring. Its pinnate leaves, with sword-shaped leaf- 
 lets, are of noble size ; they grandly aspire upwards ; 
 their extremities curl gracefully like a waving plume, 
 and from the centre of them arises, like the point of 
 a spear, the leaf bud of an unexpanded leaf The 
 flowers are described by Humboldt as of " silvery 
 whiteness/' shining from afar. They issue from 
 spathes which are put forth at the junction of the 
 leaf column and the stem of the tree. 
 
 The Oreodoxa regia, and Oreodoxa (or Areca) 
 oleracea, are the glo]y of the West India Islands. 
 Ever}^ traveller is enthusiastic in their praise. 
 
 Miss Bremer, a daughter of northern climes, speaks 
 rapturously in her '' Homes of the New World " of 
 the Cuban Palm. 
 
 ''The (Guadarajah) avenue of King Palms is 
 everywhere the pride of the plantation, and the 
 most beautiful feature there." 
 0) 20 
 
306 THE KING PALM, 
 
 She describes at Santa Amelia the effect of a 
 hundred of these trees phinted in a row, many of 
 them just in bloom. 
 
 '' The luxuriant sprays of tiowers shoot out like a 
 garland of wings around the stem, a little below the 
 palm crown, in the most beautiful relationship to 
 both it and the stem." * In a lovely garden, two 
 miles from Havanah, she tells us of the novel 
 and beautiful effect of King Palms planted in a 
 circle. 
 
 " In this way the most beautiful colonnade ro- 
 tunda was formed which can be imagined. The 
 crowns beino- all at the same height, locked their 
 branches into each other, and formed a gigantic ver- 
 dant garland, which waved and rustled in the wind, 
 whilst the blue vault of heaven shone brightly 
 through it." 
 
 " Even when despoiled of some of its branches for 
 the many purposes for wliich it is invaluable — 
 thatching roofs, &c., &c. — this noble palm yet retains 
 its grace and beauty. If but two branches remain, 
 the unconquerable majesty of the royal tree elevates 
 the leaves that the spoiler lias left, and bending 
 gracefully toward some kindred sufferer, they form 
 Gothic porticoes and exquisite arches, as of some fair 
 Cathedral aisle. Amid the depths of the forest, in 
 the field, or by the roadside, wlierever the palm 
 
 * In the noble palm-liouse at Kew, the beautiful effect of various species of Areca 
 Palms in flower may now (August 1861) be seen. 
 
THE KING PALM. 307 
 
 arises, there is grace and beauty, and the richly-sug- 
 gestive emblem of a kingly soul." 
 
 This palm has been introduced into the Island of 
 TenerifFe, and is cultivated in our palm palaces at 
 home. 
 
 Oreodoxa O^emcm— Martius ; or, Areca Ohracea—Lis^Mxis. 
 
 Euterpe Caribea—SFR. Cabbage Tree, Barbados. Falmiste, 
 
 Guyana. Chou Palmiste, Mauritius. Palmeto Royal; 
 
 Palma Nobilis ; Palma Altissima—0\di wi'iters, Ligon, and 
 
 others. 
 Dear reader, has it ever happened to you, that 
 enraptured by some vision of female loveliness, you 
 have, on inquiring her name, been told that it was 
 Betsy, Polly, or Deborah? However unreasonable 
 it might be, did you not feel irrepressibly vexed ? 
 
 Even so it is impossible with an enthusiastic lover 
 of the beautiful, not to feel positively annoyed at 
 hearing in our English West India Island the homely 
 and really unsuitable name of Cabbage Tree applied 
 as the distinctive appellation of one of the most 
 exquisitely beautiful creations of the vegetable world. 
 Its French name in the Mauritius is almost equally 
 unfit, Chou Falmiste. 
 
 Old writers knew better. They lavished titles of 
 honour on the graceful Areca oleracea. In books of 
 ancient date we read of her as the " Royal Palm," 
 the " Noble Palm," the " Loftiest Palm." As an 
 Oreodoxa, too, closely allied to the King Palm, why 
 should not the glory of the Caribbean Islands be 
 
308 THE KING PALM. 
 
 known as the Queen Palm instead of the Cabbage 
 Tree? 
 
 Listen to grave historians. 
 
 Ligon, an old writer of a " History of Barbados," 
 of which island the Areca olercccea is the especial 
 boast, says, speaking of this palm : — 
 
 " So elegant and noble is it that every traveller 
 agrees no lovelier tree can be seen." Bryan 
 Edwards, a native of the West Indies, declares her to 
 be " the most graceful of all the vegetable creation;" 
 while Hughes proclaims with energy that " neither 
 the tall cedars of Lebanon, or any trees of the forest, 
 are equal to it in height, beauty, or proportion, so 
 that it claims among vegetables that superiority which 
 Virgil gives to Rome among the cities of Italy." 
 
 Of the '' Chou Palmiste" of the Mauritius, or 
 " Ai'eca Chou," the lovely tale of " Paul et Virginia," 
 by Bernardin de St. Pierre, is redolent of praise. 
 " Le Chou Palmiste est un des plus beaux palmiers 
 connus il atteint souvent plus de cent pieds de haut. 
 Son stipe droit et flexible, porte un gracieux parasol 
 de feuilles ailees, qu'il etale au dessus des arbres 
 environnant comme pour les proteger de 1' ardeur du 
 soleil." 
 
 How queenlike and how womanly is the grace 
 which that last touch of the painter bestows on the 
 Areca. The protection her exalted position allows 
 her to afford, so graciously afforded to all who need 
 her care. 
 
THE KING PAL:N[, 309 
 
 111 all things this lovely palm presents an incom- 
 parable type of a fair and gracious Queen. 
 
 Words can but feebly portray her surpassing 
 grace ; pen and pencil are wholly unequal to the task. 
 Straight and upright as the slender shaft of some 
 column of dark grey marble, the Areca oleracea, or 
 Queen Palm (if we may be allowed to call her so), 
 rises in her native land to the majestic height of 
 two hundred, and sometimes even two hundred and 
 seventy, feet. From out of the marble grey columnar 
 trunk springs up a more slender pillar of a soft, smooth 
 green, formed by the unexpanded leaves. At the 
 junction of the two shafts bursting from their spathes 
 hover, as if on snowy wings, the blossoms which 
 in the kindred species, Oreodoxa regia, Humboldt 
 offered large sums to procure in vain at the Havana. 
 Evenly poised on her royal brow, the queenly Areca 
 wears her superb crown of richest and darkest green, 
 the feathery or pinnated leaves aspire upwards, their 
 extremities, gracefully curled, bow to the winds like 
 some court beauty's waving plumes. High over all, 
 springing from the centre of her crovm, appears the 
 arrowy point of an innermost undeveloped leaf — the 
 sceptre, as it were, of the royal tree raised aloft, and 
 with mute eloquence, strangely suggestive, it has 
 ever the same inclination — contrary to the prevaihng 
 wind — it points to the east.* 
 
 * Of this peculiarity, which she has never seen noticed, the writer speaks from 
 personal observation a few years ago, in the Island of Barbados. 
 
310 THE KING PALM. 
 
 It would seem that the Areca Palm, in her ft\r 
 Western home, instinctively conscious of the tradi- 
 tions of her race, still points, as centuries roll by, 
 with significant finger, to that Holy Land where 
 palm branches kissed the feet of the Lord. To those 
 Eastern skies she points, where the day-spring from 
 on high shall once more arise to make glad tlie 
 hearts of " the righteous." 
 
 The seeds of the Areca oleracea were introduced 
 into Jamaica from Barbados in the year 1756.* 
 From the same island they were carried to Demerara, 
 where they flourish in great perfection. Both there 
 and in Barbados an avenue of these palms is the 
 boast of old family estates. 
 
 It is scarcely possible to conceive any form of 
 vegetation so suited to form the approach to a dig- 
 nified-looking mansion as these noble Areca Palms. 
 Were it only possible for them to live beneath the 
 grey and clouded skies of England, no picture could 
 be imagined more suggestive of perfect repose, in 
 calm aristocratic grandeur, than one of our fine old 
 Elizabethan halls approached by an avenue of these 
 erect and stately palms. 
 
 It is sorrowful to hear that in many of the West 
 India Islands, and in the Mauritius, those beautiful 
 trees are becoming more and more rare. Safe only 
 in the home avenue and the gardens of the rich, 
 where she is guarded with jealous care, this lovely 
 
 * Schomburgh's " History of Barbados." 
 
THE KING PALM. 311 
 
 palm is tracked to lier mountain or forest home 
 by the ruthless destroyer. A magnificent pabn treo, 
 perhaps two hundred feet high, and more than seventy 
 years old, is cut down — and why? To furnish a 
 single dish. 
 
 Such barbarism is so inexcusable that it is almost 
 painful to confess that, though not accessory to the 
 crime, one has profited by it, and tasted of this rare 
 delicacy, which in no one particular resembles the 
 homely vegetable after which it has been so unfit- 
 tingly named. 
 
 In form cylindrical, from one to two feet long, and 
 nine inches in circumference; in colour and appear- 
 ance spotless ivory; in taste, a mingled flavour of 
 seakale. artichokes, and almonds. Say, is not the 
 name " cabbage," as applied to this vegetable, an 
 injustice? while, as a distinctive appellation for the 
 noble tree, it is nothing short of lese onajeste. 
 
 This dearly -purchased vegetable is eaten either 
 raw, simply boiled or roasted in the ashes. 
 
 The silvery white blossoms, as well as this ivorj^- 
 looking substance (the undeveloped leaf-bud) are 
 often brought to England as pickles, under the name 
 of " mountain cabbage." 
 
 The fruits of the tree grow in clusters small and 
 oval, of a greenish brown. They somewhat resemble 
 olives. They are not eatable; but oil is obtained 
 from them. 
 
 The interior of the stem affords the usual flowery 
 
312 THE KING PALM. 
 
 substance good for food, which is obtainable from 
 almost all palms. 
 
 The leaves measure about fifteen feet in length, 
 and are used for thatching, making baskets, and 
 purposes of that nature. 
 
 The inside skin of the young green leaves, when 
 torn off and dried, afibrds a kind of vellum, which, 
 though greasy on one side, will on the other bear 
 being ^vritten upon with ink.* Twenty large sheets 
 may be obtained from one tree. 
 
 The broad part of the leaf-stalks forms a hollow 
 troucrh, and serves as a cradle for neo^ro children. 
 These stalks, when cut up, make excellent splints for 
 fractures. 
 
 When the tree is felled and exposed to the air, the 
 inside quickly rots. This natural hollow cylinder, 
 often exceeding one hundred feet in length, is invalu- 
 able as a most durable water pipe. The hardness of 
 the outer wood being such that it is said if buried for 
 a time it \v^ill become as hard as iron. When split 
 up pieces of it serve as ramrods. Beautiful walking- 
 sticks are made from this w^ood, wdth the seed of tlie 
 fruit as a knob for the top. 
 
 But there is another service rendered to man by 
 this tree, even in its decay ; a delicacy (so called) is 
 afforded by it in the w^ay of food. 
 
 Strange as it may appear, fj'om the times of the 
 ancient Greeks and Romans until now, and in all 
 
 * Seeman's "History ofralms." 
 
THE KING PALM. 313 
 
 parts of the world, various kinds of worms have been 
 considered dainties. 
 
 The Areca oleracea in the West, like one of the 
 sago palms in the East, in its decay produces one of 
 those greatly esteemed worms. 
 
 The groe-groe worm, or " ver palmiste," is found 
 in the cavity left by the removal of the cabbage or 
 leaf-bud. It is the larva of a species of beetle two or 
 three inches in length, and three-fourths of an incli 
 in diameter. 
 
 These disgusting reptiles, the size and thickness of 
 a man's thumb, are very fat, and are considered, par- 
 ticularly in Guyana, a most delicious treat. Sted- 
 man, in his " History of Surinam," mentions their 
 being regularly sold in the markets of Paramaribo. 
 
 Not unlike white bait, yellowish bodies with black 
 heads, they are dressed in much the same way, and 
 are said to unite in their flavour all the spices of 
 India! Sometimes they are eaten raw, simply 
 dipped in lime juice. 
 
 In curious connection with this product, we learn 
 that a decoction of the bark of the tree is considered 
 a valuable medicine as a specific for worms. 
 
 Humboldt, and Richard Schomburgh, in his " His- 
 tory of Guyana," both speak of the audible sound 
 with which the flower sheath or spathe suddenly 
 opens in the flowering of the Oreodoxa, or Areca 
 oleracea. 
 
IHE procession has closed, as is fitting, 
 with the King and Queen Pahn of the 
 West ; but the glorious family records 
 are by no means exhausted. Sadly we 
 close our ears and turn our eyes away 
 from rustling plumes and graceful forms, 
 whispering and beckoning to us to tell of their 
 beauty, and yet more to tell of their good offices to 
 man. 
 
 The Jara-assu {Leopoldinia major), with tall and 
 slender stem, springing up on the margins of the 
 lakes and inlets of the Upper Rio Negro, reminds us 
 of the usefulness of its abundant fruit. In a country 
 where mineral salt is so scarce tliat it is counted as 
 coin, and a pound of it pays for a day's work, the 
 fruit Jara-assu is collected by the Indians and burnt. 
 Fi-om the ashes a floury saline substance is obtained, 
 which is used as a substitute for salt. 
 
 The Honey Palm. Should it be forgotten ? These 
 beautiful trees are cut down in numbei's every year, 
 and their graceful crowns of feathery leaves lopped 
 off from the tall and slender stems. The sweet sap 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 315 
 
 which continues to flow for several months, is con- 
 centrated by boiling into a sjrup resembling treacle. 
 A good tree will yield ninety gallons. This Miel- 
 de-Palmo, or palm honey, is much esteemed and used 
 throughout the country.* 
 
 Jubcea spedahilis is a Chilian palm, but is culti- 
 vated in New Granada, and other parts of South 
 America. The fruit of this Honey Palm has a thick 
 fibrous husk, like that of the Coco Nut. They 
 cluster together in gigantic bunches. The nuts are 
 the size of large marbles, and are used as such by 
 the boys of the country. They are also preserved as 
 sweetmeats. 
 
 The magnificent Jagua Palm, an unnamed species 
 of Maximiliani, is mentioned by Humboldt as 
 among the chief beauties of the splendid scener}^ of 
 the cataracts of Atures and Maypures. Its smooth 
 and slender stem, seventy-five feet high, is sur- 
 mounted by a magnificent plume. The feathery 
 leaves measure thirty-four feet in length, and are 
 divided into four hundred and twenty-aix leaflets, 
 which, " having only a thin grass-like parenchyma, 
 flutter lightly and airily round the slowly-balancing 
 central leaf stalk. f 
 
 The weight of the spadix, bearing a thousand 
 fruits, is a sufficient load for two men. Several 
 spadices are matured simultaneously. 
 
 * In Teneriffe honey is obtained from palm trees in an indirect manner. Bet 
 hives are made from the hollowed stems. 
 f Humboldt's " Ansichten der Natur" (Aspects of Nature). 
 
316 MISCELLANEOUS, 
 
 But there is another palm, whose leafy crown is of 
 still greater magnificence. The leaf of the Jipati 
 {Raioliia toedigira — Martius), though not entire, is 
 said to be the largest in the vegetable world. " It 
 covers a space of not less than two hundred square 
 feet."* 
 
 The majestic plume, which is composed of these 
 leaves, is seventy feet high and forty feet in dia- 
 meter. Some of the smaller leaves measure fifty 
 feet, the leaflets being outspread four feet on either 
 side of the midrib. 
 
 This palm forms a striking object on the banks of 
 the Amazon. The height of its superb crown far 
 exceeds that of its stem, which is only six or eight 
 feet high, the greater part of it covered by the 
 sheathings of the leaf stalks, which are thickly set 
 with spines. The thickly clustered flowers, of a 
 greenish olive colour, overhand the stem on either 
 side. 
 
 In these leaf stalks, which, perfectly straight, mea- 
 sure from twelve to fifteen feet from their base to 
 their lowest leaflet, consist the principal usefulness 
 of the tree. The Indians strip off the smooth and 
 glossy rind, to make with it baskets and window 
 blinds. AVhen dried entire, they are considered to 
 equal the quill of a bird for lightness and strength. 
 The inner part, of a consistency between pith and 
 wood, is of a more even texture than cork. It is 
 
 ♦ Wallace's "Palms of the Amazon." 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 317 
 
 used as stoppers for bottles and linings for insect 
 boxes. In larger pieces split up into laths, it serves 
 an infinity of purposes. " Window shutters, bird 
 cages, boxes, partitions, and even entire houses are 
 constructed with it."* 
 
 But see now, contending with the stately Jagua, 
 and the Jipati, with its magnificent crown, the 
 fairy-like Iii {Badris tenuis), a new species dis- 
 covered by Wallace. 
 
 Growing in the sunniest spots of the sandy soil of 
 the Catinga forest of the Upper Rio Negro, this tiny 
 palm tree has a stem no thicker than a quill, audits 
 clusters of fruit are smaller than bunches of currants. 
 A kindred species, though not quite so diminutive, 
 Badris maraja (Martius), having the same pinnated 
 leaves and slender leaflets, grows so close to the 
 margin of the river, that its tempting fruit, resemb- 
 ling clusters of black grapes, may be gathered by 
 those passing by in canoes. 
 
 The fairy-like Iii, with pinnated leaves, contrasts 
 with the superb Ceroxylon ; the fan-leaved ^lauritia 
 has the "little one" of its famil}^ in the Caranai do 
 Mato {Lepidocaryum tenue — Martius). This rare 
 and delicate palm prefers the '' gloomiest depths" of 
 the virgin forest of the Upper Rio Negro, where it 
 is overshadowed by lofty forest trees, and is far 
 from river, lake, and sea.f Its fruits are the size of 
 hazel-nuts, and its ringed stem, six or eight feet 
 
 * Wallace's 'Tulms of the Amazon." t Ibid. 
 
318 MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 high, is only the thickness of a finger. Its dark 
 green glossy leaves have narrow leaflets drooping 
 from loner and slender stalks. 
 
 The Snake Cane {Cana de la Vihora; Kunthia — 
 Humboldt and Bonpland), grows in the mountains 
 of New Granada. Its reed-like stem, from twenty to 
 twenty-four feet, is used by some Indian tribes as 
 their blowing tube. It derives its name from the 
 sweet juice of its stem being used as an antidote to 
 the bites of venomous snakes. It is used both as 
 an application to the wound, and as a medicine to 
 be taken internally. Its leaves are pinnate. 
 
 There are other reed-like palms, natives of Mexico 
 and Peru, with miniature crowns of emerald leaves, 
 fruits that glow like rubies, and blossoms, silvery 
 white, of delicious fragrance. But here we must 
 end. 
 
 Could this list of palm trees, especially chosen to 
 illustrate the text that " The righteous shall flourish 
 like the palm tree," end more fittingly than with one 
 of the family, whose name has been given to mark 
 that in it is found an antidote to the venomous bite 
 of the serpent? 
 
hl^ 
 
 .§ummm%). 
 
 HE pageant has gone by. Bearing their 
 precious gifts, the crowned trees have 
 passed before us, as in some triumph of 
 ancient Rome, when conquered kings 
 and queens followed the victor's car. 
 Attired in the garb of their country, 
 manacled with golden chains, those captives 
 dragged their unwilling steps, laden with their 
 captor's spoil — treasures that had once been their 
 own. 
 
 But ours is a fairer sight. The treasures we have 
 looked upon are unstained by blood or tears. Our 
 kings and queens of the vegetable world willingly 
 bestow their riches on mankind. 
 
 Servant of God and friend of man, the palm tree 
 rejoices in its kindly work. 
 
 Palms of the desert, the mountain, the forest, the 
 plain, the river, and the sea — they are all witness- 
 bearers to the goodness of God, and so do unto Him 
 true and laudable service. 
 
 Men and women, gifted with immortal souls, 
 dowered with hopes of everlasting life, are we all, 
 
320 SUMMARY. 
 
 in our various positions of life, witness-bearers as 
 faithful and true ? 
 
 And is not the palm tree a proved friend to man? 
 — the friendship commencing at his birth ! Eastern 
 and Western palms offer the spathes and fibrous 
 sheaths, which have cradled their own blossoms and 
 leaves, to human mothers to cradle also their babes. 
 Throughout men's lives they receive rich fruits and 
 wholesome food, and pleasant drinks, from the gene- 
 rous trees, shelter and clothing, and almost every 
 article required for domestic comfort. Death and the 
 grave beholds the continuance of these friendly 
 offices. Have we not seen the skeletons of an ex- 
 tinct nation coffined in the palm-tree's almost im- 
 perishable leaves ? 
 
 As in centuries gone by, so now. Men choose the 
 '' uprising" tree to build up houses to God ; and 
 palm-tree pillars, upright in stature, are eloquent of 
 Scripture truth. 
 
 In every form of religious belief the cherished 
 palm branch takes its part from remotest times to 
 the present day. On sacred festivals, on every 
 occasion of joy and of sorrow, its ready leaves 
 are outspread, to show its kindly sympathy with 
 men. 
 
 Is it the Feast of Tabernacles, when, lonor ai^o, in 
 the palmy days of Judea, the triumphant Israelites 
 kept holiday ! "With the clang of trumpets and songs 
 of victory, the descendants of Abraham pass before 
 
SUMMARY. 321 
 
 tlie altar of Jeliovah, waving palm branches, in 
 remembrance of the city of palm trees, tlie key of 
 Palestine, the first possession in the Promised Land. 
 Is it a festive day in our own happy isles, when, a 
 few years ago, the first blossom of England's royal 
 rose was about to be transplanted to another land ? 
 The country made common cause with their be- 
 loved queen, and the wedding day of England's 
 eldest daughter was kept as a general holiday. 
 Amongst the bright garlands of our native plants 
 bordering her path with ivy, waj^side holly and 
 lowly furze, appeared the princely palm. Typical 
 of subject realms in the East and West, the palm 
 branch should ever be joined with our national 
 emblems, the rose, the thistle, and the shamrock : 
 but on that occasion it was selected as the uni- 
 versal type of rejoicing. Our English princess 
 passed as a bride beneath triumphal arches of tro- 
 pical palms. 
 
 Again, let us travel back. Heathen emperors 
 reign in Rome ; a few poor persecuted Christians of 
 the early Church have met together in the bowels 
 of the earth, weeping, to lay in its narrow bed the 
 body of a martyred saint. The widow's eyes are 
 darkened with tears, the light of her life is gone out, 
 when, lo, a sparkle of joy illumines her gaze ! A 
 glorious vision has filled the Church of the Cata- 
 combs. The palm branch is laid on her loved one's 
 grave, and bevond it the mourner sees in the courts 
 (1) 21 
 
322 SUMMARY. 
 
 above, in the presence of God, a rejoicing multitude 
 " clothed with white robes, with palms in their 
 hands." 
 
 And still, palm branches go with Christians to 
 the grave. But two years past, behold them in the 
 hands of sorrowing youths who walk on either side 
 of Prussia's illustrious dead. Funereal plumes, well 
 chosen indeed for Humboldt, whose o^lowinof words 
 have in our day recrowned the palm tree as queen 
 of beauty. 
 
 In other lands, and throughout ancient and modern 
 times, such pictures may be multiplied without 
 end. 
 
 Still, in the Western world, as in Columbus' time, 
 palm branches are signs of welcome and joy. In 
 North Africa the natives hold them in their hands as 
 they dance. In Ceylon, on every occasion of public 
 rejoicing, from one end of the island to the other, 
 triumphal arches spring up in a night. Those fairy- 
 like structures are made with the smooth and slender 
 stems of Coco-nut Palms, en wreathed with garlands 
 of their feathery leaves. 
 
 And in sorrow the palm tree, with its promise of 
 rising again, is stiU the comforter in many lands. 
 The Egyptians of old laid these branches on graves 
 that were dear. On Friday, the sorrowful day of the 
 week, mourners pass through the streets of Cairo 
 carrying palm branches to the burying places of their 
 dead. 
 
SUMMARY. 323 
 
 The palm tree is also, as we have seen, the 
 useful friend of working men and women in every 
 country where it is known. We ou.iselves par- 
 take of some of these benefits — fruits and fibre, 
 oils and valuable wood. We may see in our 
 museums a few of the countless diversified gifts 
 which make the name of each individual palm a 
 " household word " in its native lands. In our 
 Crystal Palace of 1851,* amongst the treasures 
 entrusted to our care by foreign countries, were 
 some of these products of palms, but they were 
 by no means in proportion to their boundless ex- 
 tent. Amongst these contributions we may notice 
 a few. 
 
 From Tunis came two hundred and fifty-two 
 baskets of Dates. From Egypt, Dates of various 
 kinds, and prepared in various ways, in their natural 
 state, pressed, skinned, and preserved in hone}-. 
 From that people of ancient name came also articles 
 manufactured from the leaves of their beloved Date- 
 tree {Phoenix dadylifeva) — ropes, baskets, trays, 
 scales, and lanterns. Paper, pasteboard, and '"' vege- 
 table hair," made from the Dwarf Fan- Palm {Chamoe' 
 rops kumilis), were sent by Algeria. From Western 
 Afi-ica came the fruit and oil of the African Oil 
 Palm, the "Negro's Friend" {Elceis Guineensis). 
 India sent Date sugar, the gigantic leaves of the 
 
 * Since this was written our second International Exhiliilon has taken place. 
 We can only find room to say that the first arrival there was palm oil from 
 Liberia. 
 
324 SUM-MARY, 
 
 Talipat, the great Fan Palm (Coryijha umhracuJl' 
 /era), Coco-nut oil and coir, snuft' boxes and hookali 
 bowls of coco-nut shells (Cocos nucifera). Palmetto 
 plait from Beimuda was there, and window blinds 
 of plaited cane from China, and sago cakes from the 
 Moluccas. The Ita Palm (Mauritia flexuosa) of 
 Britisb Guyana was amongst the few magnificent 
 palms of South America which were represented. 
 Hammocks, baskets, fans, Cassava squeezers, and 
 sifters, were furnished by the leaves of those trees 
 in which Raleio-h, wonderino^, beheld the serial fires 
 of the Guarinis, and whose fruits, two centuries 
 and a half before, were amongst the scanty spoils 
 the ill-fated adventurer brought back from his 
 expedition up the Orinoco in search of the golden 
 land. 
 
 Poorly indeed did such trifles image forth the 
 magnitude and extent of the gifts bestowed by this 
 royal race on the children of tropical climes. None 
 can perhaps fully realize their value at home. But 
 the traveller in far-off lands beholds foaming toi-- 
 rents spanned by their strong, though slender and 
 flexible stems ; dwelling houses hastily, yet se- 
 curely, constructed with their leaves ; and canoes 
 quickly hollowed out of their trunks. He sees, 
 too, food supplied by them, cooking vessels 
 furnished, clothing and ornaments, instruments 
 of music, weapons of war and the chase, healing- 
 medicines, materials for writing and for work, 
 
SUMMARY. 
 
 325 
 
 a strangely varied list of articles which are sub- 
 joined. 
 
 FOOD. 
 
 rrnit', various kinds 
 
 Bread (sago) 
 
 Honey. 
 
 Sugar. 
 
 Oil. 
 
 Cabbage. 
 
 GnieL 
 
 Sweetmeats. 
 
 Puddings 
 
 Palm-nut so'.ip. 
 
 Preserves. 
 
 Pickles. 
 
 Salt. 
 
 Yeast. 
 
 Fruit beveraecs of 
 various kinds. 
 
 Wine. 
 
 Milk. 
 
 Toddy. 
 
 Ariack. 
 
 Vinegar. 
 
 Food for cattle, cam- 
 els, pigs, poultry, 
 and all animals. 
 
 CLOTHING. 
 
 Ready-made clo.'ilc. 
 Do. apron. 
 Do. cap. 
 Clotb. 
 Coats "I 
 
 Waiscoats > 
 Gowns j 
 Tippets. 
 Pouches. 
 
 Rofia 
 clotli. 
 
 j Hats. 
 j Bonnets. 
 ; Sandals. 
 Head-dres.scB. 
 Beads of various 
 
 kinds. 
 Necklaces :ind 
 bracelets. 
 
 MEDICINAL 
 PURPOSES. 
 
 I Decoctions of va- 
 [ I'ious kinds. 
 
 Lozenges. 
 I Emulsion. 
 ! Lotion. 
 
 j liemedy for siiake- 
 i bites. 
 
 Do. for wounds. 
 
 Antidote to poison. 
 
 Catechu. 
 
 Dragon's blood. 
 
 Tannin. 
 
 DWELLINGS AND 
 DOMESTIC PUR- 
 POSES. 
 
 Houses. 
 
 Thatch. 
 
 Flooring. 
 
 Rafters. 
 
 Pillars and post.s. 
 
 Window-shuttL-rs 
 
 and blinds. 
 Lattice screens. 
 Cradles. 
 
 Chairs. 
 Hammocks. 
 Carpets and mats. 
 Mattresses and 
 
 sofa-stnfHng. 
 Chests of Drawer.s. 
 Cooking vessels. 
 Drinking do. 
 Plates, dishes, 
 
 bowels. 
 Cups, ladles, 
 
 spoons. 
 Water-pails. 
 Cylinders, strainers 
 Graters, sieves. 
 Shaving-dishes. 
 Lamps, lantern.s. 
 Candles, torciies. 
 Soap. 
 
 Scrubbing-bruslies. 
 Brooms. 
 Tinder. 
 Panniers, baskets, 
 
 sacks, bags, 
 
 combs, brushes. 
 Coffins. 
 
 MISCKLLANEOUS. 
 
 Churches. 
 Bridges. 
 Canoes. 
 
 Palanquin roofs. 
 Bee-hives. 
 Pack-saddles. 
 Water-trouglis and 
 gutterings. 
 
 Fences. 
 
 Well-sweep.s. 
 
 Fishing-nets, rods, 
 lines, hooks. 
 
 Bows, arrows, and 
 bowstrings. 
 
 Harpoons. 
 
 Blo-wpipe and 
 aiTows. 
 
 Spears. 
 
 Bullets, ramrodit. 
 
 Drums. 
 
 ^Eolian harps. 
 
 Trumpets. 
 
 Flageolets. 
 
 Viols. 
 
 Bird-cages. 
 
 Insect-boxes. 
 
 Chests, bonnet- 
 boxes. 
 
 Pdckall or pegall. 
 
 Egyptian game.s. 
 with sticks. 
 
 Marbles. 
 
 Books, paper, pens, 
 stylets, ink, let- 
 ter-cases. 
 
 Walking, parasol, 
 umbrella sticks. 
 
 Knobs and frames 
 to do. 
 
 Umbrellas, fan sun- 
 shades. 
 
 Bottle-stopper and 
 screws. 
 
 Cordage and sail- 
 cloth. 
 
 In the highl}^ interesting and admirably arranged 
 museums at Kew, may be seen very many of the 
 curious and varied products of palm trees. In .strik- 
 ing proximity are articles of everyday use amongst 
 ourselves, and strange and almost inexplicable things 
 brought from the dwellings of savages. 
 
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 HE figure of a captive woman seated beneath a 
 palm tree was chosen as the symbol of Judea 
 by her conquerors. The device is to be seen 
 on coins of tlie Roman emperors Vespasian 
 and Titus. 
 
 How unconscious were they of the deep sig- 
 nificance of their choice; and yet throughout 
 the heathen world the palm tree was the recog- 
 nised emblem of victory and light. Strange choice such 
 symbol for a conquered land — to us how significant ! 
 
 Emblem of victory for that Holy Land where, at the 
 moment preceding its final conquest, when, as a nation, it 
 should cease to exist, commenced its more extended and 
 imperi.-ihable empire over the hearts of men — a wider empire 
 than, in its proudest days, it would have dared to contem- 
 plate. 
 
 Emblem of light— fit emblem too for that fair country of 
 the East where the true Light had arisen which should give 
 light to all the world. 
 
 Prophetic, as it were, of this link which the future should 
 thus unfold, we find the crowned tree assume a position in 
 the history of God's chosen people — a parallel to which we 
 seek in vain amongst other trees and other nations. 
 
 In the pages of Holy Writ the palm tree stands — a land- 
 mark, as it were — in points and places of peculiar interest in 
 the story of the Jews. 
 
 In their poetry, too, we find her a favourite similitude, 
 
334 SCRIPTURE NOTICES OF PALMS. 
 
 and ill their architecture a chosen symbol, until her chief 
 glory was attained in the days of the Messiah. 
 
 The only happy earthly home Jesus the Saviour ever knew 
 was sheltered beneath happy palms, — Bethany, signifying 
 " House of Dates." The one triumphal day when Zion wel- 
 comed Christ her anointed King, she laid in homage at his 
 feet the honoured branches of the palm. 
 
 Emblem of light and victory to Him who came to be the 
 Light of the world, who was the Conqueror over sin and 
 death. 
 
 Rejoicing multitudes entered Jerusalem with loud " hos- 
 annas to the Son of David," waving " palm branches " in 
 their hands. And yet again a mighty multitude that no 
 man can number, white-robed, with "palms in their hands," 
 shall in the celestial city Jerusalem, which is above, sing 
 halleluiahs to their Saviour-God. 
 
Swaot^, 
 
 BOOTH — COVERT — TABERNACLE.* 
 
 ' And the children of Israel journeyed from Eameses to Succoth.— Exodus xii. 37. 
 
 'And ye shall take you on the first day bouglis of goodly trees, branches of palm 
 trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook ; and ye shall 
 rejoice before the Lord your God seven days. Ye shall dwell in booths seven 
 days: all that are born Israelites shall dwell in booths: that your generations 
 may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought 
 them out of the land of Egypt."— Lev. xxiii. 40, 42, 43. 
 
 [he first night of the Israelites' escape from Egyp- 
 tian bondage — the birth-niglit of their freedom 
 — "a night to be much observed unto the 
 Lord." 
 
 A strange and solemn scene; one of inex- 
 pressible interest. 
 
 The grave and earnest gladness of a people 
 released from slavery — a gladness too deep for 
 outward show — as yet perhaps too deep for actual reahza- 
 tion to themselves. 
 
 Amongst that "'mixed multitude" there are some who, 
 trembUng and excited in their sudden joy, laugh and weep 
 by turns. They are the mothers who strain their darlings 
 to their breasts — ahve, and safe, and free ! 
 
 A flock of sheep huddling together, just rescued from a 
 pack of ravening wolves. 
 
 Some few exalted spirits, beholding, through faith, their 
 heavenly Shepherd, are calm and brave in their resolute 
 
 * Stanley's " Sinai and Palestine," p. f»'i9. 
 
33G SUCCOTH. 
 
 trust ill him. Tliey gather roniul their eartlily leader, 
 Moses, assured that he holds his commission from God. 
 Moses, learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, mighty 
 in Avords and deeds, and yet the meekest of men; Moses, 
 for forty years the favourite in Pharaoh's sumptuous court ; 
 Moses, for forty years the prayerful, contemplative recluse 
 of the desert; — now, doubly disciplined by a lifetime of 
 action and a lifetime of thought, he stands the heaven- 
 appointed leader of that mixed multitude, undisciplined 
 indeed, but as yet obedient to his word. 
 
 The awe is yet upon them of that night of terror, when 
 the Angel of Death passed through the land, and the " great 
 cry" of their oppressors, smitten with a sudden and horrible 
 chastisement, rings yet upon their ears ; the Egyptians ever 
 so frantic in their grief — desolate mothers running wildly 
 through the streets, with dishevelled hair, beating upon their 
 uncovered bosoms, their piteous shrieks mingling with the 
 fierce cries of the men. 
 
 Awed and impressed well may tlie rescued people be. In 
 the midst of a seemingly hopeless captivity, each long and 
 toilsome day haunted by fears of a yet more iron rule, when 
 lo ! the mighty Avenger has snapped their chains, and their 
 taskmasters bow beneath their own unutterable woe I 
 
 For them, the prisoners let free, a new life is beginning, 
 full of strange interest. Significant of this new life, their 
 reckoning of time is changed. It is the beginning of 
 months of them ; it has been consecrated by a solemn and 
 mysterious rite : a lamb, without blemish, slain by each man 
 for his household, the innocent blood sprinkled from the 
 hyssop on the lintel and the door-post, a token for the 
 Destroyer to go by. 
 
 blind Jew ! had not the very hyssop a voice when, 
 lifting the sponge of vinegar to the dying Sufferer, it wit- 
 nessed the perfect fulfilment of that typical rite ordained 
 centuries before? The sinless Lamb, of whom "not a bone 
 should be broken," but whose innocent blood poured out 
 
suocoTH. 337 
 
 must precede freedom from bondage, securing for His people 
 preservation from eternal death. 
 
 The feast had been eaten in haste, with girdled loins, and 
 sandalled feet, and staff in hand, as pilgrims in a stranger 
 land. In the strength of that meat they had now gone 
 forth into the night, a perilous and eventful journey. 
 
 Freed from slavery, they march to the conquest of the 
 Promised Land, the Red Sea and the wilderness between. 
 
 And now commences that wondrous story which shall, till 
 time itself shall end, rivet the interest of every child of God, 
 and even arrest and startle the most stubborn amongst those 
 who struggle against conviction. 
 
 That wondrous story : " Xow all these things happened 
 unto them for ensamples, and they are written for our admo- 
 nition, upon whom the ends of thew^orld are come" (1 Cor 
 X. 11). 
 
 Pregnant with meaning was each incident from day to 
 day, eloquent with holy lessonings the strange vicissitudes 
 of God's chosen people journeying, as God's children jour- 
 ney still, through Hfe's long wilderness unto the heavenly 
 Caanan. 
 
 Escaped from bondage, the pilgrimage begun, what is our 
 first need] A covert and a shelter, where we may find the 
 strengthening rest we sorely need to fit us for our onward march. 
 
 The coverts or booths of the children of Israel were made 
 of "boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees." At 
 Succoth was ih.Q first tabernacle of the Jews. 
 
 Doubly significant to them that covert of the branches of 
 the palm, the tree symbolical of victory. 
 
 With a mighty hand and a stretched-out arm had the 
 God of Abraham, the Faithful Promiser, brought his chil- 
 dren out of Egypt. As conquerors their journey was begun. 
 "Egj'pt was glad at their departing;" the affrighted people, 
 urgent for the Israelites to depart, sent them not away 
 empty. The spoils of the Egyptians were with their women 
 in the camp. 
 
 W • '2-2 
 
338 SUCCOTH. 
 
 What boughs so fitting as the palm tree's boughs to weave 
 the conqueror's leafy tents ? 
 
 Again, as conquerors they were setting forth to achieve 
 new conquest — the Promised Land which sliould be theirs, 
 Judea. Her symbol in after times was to be a captive 
 woman beneath the shadow of a palm. 
 
 In the sealed book of futurity, which no eye but God's 
 beheld, how many a page of mighty import to them bore the 
 impress of that sacred tree, now for the first time assuming 
 the figure of a type. 
 
 Are we not pilgrims too — the Promised Land before, the 
 sea and the Avilderness between? Oh, let not our Succoth 
 be made of some withering gourd; let us make our taber- 
 nacle of the "up-rising tree," and then, in God's strength, set 
 forth. 
 
 His presence will be ever with us. Li the hot glare of 
 worldly prosperity, the pillar of cloud will temper the fierce 
 heat; in sorrow's starless night, the pillar of fire will make 
 darkness light before us. 
 
 Do the waves of this troublesome world affiight us? 
 
 At His word the waters shall be as a wall on either side, 
 and we shall pass safely through. 
 
 Do we hunger or thirst in life's weary wilderness 1 
 
 Bread from heaven shall be rained down, and living waters 
 shall spring from the Rock of Ages. 
 
 Are we sick with the serpents's fiery bite, the sorrow that 
 worketh death? 
 
 There is One on whom if we look we shall live. 
 
 And ere we reach the brink of Jordan, "grapes of Eschol" 
 shall refresh us — earnest of the heavenly Caanan's joys. 
 
 Let us fear no evil giants that would bar our way. Our 
 Joshua is with us. If soldiers of Christ, we shall surely 
 overcome. 
 
 The cross and the palm branch here — the palm brand] 
 and the crowQ hereafter. 
 
€lm 
 
 THE TREES." * 
 
 "And they came to Eliui, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten 
 palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters."— Exod. xv. 27. 
 
 "And they removed from Marah, and came until Elim: and In Elim were twelve 
 fountains of water, and threescore and ten pal/n trees, and they pitched there." 
 —Num. XXX iii. 9. 
 
 ^^ 
 
 jir^GAIN" we greet the cliilclreii of Israel beneath tlie 
 sliadow of palms. 
 
 We last beheld them on the birth-night of 
 their freedom taking their rest beneath tents 
 or " coverts/' woven from the branches of the 
 friendly palm tree. Even as natives of sunny 
 lauds, both in the East and West up to the 
 present day, weave them not only into places 
 of temporary shelter, but into permanent dwellings. 
 
 So, too, our chosen " covert " should be not only a refuge 
 from the storm, but an abiding dwelling-place. 
 
 Since that " much to be observed " night — the mighty 
 God vouchsafing himself to be Israel's guide — the angel of 
 his presence has led them on, in the pillar of cloud by day. 
 and the pillar of fire by night. 
 
 They have passed through the Red Sea as on dry land, 
 the waters as a crystal wall on either side, and the pursuing 
 chariot^s that " drave heavily," have been overwhelmed. 
 
 The waters of this "their baptism" shall cling about the 
 chosen race for ever. What though tlie mountains and 
 
 * Stanley's " Sinai and Palestine," p. 20. 
 
340 ELIM. 
 
 greeii valleys of Palestine are far removed from the sea] the 
 sound of its waves unlieard by the bodily ear shall all the 
 the more deeply live in their remembrance from father to 
 son. Those mighty waters shall be unto them an abiding, 
 ever-present memory — living within their hearts, enshrined 
 in the imagery of their poets, speaking to them in the lan- 
 guage of every day, typical alike of gladness and grief. 
 
 The sea, the mighty sea, shall be unto the dwellers of that 
 inland country as an inspiration, as the key-note of their 
 melodies whether grave or glad. From them originated, like 
 imagery shall pass into the languages of all people, as it has 
 been said, " The spray of the Red Sea is found, as it were, 
 in the inmost hills of Palestine, and from there it has been 
 wafted tlirough the world." * 
 
 The children of Zion have their harps attuned to the 
 diapason of the ever-sounding, glorious sea. 
 
 Are they in affliction 1 
 
 " Deep calleth unto deep ; all thy waves and thy billows 
 are gone over me " (Ps. xlii. 7). 
 
 Are they joyful ? 
 
 " Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof. Let the floods 
 clap their hands" (Ps. xcviii. 78). 
 
 Would they describe the state of the wdcked ? 
 
 "The wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot 
 rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt." 
 
 Or show forth the joyful security of those that love 
 God] 
 
 " Therefore will we not fear, though the earth be removed, 
 and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the 
 sea ; though the waters thereof roar, and be troubled, though 
 the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah ! " 
 (Ps. xlvl 2-4). 
 
 Do they desire most vividly to display the power of the 
 Almighty] 
 
 " They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business 
 
 * Stanley's "Siuai and Palestine." 
 
ELIM. 341 
 
 in great -waters ; these see the works of the Lord, and his 
 wonders in the deep " (Ps. cvii. 23, 24). 
 
 This matchless picture of life on the " great waters," so 
 complete in every part — the lifting waves, " the mounting up 
 to heaven, and going down again into the depths;" the 
 "reeling to and fro, and staggering like a drunken man;" 
 the troubled " cry ;" and then the "calm," the " still " waves ; 
 the glad quietness of the " desired haven ; " — this picture so 
 truthful in its minutest details, of which all mariners confess 
 the vivid reality — was drawn by no mariner's hand. Only 
 the inland seas, or rather lakes of Palestine, were known to 
 her shepherd-king ; David could never have even looked upon 
 the boundless waters of the mighty ocean. 
 
 We read that in that bright world which is to come, 
 " when the first heaven and the first earth are passed away," 
 there shall be no more sea. 
 
 No sea as here — where, as a wall of separation, she 
 divideth the nations, she cometh between yearning hearts, and 
 separateth the " graves of a household." No sea as here — 
 where, with troubled and agitated breast, she symbols the 
 restless desires, the changeful moods and destinies of man. 
 
 " There is sorrow on the sea, it cannot be quiet," says the 
 prophet Jeremiah touchingiy. Ah, therefore, is she not 
 rightly chosen as the symbol of this life ? — " the waves of 
 this troublesome world." 
 
 Yet strange is it that the sea, uncursed by her Maker as 
 was the earth (for Adam's sake), should so much more closely 
 seem to partake of the fitful nature of the human race than 
 tranquil earth, transparent air, and fire unchangeable in its 
 fervent heat. 
 
 There shall be in that better world no sea as here — when, 
 vexed with rude winds, wliitening in her wrath, she spareth 
 none ; engulphing together the fierce reprobate, whose life 
 hath been steeped in sin, and the innocent babe just born 
 into the world — maidens in the sweet spring-time of their 
 days ; and brave men, pillars of strength to loving hearts. 
 
312 ELDI. 
 
 How terrible is lier furj^, but when that storm of passion has 
 gone by, how bitterly she grieves it ! Ah, who can listen to 
 her moaning without tears ? 
 
 Yet doth she work irreparable woe — irreparable till that 
 last clay when " the sea shall give up her dead." 
 
 Thou fitful sea ! w'ondrous in thy alteinations as the ex- 
 pression of a human countenance, as the changes of a liuman 
 heart, it accordeth well thy destiny thus linked with poor 
 humanity. 
 
 The tempest has passed — look again, the vexing winds 
 are hushed, the sun shines out, ineffable beauty and glad- 
 ness illumine the face of the w^aters. She looks to the 
 heavens, and their ethereal brightness is reflected far down 
 into her sapphire depths. Tender as a young mother now 
 she rocks the play-boat of a child, or tosses an infant's ball 
 to make the little ones smile. 
 
 No sea as here — but in that wondrous vision seen and de- 
 scribed by the " disciple whom Jesus loved," we read of the 
 "sea of glass like unto crystal" ^'before the throne," and in 
 that " sea of glass mingled with fire," "them that have gotten 
 the victory," "the redeemed of the Lord," "shall stand, 
 having the harps of God." 
 
 The sea, the Red Sea is passed ! 
 
 Ay, take your timbrels and go forth, ye daughters of 
 Israel, praise his name in the song and in the dance. Let 
 the sweet voices of the women answer the singing of the men. 
 "Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously." 
 
 And yet but a few days hence and tlie bitter waters of 
 Marah shall be an offence, and an occasion of falling unto you. 
 
 The Lord God Almighty, who brought you out of Egjrpt 
 " with signs and with wonders," is his hand shortened tliat 
 he cannot save 1 He by whom the heavens and the earth 
 were made, and all things therein, to whom " the nations are 
 as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of 
 the balance, who taketh up the isles as a very little thing," 
 could he not sweeten those few drops of bitter water 1 The 
 
ELI.M. 343 
 
 God of your fatliers, tlie SbepLerd of Israel, would he let 
 one of his sheep perish of thirst 1 
 
 Christian reader, tarry for an instant. Do we ever mis- 
 trust the Lord our Shepherd ? Do we not, even as tha 
 Israelites of old in some little matter it may be, seem at 
 least by our despondency to mistrust the love or the power 
 of the Most High ? 
 
 Rescued from bondage, baptized into his glorious Church, 
 conscious of his saving presence by the uncounted mercies of 
 every hour, — let one bitter drop in life's full cup of mercy 
 touch our lips, and straightway we are offended or cast 
 down. 
 
 We dare not, nay, we would not murmur ; perhaps it is 
 for an instant only ; but do we never so mistrust His good- 
 ness which is over all 1 
 
 Dear brothers — sisters — and poor weak heart of mine, 
 this should not be. Disobedience provokes tne Majesty on 
 high; but distrust ^'-grieves'' the Father, the Spirit, the 
 Saviour Son. 
 
 They ''limited'' the Holy One of Israel, "they said. Can 
 God furnish a table in the wilderness T' 
 
 And even so do we, forgetting the precious promise, " As 
 thy days so shall thy strength be," we throw ourselves un- 
 armed into the imaginary host of coming evils, — must we 
 not therefore be cast down ? 
 
 The Israelites journeyed from the bitter waters of Marah 
 unto the " twelve wells of water, and the threescore and ten 
 palm-trees " of Elim. 
 
 Most true image of the whole world journeying through 
 the wilderness of life, " hungrj^ and thirsty, their souls fainted 
 in them." There were no waters but the bitter waters of 
 Marah, until " the Day-star from on high arose with healing 
 on His wings." 
 
 When the fulness of time was come, the Gentile world 
 groping in darkness saw a great Light ; they were led as to 
 another Elim, typified by the old Elim. 
 
344 ELIM, . 
 
 The " twelve wells of water," were they not as the twelve 
 apostles of the Lord 1 
 
 Wells were they, tilled from the Fountain of living waters, 
 well-springs springing up into everlasting life, whose streams 
 should be for the refreshing of men, leading them unto " the 
 pure Pliver of Water of Life, clear as crystal, proceeding out 
 of the throne of God and the Lamb " (Rev, xxii. 1). 
 
 The " threescore and ten palm trees " were even as the seventy 
 disciples, — fair and fruitful trees, where all beside was barren. 
 
 "Trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord;" 
 " Trees planted by the rivers of water, bringing forth their 
 fruit in their season, whose leaves also shall not wither." 
 Branches springing from the Tree of Life, whose leaves were 
 for the healing of the nations. 
 
 As individuals we too must drink of the waters of Marah. 
 Sooner or later all of mortal mould must taste the bitter 
 cup. To God's children — to those who drink in faith — the 
 trial-draught is sweetened by the assurance that a Father's 
 hand mixes the medicine given in love to heal some sickness 
 unknown perhaps unto ourselves, but which unhealed would 
 be a sickness unto death eternal. 
 
 But when we have drank of Marah's bitter stream, thus 
 sweetened for us by Faith, led by God's hand we too shall 
 reach our Elim. Elim, the "strong trees," the "trees of the 
 desert," a grateful shelter for us, where we shall find sweet 
 waters well-springs of joy. 
 
 All ye that love the Lord, say is it not so ? Is not the 
 trial-hour, the day of adversity, followed by a " time of re- 
 freshing 1 " Journeying through life's wilderness our tents 
 are for a time pitched by fair clustering palm trees. In 
 their cool shade, and the crystal springs found ever near to 
 them, our hearts rejoice. We go on our way again with 
 faith renewed, hope strengthened, love refreshed, knowing 
 that with Jesus for our Shepherd, every day brings us nearer 
 that perfect rest which remain eth for the people of God. 
 The " still waters," the " green pastures " of the better land. 
 
|ijritl)0, 
 
 TPt-HAT-TEMAHIM — THE CITY OF THE PAL^F TREES. 
 
 "And Moses went tip from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Xebo, to the 
 top of Pisgah, that is over a<:^ainst Jericho. And the Lord shewed him all the 
 land of Gileacl, unto Dan, and all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and 
 Jfanasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea, and the south, and 
 the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar."— Dbct. 
 xxxiv. 1, 2, 3. 
 
 |GAIN the palm trees beckon us to a scriptural 
 scene of exceedino; interest, one altos^ether dif- 
 ferent from either of those we have just been 
 contemplating. 
 
 Not now do the palm trees themselves pre- 
 sent the prominent feature, though the position 
 they hold is most significant. 
 
 It is not as at Succoth, the first tabernacle of 
 the Jews, where their friendlj^ branches, passing rapidly from 
 hand to hand, were woven into the leafy coverts where, on 
 their first night of freedom, a rescued people should repose. 
 
 Not as at Elim, where the rustle of the leaves of the trees 
 of the desert was as music to the ears of the tired wanderers, 
 who, at sight of their waving plumes, rushed forward with 
 renewed strength to find beneath their shadow protection 
 from the hot noontide sun, and cool waters to quench their 
 thirst. 
 
 In the present picture, though distinct and lovely, palms 
 are only seen in the distance. Delicately pencilled against 
 the azure sky, a cluster of dark waving plumes sentinel the 
 lofty walls of a fair city, " fenced up to heaven." 
 
34G JERICHO. 
 
 Not now is our interest divided ; the e5'e roves not over a 
 mixed multitude ; it is not bewildered by many figures chal- 
 lenging its gaze in turn. 
 
 Here the whole interest is concentrated on one figure, 
 majestic, silent, and alone. 
 
 Yon distant city in the grove of palms is Jericlio, the city 
 of palm trees. 
 
 The solitary individual we behold is the chosen leader of 
 God's chosen people — Moses. 
 
 He looks for the first and last time on the Promised Land. 
 
 Oh touching scene, veritably beheld by no human eye, but 
 which nevertheless has, from all time and amongst all 
 people, fastened itself on the imagination and affection of 
 man ! 
 
 The superb figure — Moses, as a babe " exceeding fair," as 
 a man " mighty in words and deeds." A hundred and 
 twenty years have silvered the old man's hair, but " his eye 
 is not dim, nor his natural force abated." 
 
 The lovely land — Judaea, chosen for its fair perfections 
 out of the whole earth to be the inheritance of God's ancient 
 people, and to be sanctified as the birth-place of his blessed 
 Son. 
 
 Oh world-renowned prospect, on whose beauty, nearly five 
 centuries before, the eyes of princely Abraham had rested ! 
 His descendants now were brought to inherit God's promise 
 made unto him. 
 
 Hill and valley, river, plain, and richly- wooded ravine. 
 To the right, " the land of Gilead and Dan," its mountain 
 ranges magnificently clothed with the arbutus and the oak ; "^ 
 " the distant hills of Naphtali" melting away into the blue 
 horizon; "the land of Ephraim andManasseh;" openings of 
 the western hills ascending from the Jordan valley, giving 
 glimpses into the heart of the country, rich grassy plains 
 
 * For the beautiful picture from which this slight sketch is taken, the writer 
 gratefully refers her readers to the most interesting pages of " Sinai .ind Palestine," 
 by Stanley. 
 
JERICHO. 347 
 
 enchanting the eye of a \Yanclerer in the weary wilderness. 
 Before him spread " tlie land of Judali unto the utmost sea;" 
 far in the dim distance on his gifted sight may have glim- 
 mered that shining sea, like the first streak of coming day. 
 The hot desert of the south was as a line of fire, and on its 
 borders Zoar. And seen through an opening of the steep 
 descent into the shadowy Vale of Jordan was Jerusalem ! 
 " Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, Mount 
 Zion," chosen to be the city of the great King. And Beth- 
 lehem, too, was visible to his prophetic eye, crowned with 
 the radiance of the Day-star which should there arise. 
 
 At Moses' feet a magnificent oasis of palms extended, three 
 miles in length and eight miles in breadth ; and from thence 
 gleamed out the white walls and crowning towers of the 
 proud city — Ir-hat-temarim, City of Palm Trees ; Jericho, 
 City of Moon-worship — the key of Palestine, destined to be 
 the first prize of its Heaven-appointed conquerors. 
 
 But not for liim — their leader for so many long and toil- 
 .some years — not for him is that splendid conquest designed. 
 He looked on his children's inheritance ; but his fatherly 
 hand will not conduct them there. "The good land" was. 
 before him, fairer than even he had pictured it in his dreams. 
 The anticipation of its joys, its delicious repose, had sus- 
 tained him through countless hours of weariness ; but not 
 for him were those joys and that repose. 
 
 The deep, dark valley of the Jordan lay between. 
 
 He had besought the Lord, " I pray thee let me go over 
 and see the good land which is beyond Jordan." But he 
 who had so often prevailed with God was powerless here. 
 "The Lord was wroth," The Lord said, "Let it sufiice ; 
 speak no more unto me of this matter." " Get thee up into 
 the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes westward, and north- 
 ward, and soutliward, and eastward, and behold it with thine 
 eyes, for thou shalt not go over this Jordan." 
 
 In the might of the Lord Moses had " stretched out his 
 hand over the sea," a mighty and terrible sea," and his 
 
348 JERICHO. 
 
 people and himself had passed safely through. But when 
 that might is withdrawn, the little stream of Jordan becomes 
 an impassable barrier. 
 
 The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. Moses his servant 
 must suffer the chastisement of his sin. 
 
 A voice from the "great white throne" speaks to us from 
 the mount of Pisgah. 
 
 Loving-kindness and "mercy" are the dearest attributes 
 of " our Father which is in heaven." They are as the 
 "bowels" of the Almighty which are "troubled"* for his 
 erring children; but justice is as "the breath of his nos- 
 trils." t 
 
 The Mount of Pisgah has an abiding interest, not only for 
 the Christian and the Jew, but also for the Moslem. The 
 follower of Mohammed holds sacred the memory of Moses. 
 Mountain, valley, bath, well, and cleft in the rock, are reve- 
 renced wherever linked with traditions of his honoured name. 
 Nay, unbelievers as they are in the sacred words which we 
 know are literally fulfilled, " that no man knoweth of his 
 sepulchre until this day," the Arabs hold as sacred a lonely 
 mosque which, from an opposite height, overlooks the Dead 
 Sea, covering, as they suppose, the grave of Moses. So 
 sacred is it, that none but a Mohammedan's foot may cross 
 the threshold. The soughing of the wind down tlie Pass of 
 Nuweybia, on the Gulf of Akaba, is to this day called the 
 "wailing of Moses," on leaving his loved mountains. J 
 
 But let INIoslems reverence as they may the memory of 
 Moses, seeking to do him honour by name-places, legends, 
 and mosques, imtaught by the Holy Spirit of the Eternal 
 Trinity, they have let go the noblest feature of the 
 scene. 
 
 Well was it for Jephthah's young daughter to bewail her- 
 self upon the mountains ; but shall Moses— intrepid warrior, 
 majestic lawgiver, before whom Pharaoh had trembled, who 
 
 * Jer. xxxi. 20. f Job iv, 8, 
 
 t Stanley's "Sinai and Palestine." 
 
JERICHO. 349 
 
 had goue up into the midst of the cloud on Mount Sinai — 
 shall he "bewail" himself like a tender girU 
 
 Of all the many triumphs of his grand eventful life, there 
 is none to compare with this last superhuman triumph of his 
 faith in the closing hours of his mortal career. 
 
 Like the magnificent setting of some glorious day, his 
 life was more kingly in its close than even in its radiant 
 dawn. 
 
 What were the brilliant successes of his youth, and the 
 yet higher achievements of his older years, compared with 
 that full measure of God's strength now bestowed, enabling 
 him at this time to afford the subUmest spectacle wondering 
 man ever beheld performed by man. 
 
 See now the aged ruler. He has brought his people to 
 the borders of the Promised Land. How goodly is the 
 heritage ! how fair and pleasant is the land ! '' His eye is 
 not dim, nor his natural force abated." 
 
 A warrior from his youth, his pulses must have beat loud. 
 The noise of approaching battle was in his ears — the clarion's 
 call, the trumpet's cry, the clash of swords, and the rattling 
 of spears ! Victory ! victory ! for the Lord of Hosts is on 
 Israel's side ! But it is not his voice which shall rally the 
 victors round the standards of their tribes — not his voice 
 which shall lead the song of triumph as it was wont to do, 
 answered by the sweet voices of the women singing with 
 their timbrels. 
 
 A tender and loving ruler, he must have longed with his 
 own eyes to see his children's " lines fallen unto them in 
 pleasant places." 
 
 A faithful servant of God, he must liave eagerly desired to 
 behold his Master's honour, his faithfulness, and truth, con- 
 fessed by those who had so often dared to gainsay it. 
 
 In a mighty heart like his, how vast must have been the 
 aspirations struggling together at such a supreme moment ! 
 
 A little further and his foot would have pressed the banks 
 of Jordan. But the hand of God arrests him. 
 
3.50 JERICHO. 
 
 Stay, eager foot ! be still, panting heart 1 His passionate 
 appeal is in vain ; and ^Moses the servant of God is content. 
 
 Even as our great Exemplar, of whom Moses and the 
 prophets spake, should say in after days, " If this cup may 
 not pass a^Yay from me, Thy will be done." 
 
 Oh simple sounding words, uttered morning and night by 
 grandsires and babes throughout wide Christendom I 
 
 Oh, do we mean what we say ] 
 
 The light of our eyes, the melody to which our heart- 
 strings vibrate, all, all for which we care to live — the answer 
 to that prayer may be, to sweep our summer sun away, to 
 bid the music of our hearts be still, to make this world };e 
 unto us a silent midnight world. " 2'hi/ will be done." 
 
 It may be giving our consent to the denial of some 
 agonized prayer that our poor quivering heart had just 
 before gasped out. Yet still — " Thy will he done''' 
 
 God in his mercy help (and most assuredly he will) the 
 trembling lips that in all faithfulness still falter forth these 
 words. 
 
 The prayer of Moses was rejected — rejected by his Father 
 — God, whose wisdom, power, and love w^ere infinite. 
 
 What did he then? Again he prayed, but never more 
 for himself. For whom, then ? 
 
 For his successor ; for him who was to reap the dazzling 
 liarvest of Israel's glory, the seed of which Moses had planted, 
 and watered with his tears. 
 
 For his ungrateful and rebellious people, who had chode 
 with him, striven with him, mistrusted him, ever murmur- 
 ing and dissatisfied, till even his patient spirit had given 
 way, and he had prayed for death to be rid of his " wretch- 
 edness." 
 
 But now, on the borders of the eternal world, all is for- 
 given, all forgotten, save his deep, abiding tenderness for 
 them, and his generous interest in him ayIio should succeed 
 him in the rulership. 
 
 How earnestly he pleads with his people that they might 
 
JERICHO. 351 
 
 " choose life ; " and for each tribe he has words of especial 
 blessing. 
 
 How affectionately be bids Joshua, "Be strong, and of 
 good courage;" and then bursts foi'th into a glorious song of 
 praise, his last on earth. But we hear not now the voices 
 of the women answering with timbrel and harp. The word 
 of the Lord had gone forth — Moses was to "go up" and 
 " die in the mount." 
 
 And^so, in silence and tears, his repentant children drank 
 in the last accents of his voice, standing by the doors of their 
 tents encamped amidst the acacia groves. 
 
 One last long look he gives them all. The hush of even- 
 ing is on earth and sky — all is at peace, all beautiful and 
 bright — as the silver-haired old man, stately in form, with 
 steady steps and calm untroubled brow, turns to ascend the 
 mount. 
 
 Never by human eyes to be beheld again, till in his glori- 
 fied body he shall with Elijah stand on the Mount of Trans- 
 figuration. The representatives of the law and the prophets, 
 summoned from their bright homes, rejoicing witnesses to 
 the incarnate Son of God. 
 
 Never in human form v.as princely Moses so sublime as 
 now. His eyes were fearless when the Bed Sea's mighty 
 waves wrestled at his feet like wild beasts hungering for 
 their prey. His cheek blanched not when he alone went up 
 into the midst of the cloud on Sinai's Mount, where the 
 glory of the Lord was like devouring fire. 
 
 But now an invisible death awaits him. 
 
 Yet his own inspired lips had just spoken the words, " As 
 thy days so shall thy strength be." " The eternal God is 
 thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms."' 
 
 Shall the fountain which supplied such precious drops be 
 itself dried up ? Oh. no ! 
 
 Majestic in look, and step, and ujien, Moses ascends tlie 
 Mount, nor ever looks behind. 
 
 Be sure that spirit-voices sounded in his ear^, and on tiiiit 
 
352 JERICHO. 
 
 sun-illumined mountain top bis eyes beheld a company of 
 white-robed angels, and amongst them there was one of graver 
 beauty than the rest, who would conduct him to the presence 
 of his God. 
 
 " And no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day."— « 
 Deut. xxxiv. 6. 
 
 The cliildren of Israel, with their leader Joshua, passed 
 over Jordan, and Jericho was taken. Ir-hat-temaijm, the 
 city of the palm trees, a fenced city, Jericho, the key of 
 Palestine, was delivered into the hands of her heaven- 
 appointed conquerors. 
 
 But if, as doubtless there were, many in that invading 
 host who trusted in their own arm to help them, how 
 humbled must they have been by their very victory. Truly 
 was it shown in the sight of all men, most significantly, in 
 this their first prize in the land of promise, that '• they got 
 not the land in possession by their own sword." It was 
 given to them without the striking of a blow. 
 
 AVho has not pictured for themselves the events of that 
 siege, so vi\ddly set forth by holy writ ? 
 
 That solemn procession compassing the doomed city. 
 Joshua, the commander of Israel's hosts, was there to marshal 
 and to lead. The seven priests, with the seven trumpets ; 
 the armed men, the rerc-ward coming after the ark of the 
 Lord, the priests going on and blowing the trumpets. 
 
 AYithin the city the wondering and terrified inhabitants, 
 in breathless suspense, intensely watchful, but parah^zed with 
 a nameless dread. The news had reached them of the mira- 
 culous passage through Jordan. What were earthly defences 
 against such mysterious foes ? The voice of doom spake to 
 them in the slow solemnity of each deliberate movement of 
 those strange troops. With such a mighty enterprise before 
 them, and so unnaturally calm, a whisper that could not be 
 traced seemed to say, they needed not to haste who know 
 their \ictory was pre-ordained. 
 
JERICHO. 353 
 
 Then, on the seventh day, when the city had been " com- 
 passed seven times," the " trumpets sounded," and " the 
 people shouted with a great shout," and the walls of Jericho, 
 that great city, " fenced up to heaven," " fell down flat," and 
 " the people went up into the city every man straight before 
 him, and they took the city." 
 
 Centuries rolled by, and in spite of the dreadful penalty 
 invoked by Joshua on whosoever sliould rebuild the city, it 
 was dared by Hiel, the Bethelite, in the days of Ahab, and 
 on him the curse fell. " In his first-born" was the founda- 
 tion laid, and "in his youngest son" were " tlie gates thereof 
 set up." 
 
 Risen from its ruins, Jericho became the school of " the 
 sons of the prophets," and the frequent sojourning place of 
 Elijah and Elisha. 
 
 The key of Palestine retained its value through all the 
 changeful destinies of its people. 
 
 The magnificent palm groves and gardens of balsam were 
 the princely gifts bestowed by the infatuated Anthony on 
 Cleopatra. Herod the Idumean redeemed them from her 
 for himself, and in this city of ancient name he died a death 
 of torment from a loathsome disease which the healing 
 springs of the neighbourhood which he had sought were 
 powerless to cure. 
 
 The babe of Bethlehem, whom Herod had vainly sought 
 to put to death, when grown to manhood passed through 
 this city on his last journey up to Jerusalem, there to be 
 received in triumph with palm branches as a conqueror — 
 there to yield Himself up to a malefactor's death on the cross. 
 
 But let us once more for an instant glance at that great 
 siege which sacred, chroniclers record. 
 
 " The trumpet sounded," and " the people shouted a great 
 
 shout," and the ivalls of Jericho fell flat, but the palm trees 
 
 that surrounded them stood unshaken in their calm majestic 
 
 beauty. Those lofty walls rose up again, grandeur and pro- 
 
 (i) 23 
 
354 JERICHO. 
 
 sperity was again tlie city's lot ; but her final doom was at 
 length accomplished, Jericho fell to rise no more, but stiJl 
 the stately palm trees survived. They had beheld the infant 
 city rise, on her their name had been bestowed ; great and 
 powerful as she had been, they had witnessed her decay. 
 But for centuries succeeding, when Jericho itself was but a 
 ruined village, the palm groves of Jericho were celebrated in 
 all lands. 
 
 Alas ! for " haughty Jericho's cloud-piercing wall," utterly 
 desolate now, some of the foundations of her external walls 
 alone remain to mark its actual site. A few miserable huts, 
 "ruins built of ruins,"* surrounding a scj^uare Saracenic tower, 
 called the castle, which is the residence of a sheik. Jericho, 
 the city of moon-worship, has fallen never to rise again. 
 Alas, too, for its glorious palm groves that lingered up to the 
 last century, they have at length departed one by one, having 
 outlived the city's walls for more than three thousand years. t 
 One solitary palm tree, representative of the ancient forest, 
 in mournful grandeur long remained an object of reverence to 
 pilgrims from all parts of the world. Fallen at length, she 
 may have seemed to say in the language of a desolate queen, 
 " Here I and sorrow sit ; here is my throne, bid kings come 
 bow to it." 
 
 She too has passed av.ay a quarter of a century ago, and 
 the strange sad flower that cannot die lingers alone on the 
 sandy plains of Jericho; and travellers stoop to pluck the 
 flower that looks not like a flower, even as Crusader knights of 
 old bore it on helm and shield, but for its name sake, — the 
 " rose of Jericho," or "Rosa Maria" (Anastatica hierochun- 
 tica). A strange unlovely thing, a mockery of its sweet 
 name, unlike a rose in all things, without her beauty or her 
 fragrance, life in death, death in life, it looks not living, 
 but it cannot die. 
 
 * Roberts' " Holy Land." 
 
 t " Of which relics are still to be seen in the trunks of palms washed np on the 
 shores of the Dead Sea, preserved by the salt with which a long submersion in those 
 strange waters has iaiprega:\ted them."— ,S<aH/e^'s " Suiai ('-'d Palestine," g. 144. 
 
JERICHO. 3oj 
 
 The " seven triimpets " sounded, and the lofty walJs of the 
 fenced city fell flat. Shall we not think of that day when, 
 to the " seven angels which stand before God," shall " seven 
 trumpets" be given, and when the "seventh angel" shall 
 sound, '-great voices in heaven" shall be heard, and "the 
 kingdoms of the world shall become the kingdoms of our 
 Lord and of his Christ." 
 
 Then shall the walls that have been built with " untein- 
 pered mortar" fall, for in that day those that liave sought 
 to build upon their own righteousness, " as a bowing wall 
 shall they be, and as a tottering fence." 
 
 But the " trees" of " the planting of the Lord" shall stand. 
 " The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree," " shall 
 flourish in the courts of our God." 
 
^h ||a(m Crce oi gAoralj. 
 
 And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidotli, she judged Israel at that time. 
 And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah, between Earaah and Bethel In 
 Mount Ephraim, and Uie dilldren of Israel came up to her for judgment."— 
 Judges iv. 4, 5, 
 
 1 E more picture of a living palm tree as connected 
 with the story of the Jewish people ere we turn 
 to a closer and more individual contemplation 
 of itself as a significant emblem in their poetry 
 and their architectural representations. 
 
 The four first scenes thus marked out for us 
 on the pages of holy writ by the mention of 
 the palm tree, how complete a whole they make. 
 Interesting epochs, and strongly contrasted. 
 
 As if consciously and with intention, the palm tree, elo- 
 quent in her beauty, stands prominently forward in these 
 four successive scenes. It is as if she would point some 
 lesson to be learned at each. 
 
 At Succoth, on the borders of the " land of bondage," the 
 newly-redeemed people, — frightened sheep plucked from the 
 jaws of death just gathered into a flock, — are docile and 
 obedient, glad to seek their appointed covert. 
 
 At Elim the trees of the desert, the journey begun has 
 already sufficed to show the rebellious spirit of the people, 
 the power and long-suffering of their G-od. The bitter cup 
 has been tasted, cool waters and refreshing shade are given. 
 At Jericho the palm trees saw another sight. Afar off on 
 the mountain's side they beheld the crowning scene in the 
 
THE TALM TREE OF DEBUllAlI. 357 
 
 life of liim \vlio " endured," as " seeing Him who is invisible." 
 They heard too the trumpets sound, and the shout of the 
 conquerors, and they saw the walls of the city fall, and the 
 key of the promised land given into the hands of Joshua. 
 
 And now, beneath a palm tree in Palestine, a Jewish 
 "\Yoman sits a ruler over her people, — Deborah, a jjrophetess. 
 
 A picture in itself full of significance, but yet more touch- 
 ingly so if w^e see in it also the prefiguring of that picture 
 which is to come. 
 
 After many years of alternate prosperity and adversity, 
 according as she sinned against God or turned unto Him 
 repentant, the long-suffering of the Lord is exhausted, the 
 cup of her iniquity brims over. No Deborah shall awake, 
 no Barak shall arise to deliver her in God's name from her 
 enemies. And then, even as a Avoman seated beneath a palm 
 tree shall captive Judea be represented on the coins of her 
 conquerors. 
 
 In the days of her prosperity the vine was Judea's emblem. 
 The Syiian vine, by whose rich clusters the desert w^anderers 
 were assured of the land's fertility, — first fruits to them of 
 the land of promise, — and which in our day, even when 
 transplanted into our land, excites wonder by its marvellously 
 abundant produce. We read in the Songs of David of the 
 vine as the symbol of Judea, and as such it was the chosen 
 figure on the coins of her native Maccabean kings. 
 
 That the palm tree was then as now " the exception, not 
 the rule"'^ in the landscapes of Palestine, makes the fact 
 of its being connected with her on her Eoman conquerors' 
 coins the more striking. 
 
 Throughout her long captivity the palm tree has been 
 indissolubly associated with Judea throughout wide Chris- 
 tendom. Type of an enduring vitality that no oppression can 
 utterly subdue or finally annihilate, even as that Holy Land, 
 fallen and oppressed, yet lives abidingly in every Christian 
 heart, and will assuredly, at God's appointed time, spring up 
 
 *■ Stanley's "Sinai and Talestiuc." 
 
358 THE PALM TREE OF DEBORAH. 
 
 T^•itll renewed life, and freed from bondage be again the glorj^ 
 of all nations. 
 
 The trees of Scripture, how eloquent are they all! De- 
 borah's Oak, — another Deborah, Eebekah's nurse, — " Allon- 
 bachuth," the " oak of weeping," has its touching tale to tell. 
 The faithful servant's grave, so honoured so lamented. 
 
 These two trees, not far apart, whose names for centuries 
 have survived, whose fame has outlasted that of many a 
 proud city — how eloquent they are I Let us take but one of 
 the many lessons they afford. 
 
 All stations in life are made honourable by the children of 
 God. Duty fulfilled, whatever that duty may be, is pleasing 
 in the sight of Him who is so infinitely glorious that in His 
 eyes what seems to us the great distinctions of this world are 
 as nothing. Living dust, it needs man's microscopic eye to 
 distinguish between the larger and the smaller grains. To 
 Him their degree of vitality is all. In the great Creator's 
 sight the dust of this world is looked upon but as the seed- 
 plot for eternity. In that light, exceeding precious unto 
 Him is the very smallest grain of living dust in w^hich He 
 beholds that germ which, through the blessed influence of 
 the Holy Spirit, shall become a seed springing up to everlast- 
 ing life. " To every seed his own body." 
 
 And so did the nurse Deborah, whose name has been given 
 to the " oak of Beth-el," do unto God true service in the 
 lowly lot assigned to her. As a servant faithful in that 
 which was given her to do, her one talent was not buried, 
 but turned to good account. 
 
 The Deborah we read of in connection with the palm tree 
 of Bethel, had a different part to perform, which she too as 
 faithfully fulfilled. To her the five talents had been given, 
 and she had delighted to do ''according" to her "ability." 
 The queenlike palm tree which overshadowed her dwelling, 
 witli its magnificent leaves affording shelter — with its abun- 
 dant clusters of golden fruit supplying food, gives us at once 
 a picture of the stately woman who, a " mother in Israel," 
 
THE PALM TEEE OF DEBOKAH. 359 
 
 ^vas, as ruler, prophetess, and poet, so greatly honoured and 
 beloved. 
 
 As a wife, subjection to her husband would temper with 
 womanly gentleness the commanding dignity consequent 
 upon and befitting her exalted position. 
 
 As an example of female rule (an exceptional case, how- 
 ever admirable the world's history has proved it to be), her 
 name is curiously appropriate — Deborah — a bee. 
 
 It seems strange that so soon after such leaders as Moses 
 and Joshua, the yet unsettled tribes of Israel should have 
 selected a woman as their ruler, to whom they should go up 
 " for judgment." A ruler, too, in stormy times ; for the yoke 
 of the Canaanites, left as thorns in their sides through their 
 own disobedience, had pressed heavily on the Israelites for 
 twenty years. In their distresses, they, as disconsolate chil- 
 dren, w'ent up to their mother for advice. 
 
 Although of a northern tribe (as we gather from her song 
 when the princes of Issachar are joined with herself), she had 
 made her dwelling beside a palm tree of Mount Ephraim, and 
 from thence she summoned Barah out of Kadesh Naphtali. 
 At her bidding Barak hastened to her ; but prince as he was 
 of Xaphtali, he, whose name signified "lightning," dared 
 'lot go up into Mount Tabor with his ten thousand men, 
 unless .Deborah went with him. 
 
 Little wonder indeed that the hearts of mighty men sank 
 within them, conscious as they w^ere of having provoked the 
 anger of the Most High in choosing to themselves "new 
 g^ds." Xow^ that the hour of peril had come, they felt that 
 in Jeliovah alone was their strength, and that His servants 
 akne could be assured of His blessing. 
 
 Deborah knew in whom she had trusted ; and in that 
 terrible day, when men's hearts failed them for fear, the 
 "mother in Israel" knew no fear. "I will surely go with 
 thee." 
 
 A^ain, was it to be proved, as it is so often set forth in the 
 histoiy of the Jew.s, and experienced by ourselves, that 
 
360 THE PALM TREE OF DEBORAH. 
 
 with the " Lord it is nothing .... to help, wliether with 
 many or with them that have no power." 
 
 Jabin, king of Canaan, reigning in Hazor, had nine hun- 
 dred chariots of iron, and the captain of his host was the 
 mighty Sisera. In Israel there were dissensions, divisions, 
 and heartburniDgs, and many of the tribes stood aloof from 
 the combat. On this, the first conflict on Esdraelon's plain, 
 so often in later years a battle-field, it was plainly shown, in 
 the sight of all men, from whom the victory came. 
 
 Ere Barak, with his small bnt gallant band, willing to 
 jeopardy " their lives unto the death," could, at the word of 
 the prophetess, rush from their mountain position on the 
 vast army, with their chariots of iron, awaiting them on the 
 plain below, the voice of the God of Battles was heard. " The 
 stars in their courses fought against Sisera." 
 
 A mighty storm arose ; the sky grew dark ; fierce winds 
 rushed by, driving the blinding rain into the faces of the foe ; 
 hailstones like javelins hurtled in the air ; that ancient river, 
 the river Kishon, swelled to a torrent, foaming overleaped its 
 banks, and swept the dread chariots and their plunging steeds 
 away. 
 
 Amid the wild confusion of the mighty host overthrown, 
 the discomfited Sisera leapt from his chariot and fled awaj 
 on his feet, to meet his death beneath the black tent of t 
 Kenite ; while Barak, his name of "lightning" redeemed, 
 now pursued with avenging sword, till there was not a man 
 left before the conquering Israelites. 
 
 There was no !Moses now to lead the song of triumph, aid 
 Deborah, like Miraim of old, bade Israel rejoice. With 
 Barak, her successful commander of the troops, she sang the 
 song of praise ; the clash of spears and tlie echoing siout 
 responding joyously as the names of each valiant tribe rang 
 from the inspired lips of their chieftain mother. 
 
 And Deborah returned from the field of victory to her 
 quiet home beside the stately palm tree. And the lani had 
 rest for forty years. 
 
THE PALM TREE OF DEBOllAH. 361 
 
 Betli-el, the House of God, was in a stony region, the stones 
 of which cry out with a voice which hath gone out into the 
 ends of the world. North and south, and east and west, 
 wherever the one true God is known, there is the name of 
 Beth-el loved and honoured. The name has passed from 
 among the living cities of Judea, but it yet lives in many a 
 hallowed place of prayer. 
 
 The oak of weeping, the grave of the faithful nurse, was 
 in the valley beneath ; the palm tree of the prophetess stood 
 on the height above. 
 
 The palm tree of Deborah retained, long after her death, 
 the reverence attached to it at the time when the children of 
 Israel went up to her for judgment, combined with a tender 
 recollection of the home of the mother they had loved. 
 
 The well-known landmark is supposed to be the same that 
 nearly a hundred years later, was known as Baal-tamar, " the 
 sanctuary of the palm." In the time of the Judges it had 
 become the place of assembly of the councils of the nation. 
 
S^Ij£ Similitittre of th ^igbf^aus. 
 
 The righteous shall flourish like the palm trec."—'Ps. xcii. 12. 
 
 HOMELESS nation wanders through the earth ; 
 a dead city hars risen from its grave to prove 
 the prophetic truth of Scripture— to establish 
 it as the Word of God. There are rich lessons 
 contained not only in the solemn precepts and 
 precious promises of Sacred Writ, but also in 
 its lovely similitudes they are ever living and 
 surround us on all sides. No obsolete figures 
 are they, requiring commentaries to explain them, which must 
 be dug out of mouldering volumes of the past. In the 
 unchanging East the greater part of them are as fresh and 
 forcible now as when they were uttered centuries ago. 
 
 Bible images are the home pictures of every day ; they are 
 with us in our dwellings, or about us in our walks. If at 
 times they are peculiar in their eastern origin, talking ot 
 lands more sunny than our own ; yet they are still so easy to 
 be described, so capable of being brought before our minds, 
 that throughout the whole world little children are quick to 
 understand them, and the scarcely awakened perceptions of 
 the savage are impressed by their heauty and force. 
 
 Unto some of these similitudes, inspired by Divine Wis- 
 dom, there would seem to be given a significance beyond the 
 simple outward truth which is at once apparent ; an admir- 
 able completeness of illustration from its inward perfection, 
 which grows upon us the closer we look into them. 
 
THE SIMILITUDE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 363 
 
 AVbo lias not exj^erienced the cliarm of this deeper mean- 
 ing, unfolding itself in passages of Holy Writ 1 
 
 Some sacred line we have read and re-read for years, we 
 read again ; some new phase of existence has sprung np for 
 us; Ave are in altered circumstances, and a new light has 
 fallen on the page. It may be the rosy gleam of some hope 
 newly dawned ; it may be the starlike glimmer of some fall- 
 ing tear ; but in that light, whatever it may be, some pre- 
 cious gem has flashed out upon us. It has been always 
 there, but until now unseen by us. 
 
 And even so is it with many a .similitude used to illustrate 
 divine truth. Written for all time, time shall but shed in- 
 creasing light on every page, and bring forth yet more vividly 
 the exquisite completeness of each analogy. 
 
 May we not humbly hope, if sought for in earnest prayer, 
 that the blessing of the Holy Spirit may i-est on the increas- 
 ing knowledge of the day. The discoveries of science, the 
 triumphs of art, each added intelligence, each original 
 thought, may all be consecrated to His service with whose 
 glory the universe is filled, and from whom cometh every 
 good gift. 
 
 New lands, new continents, unfold new treasures unto us. 
 Prophets and saints, and holy men of old, the incarnate Son 
 of God himself, have all united to make the Old World vocal 
 to his praise. May we not, on Avhom the latter times have 
 fallen — we his younger children, destined, it may be, to be- 
 hold ere long "a new heaven" and "a new earth" — may 
 we not, ere these pass away, in humility seek to give, if but 
 a feeble voice, to some of the glorious creations which em- 
 bellish the Kew World already bestowed on us 1 
 
 The Date Palm of Judea speaks to us in the matchless 
 tones of David's harp. Let us reverently listen to the mes- 
 sage she unfolds. But from many a distant land then unex- 
 plored— from many a sister jDalm tree then unknown — that 
 message is re- echoed to us. We catch, as it were, sweet 
 voices eager to be heard, as they too, in the name of the 
 
364 THE SIMILITUDE OF THE KIGHTEOUS. 
 
 great God that made tbem. seek to testify to tlie truths their 
 elder sister taught, aud, with yet fuller development, to im- 
 press them more strongly if possible. 
 
 Forcible as was the similitude of "the righteous" w^hen 
 solely applied to the Syrian " palm tree," what added force 
 and beauty has it not gained since it was uttered nearly 
 three thousand years ago 1 Some of the peculiar character- 
 istics of palm trees as a race, since then discovered, even now 
 generally unnoticed as to their significance, seem to crown 
 this analogy with such completeness as to make it perhaps 
 the most perfectly beautiful similitude ever employed. Those 
 points in which the members of this family differ the one from 
 the other, being as strikingly illustrative of their parallel to the 
 righteous, as those in which as a race they resemble each 
 other. 
 
 This singular agreement in individuals otherwise widely 
 contrasted, such agreement and such differences being more 
 marked in the family of palms than in almost any other of 
 the vegetable kingom, is one of tliose lovely analogies 
 hitherto unnoticed which meets us first in the history of the 
 palm tree.* 
 
 The first grand distinction of the palm family as a class — 
 not originating in a poet's or an artist's fancy, but determined 
 by the careful and rigid requirements of botany as a science — 
 is eloquent indeed. 
 
 To give yet more life to our analogy, let us first borrow 
 from the pages of an accomplished writer his description of a 
 vegetable. 
 
 "Most vegetables have an upright body with vessels 
 ascending and communicating with each other as in us ; but 
 with sap instead of blood, with woody fibres instead of bone, 
 with pith instead of brain and nerve,, with bark or rind in- 
 stead of skin or hide. Their leaves imbibe air as we breathe 
 
 * The reader's indulgence is besought for occasional repetitions in this chapter of 
 points of interest already brought forward in tlie earlier parts of the work. Such 
 repetitions being unavoidable in the chapter relating to the text which suggested 
 the work which necessarily requires the full development of the whole theme. 
 
THE SIMILITUDE OF THE RIGIITEOL'S. 3G.J 
 
 it and also light and moisture, and in their continual motion 
 answer the purposes of our respiration and exercise. They 
 also imbibe and expire an aerial fluid. , . . They require food 
 as we do, but their roots are their mouths. They are living 
 beings, but with no power of spontaneous moveability from 
 their first station of development."* 
 
 Yeo-etables assumincj the form of trees are divided into 
 exogens or endogens. 
 
 Under the former head are ranged, oaks and elms and 
 most forest trees of temperate .regions. 
 
 Under tlie latter are classed palm trees and some others 
 of tropical growth. 
 
 Exogenous may be described as growing by the external 
 depositions or increase of the woody fibres, or oiifivard 
 groicth. 
 
 Endogenous by the internal deposition or increase of fibre 
 inwardly, or iniuard groivtii. 
 
 This internal deposit, or pith or " marrow," as it has been 
 called, was considered by Linnaeus to be "the seat of life,'' 
 even as the brain to which it is likened above is supposed by 
 some to be the seat of life in human beings. By others 
 this pith or marrow in vegetable forms has been termed the 
 " reservoir of vital energy," How significant then according 
 to either is the analogy suggested by the words, "inward 
 growth," growth of the spirit — unseen — save only in its 
 effects. 
 
 What effects ? Not such as are found where the growth 
 is outward only. 
 
 " Here is a knot it was a crime, lure is a canker seifisliness, 
 See here the heart-wood rotten, see tl-.erc perhaps the sap-wood sound." f 
 
 The endogenous or inward growth shows no such vital 
 irregularities ; it is in some slow, in others quick, but in all it 
 is a consistent even growth, unaffected by outward circum- 
 stances. 
 
 * Sharon Turner's "Sacred History." 
 
 f Tiipper "Proverbial Philosophy "—"Yesterday." 
 
3CG THE SIMILITUDE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 
 
 A drougiit does not narrow its rings, nor are tliey swollen 
 when waterfloods prevail, nay, its growth is uninjured by 
 things which touch it very closely. 
 
 The brilliant Orchidese's dazzling wreath hurts not the 
 palm tree, nor does the serpent-like coil of the insidious 
 gourd, nor the tenacious grasp of the wild fig. 
 
 Even so shall " the righteous flourish " like the palm-tree's 
 inward growth, unharmed by flattery, by envy, or by hate. 
 
 It lovelily shows forth, — 
 
 Upright stature, evergreen leaves, fair blossoms and abun- 
 dant fruit. 
 
 No "root of bitterness" infects the noble tree, very sweet 
 are the kindly juices contained in its smooth and upright 
 stem. In the East, sugar is made in large quantities from 
 the sap of the Date Palm, the Palmyra, the Coco Nut, and 
 Arenga saccharifera, one of the sago palms. The liquor 
 itself, as it flows freshly from the tree is sweet and whole- 
 some, but if left to ferment it becomes intoxicating. Alas, 
 do not even our good qualities require continual watchful- 
 ness lest they corrupt and become a snare. 
 
 Not only sugar but honey, the yet more ancient emblem 
 of sweetness, has been procured from the palm tree, while 
 sugar was yet unknown. We learn from Ptabbinical traditions 
 that the honey of the Date Palm, and even the dates them- 
 selves were wont to be offered unto the Lord as amongst 
 the "first fruits." 
 
 Honey is obtained from the fruit of the Date Palm as 
 weU as from the sap of the tree. In Barbary this honey is 
 the "dish of honour" placed before the principal guest. 
 
 In South America, a palm of Chili, Juhea spectahUis yields 
 abundantly a syrup much esteemed whicli is sold as, " Miel 
 de Palma,"' palm honey. 
 
 The sap or juice which supplies the inward growth of 
 pahns, in some species thus yielding sugar and honey, in 
 others, affords in the starch produced for the formation 
 of their flowers a very precious farina. On sago, the Papuan 
 
THE SIMILITUDE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 367 
 
 word for bread, millions of human beings entirely depend 
 for their subsistence. To obtain this the tree must be cut 
 down, as it is in its very heart that this inestimable treasure 
 is contained. 
 
 To many of the righteous is denied in this world all con- 
 sciousness of their influence for good. But little words 
 fallen from lips long silent in the grave, may, like the 
 "mummy wheat," though for years unfruitful and hidden 
 away, be at last brought to light and bear fruit an hundred 
 fold. 
 
 The Sago Palm peculiarly exemplifies the curious and 
 striking analogy suggested by "good fruits" as the produce 
 of an inward growth. 
 
 Even as the growth of the palm tree endogenous is that of 
 the lily (Lilium candidium), leaf after leaf is put forth till it»* 
 full stature is attained, and the slender but upright stem is 
 crowned with fragrant flowers of purest white. 
 
 Though not so richly dowered as the noble chieftains of 
 her class, yet is the fair lily a most precious gift. Her 
 leaves and her roots, like those of the palm tree, have healing 
 powers ; but were it only for their spotless hue, these stars of 
 the garden must be dear to all who love to look and think 
 upon "whatsoever things are pure, whatsover things ar^ 
 lovely." 
 
 And though we grieve that our White Lily cannot be the 
 Hebrew Shushan,'"' yet doth her name at least remind us ever 
 of one of the loveUest passages of Holy Writ. The blessed 
 Saviour's gentle reproof to the over-anxious. 
 
 "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they 
 
 toil not, neither do they spin:" "Wherefore, if God 
 
 so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to- 
 morroAv is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe 
 you, O ye of little faith]" (Matt. vi. 28, 30). 
 
 Gracious words to how many troubled hearts have ye not 
 been, as whispered balm breathing out from the lily flower] 
 
 * From whence our pretty English name of^usan is derived. 
 
308 THE SIMILITUDE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 
 
 The lily growing like the palm tree is also a type of thost 
 whom CtocI loveth. 
 
 "When Israel shall return imto the Lord/' "he shall grow 
 as the lily" (Hosea xiv. 1-5). 
 
 Ah, even so we must "return,^' such is not human nature's 
 natural growth. Through the Holy Spirit alone can we be 
 made as the "trees of the Lord full of sap." Through Him 
 alone, "strengthened with might in the inner man," we may 
 "be called trees of righteousness" "filled with all the fulness 
 of God." 
 
 FIRMLY ROOTED. 
 
 Yet one more distinctive characteristic of the palm tree's 
 manner of growth, we would notice ere we contemplate the 
 outward graces which are the lovely result of pure and un- 
 seen influences. 
 
 As sweet and wholesome fruit, "good fruit" can only be 
 borne by "good trees," healthy and pure, "full of sap," so 
 vigour and strength to bear such fruit abundantly and to 
 maintain an upright stature are alike the proofs of the tree 
 being firmly rooted. 
 
 The palm tree "holds fast" its ground in every soil, the 
 shifting sand, the flooded plain, the arid rock, the mountain 
 steep, the wooded valley's rich deep soil. 
 
 The righteous can have but one firm holding ground, but 
 that shall be given unto them wherever they may be. 
 
 Christ "dwelling in their hearts by faith," they "being 
 rooted and grounded in love.'^ 
 
 " God is love," but where in this lower world may we find 
 an image of such lovel Where but in a "fountain of living 
 waters," "a well of water springing up into everlasting life." 
 In the Old and New Testaments they are set forth as types 
 of His unwearied love by God himself. 
 
 A well-spring of water never ftiiling. 
 
 Truest and loveliest type of love, in a world where tlmst 
 expresses best the greatest need of body and soul, even as 
 
THE i<IMILlTUDE OE THE KIGHTEOUS. 361) 
 
 ill the world to come the torment of hell is represented by 
 the burning tongue, and in heaven we are told we shall 
 thirst no more. 
 
 In one case only thirst is blessed, when even "as the hart 
 panteth after the water-brooks," the "soul thirsteth for God," 
 for unto that soul " in the wilderness shall waters break out 
 and streams in the desert." And even so to the type of tlie 
 righteous, to the palm tree's thirsty root is given the never- 
 failing stream, a treasure hid beneath the burning sands. 
 
 The wild sons of the desert know that wherever the "Tree 
 of the desert," the Date Palm grows, there they will also 
 find the "diamonds of the desert." 
 
 Precious heritage of the children of Ishmael, life-giving 
 streams as old, when from the suddenly revealed well the 
 Egyptian mother sprang with the priceless drops to her 
 dyhig child, restored by them to be the joy of her troubled 
 life and to become the fother of a great nation. 
 
 To palm tree dwellers on arid rocks is given the wondrous 
 power of recalling to successive geneviitions the gracious first 
 miracle of our Lord, signifying how His felt presence 
 enriches the commonest blessings of life. 
 
 Obedient servants, they draw as it were from great jars 
 of stone, water, and lo 1 men see the vessels on their heads 
 are brimming over with goodly wine. Palm wine from time 
 immemorial known and esteemed. 
 
 irHIGHT IN .->TATUEE. 
 
 Upright as the palm tree is a proverb in Scripture, as it 
 is amongst the Arabs in the present day. A woman's figure 
 when straight and perfectly symmetrical is likened to the 
 palm tree. 
 
 Solomon in his mystic "Song of songs" described the 
 stature of the "Bride" the "Beloved" as like to a palm tree. 
 The pillars of palm trees of the temple of Solomon and that 
 of Ezekiel's vision carry on the analogy to the righteous and 
 to the Church of Christ. 
 
 (1) -2 1 
 
370 THE SIMILITUDE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 
 
 ight in stature, can any epithet be more descriptive of 
 the righteous ? 
 
 "The upright shall dwell in thy presence" (Ps. civ. 13), 
 " I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast 
 pleasure in uprightness'' (1 Chron. xxix. 17.) 
 
 Upright ^^ uprising''' as its Hebrew name Tamar signifies, 
 the palm tree's very life is to spring upwards, no spreading 
 abroad of lateral branches, no downward dropping of clinging 
 roots, as with the Banyan, its companion in the East, binding 
 it all too closely unto earth. 
 
 Married trees, as they often are, the Hindus call the union 
 " a holy marriage." The Palmyra Palm, encircled as it is by 
 the strong arms of the Pig, still springs aloft, preserving her 
 uprightness, — her graceful plumes, rising above the stature 
 of her bearded lord, exquisitely illustrating the figure used 
 by Solomon, "A virtuous w^oman is a crown to her husband." 
 One by one the palm-tree's magnificent leaves shoot forth, 
 their bases merging into the stately stem, which is sometimes 
 ringed, sometimes smooth, either retaining the mark of the 
 petiole or footstalk or not, but ever increasing its erect 
 stature till its full height is attained. 
 
 Palms are numbered amongst the very loftiest of trees. 
 The giant CaJamce, or Rattan Palms, attain a marvellous 
 height, five hundred feet and upwards. The stately Wax 
 Palm of the Andes {Ceroxylon andicola) reaches one hundred 
 and eighty feet, and the C[ueen-like Areca oleracea, called by 
 old writers Palmeto Royal, sometimes exceeds two hundred 
 feet in height. 
 
 No heavy burden, no downward pressure avails to keep it 
 down, to dwarf or distort its noble form and stature. 
 
 The stormy wind ariseth. The hurricanes of tropical 
 climes are as mad giants in their fury : they bufi'et on every 
 side, and forests are bowed down or torn up by their roots ; 
 but still one stately tree stands erect. A pillar of strength 
 unshaken and secure, it will not boAV or bend ; to spring up- 
 wards is a necessity of its being. 
 
TCE 6LM1LITUDE OF THE KIGllTEOUS. 371 
 
 Such is the glorious pahn tree— true image of the athlete, 
 the conqueror — and fitly is it crowned with the conqueror's 
 wreath. 
 
 Laurels are the children of colder climes ; they are for the 
 victories of this world, but palm-trees are children of the sun. 
 Children of liglit, soldiers of the cross, the noble army of 
 martyrs claim the eartldy image of their heavenly reward. 
 The conqueror's wreath is ever green. 
 The ever green palm tree carries on the exquisite analogy 
 throughout : " Blessed is the man who trusteth in the Lord, 
 whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted 
 by the waters, ... her leaf shall be gi-een; . . . neither 
 shall cease from yielding fruit" (Jer. xvii. 7, 8).* 
 
 Her leaf shall be green, it shall not wither. Ay, even 
 amid the burning sands of Eastern deserts and the " steppes" 
 of the torrid zone of South America, which, diuing one half 
 of the year is equally parched and desolate, still evergTeen is 
 the crown of the palm tree. In the one place it is the 
 feathery Date Palm, in the other the fan-leafed Miriti Palm. 
 The evergreen crown in both pictures, the brave and con- 
 tented spirit, even amid trial, showing forth the Creator's 
 praise. 
 
 Would any learn their secret ? Go dig about their roots, 
 and the silver spring gushing forth shall tell of " streams" 
 that " make glad the city" and the people " of God." 
 
 Green branches in all times and amongst all peo^jle be- 
 token- gladness, and are used as signs of homage ; palm 
 branches especially, in all countries where they can be pro- 
 cured. 
 
 The natives of the Xew AVorld met Columbus on its shores 
 waving palm branches in their hands, A mightier conqueror 
 than Columbus, He who has opened to us worlds of immea- 
 surable glory, once only hailed by stubborn men as conqueror 
 
 * It is interesting to notice, in the parallel passage in Fsalni i. 3, tlie same 
 characteristics, only the gender cljanged, " Ye shall be my sons and my daughters, 
 saitli the Lord Almighty" (2 Cor. vi. 18). 
 
372 THE SIMILITUDE OT THE RIGHTEOUS. 
 
 and King, was that once hailed on Zion's road \vith '' hosanna" 
 and with branches of palm trees. 
 
 And since that day the palm tree's leaves, from all time 
 reverenced by heathen and Jew, have been also honoured by 
 Christians. They are carried as precious freight from shore 
 to shore. In spring time they deck Christian churches for 
 Palm Sunday; at harvest time the poor Jew weaves with 
 them his simple booth, making shift in dingy city lanes to 
 keep his Feast of Tabernacles. 
 
 And throughout earth's sunniest lands living palm trees wave 
 their green leaves of varied shape and size to laud and magnify 
 their Maker's name. "Green things upon the earth" and 
 *' fruitful trees " blessing and praising the Lord. True wit- 
 ness-bearers unto Him, showing forth His bounty, so that 
 in many lands poor heathens hold that the wondrous palm 
 tree was an individual gift to them from the very hands of 
 a god. 
 
 Oh, that our human lives may so reflect God's dearest 
 attribute of love that to some fellow-creatures' hearts glad- 
 dened by us we too may be as a " God's-gift." 
 
 Of varied shape and size, the rustle of the palm leaves has 
 for us yet another lesson. 
 
 Gladness, cheerfulness of spirit, like all God's inestimable 
 gifts, is bestowed on His creatures in different degrees and 
 measures. 
 
 Let those, cm whom it has in its fulness been bestowed, 
 bless and thank God, and deal tenderly with those less gifted. 
 Let our green branches wave a gladsome sight to all. We 
 think scorn of those w^ho arc niggard of their gold, why 
 should we be chary of smiles, bright looks, and cheery words ? 
 There are many to whom they are more precious than silver 
 and gold. Our treasure is not wasted though it be some- 
 times poured out on a barren soil. The sunshine of a genial 
 nature brightens the more it is spread abroad. The sealed 
 and silent well is sooner dried up than the singing fountain 
 with its sunlit dropf* 
 
THE i^I.MILITUDE OF THE KICillTEOUS. 373 
 
 Joyousness of spirit is tlie gift of a few, but all God's 
 children must be content. Evergreen are palm-tree leaves, 
 though in different species varying in shape and size. 
 
 Amongst the palms of the west the Jipati (Raphia tcedi- 
 gera) measures from forty-eight to fifty feet in length and 
 eight feet in width. The stem of Bartris temds is not 
 thicker than a goosequill, and its leaves are proportionably 
 small. 
 
 The Great Fan Palm, the Talipat of the East, {Corypha 
 vmbraculi/era) spreads out its magnificent leaves with ray- 
 like leaflets ninety-five or one hundred in number, measurino" 
 eighteen feet in length and fourteen in breadth. These 
 leaves have for centuries furnished materials for writing 
 upon. Books made from them contain the religious code of 
 the Buddhists. The ancient Christian Church in Malabar 
 are said to have copies of the Scriptures written upon these 
 almost imperishable leaves. 
 
 These " speaking leaves" have yet another whisper for us. 
 
 As one by one the palm tree puts fortli her leaves, her 
 stature increases till her full heiglit is attained. Is it not 
 even so with the appointed days of men 1 Each day with 
 us is as a freshly opened leaf, bringing nearer the last of our 
 allotted number. On these tablets that never die our thoughts 
 and words and deeds are written. These never are and never 
 can be such as imperishable books should contain. But who 
 is there that may not strive in something that they think or 
 say or do between the rising and the setting of the sun, to 
 write upon each day, as on an evergreen leaf, their recollection 
 of these three words, — Faith, Hope, and Charity ? 
 
 " The leaf that shall not wither" tells us of the " crown of 
 life" that these shall wear who are "faithful unto death" 
 (Rev. ii. 10). 
 
 FAIR FLOWERS. 
 
 The flovrers of the uprising tree are as a rule less remark- 
 able than her fruit. Deeds not words distinguish the upright 
 
374 THE SIMILITUDE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 
 
 among men. But in no case are the flowers of the palm tree 
 unlovely. The fairest and most beloved of the race have 
 flowers of great beauty and fragrance as well as fruit of 
 great price. The blossoms of the King Palm of the Havana 
 {Oreodoxa regia) are described by Humboldt as " shining 
 from far off a silvery whiteness." The flowers of the kindly 
 Coco Nut pass through the several stages of pure white, 
 cream colour, and paly gold. Their fragrance is that of the 
 magnolia. They are of great value as a medicine. How 
 often do kindly and pleasant words " minister to a mind 
 diseased ! " 
 
 The fragrant flowers of some species of Chamoedorea are 
 in Mexico a favourite article of food. The blossoms of the 
 Betel Nut and Ivory Palm have a delicious scent. 
 
 ABUNDANT FKUIT. 
 
 The " tree planted by the w^aters," " whose leaf shall be 
 green," "neither shall cease from yielding fruit," "bringeth 
 forth his fruit in season" — or according to his season — from 
 infancy to old age. 
 
 " A child is known by his doings whether his work be 
 pure," " They still shall bring forth fruit in old age," 
 
 Closely doth the parallel still hold good. 
 
 For " threescore years and ten," even as the ordinary age 
 of man, does the Date Palm continue to yield its fruit. 
 Nuts are gathered from the Coco Nut Palm when it is four 
 and five years old, and it continues bearing for more than a 
 century. 
 
 This fruitfulness from an early period to extreme old age, 
 so long indeed as life itself lasts, is a conspicuous property 
 in almost all the principal species of palms. 
 
 The royal race chosen as the type of the righteous bring 
 forth " much fruit," " good fruit." The palm tree is fore- 
 most amongst the " fruitful trees that praise the Lord," 
 
 The Date Palm of the East (Phcenix dacti/lifera), the 
 original image, furnishes the food of thousands and tens of 
 
THE SIMILITUDE OF THE RKJHTEOUS. 375 
 
 thousands in Egyj-)! and Arabia. Tlie deserts of Africa and 
 Asia look to her as the nations of the north look to their 
 harvest fields. 
 
 The blossoms on a single spathe of the date tree are twelve 
 thousand. She bears for seventy years, produciftg tliree, 
 four, and sometimes six hundred pounds of dates annually. 
 
 As forcibly do her sisters in the Old and New "World 
 proclaim from east to west the truthfulness of the similitude 
 in tliis as in every other particular. 
 
 The beautiful fan-leaved Palmyra {Borassus flahelliformis) 
 — the Hindu Tald, the Lontar of the Indian Isles — is the 
 chief support of about six millions of tlie people of India 
 and other parts of Asia. 
 
 The Sago Palms — Metroxylon liumphii (or J/, sagus), called 
 in the Moluccas the Libley tree, and Arenga saccharifera (or 
 Gomuti) — are valuable beyond all estimation. Sago is the 
 actual staff of life of the Polynesian tribes, the principal and 
 often the only article of food procurable by the natives of 
 the countless islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Sago 
 also affords to the inhabitants of all quarters of the globe 
 a delicate and nutritious food. 
 
 The numerous offsets of Sago Palms are used for propaga- 
 ting the species, as the fruit and flower are not perfected in 
 those trees from which the farina is to be obtained, it being 
 in fact the starch intended for the formation of the flower. 
 Seen even in this light, with flower and fruit not perfected, 
 these palm-trees have their peculiar and lovely analogy. 
 Often has the early grave of some sweet child been blessed 
 to those who mourned for the bright promises cut off, and 
 holy influences have spread from tender reminiscences of a 
 l-oved little one's pure short life. 
 
 When allowed to flower, the blossoms on a single spathe 
 of Sagus Rumpldi have been calculated to be not less than 
 two hundred and eight thousand — or six hundred and forty 
 thousand on one tree.* 
 
 * Secmann's " History of Palms." 
 
376 THE SIMILITUDE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 
 
 In the "Western world this royal race is equally distin- 
 guished for the abundance of their good fruits, 
 
 A spadix of Mauritia Jiexuosa — the Muriti of the Brazils 
 and It^ Pahn of Guyana — when loaded with fruit is a 
 burden too lieavy for two men to carry. 
 
 The Seji Palm of the Orinoco has in every bunch eight 
 thousand fruits. 
 
 The gi'eater part of the inhabitants of Para and its neigh- 
 b(^urliood look to the Assai Palm [Euterpe oleracea) for their 
 dailj'- meal, supplied to them throughout the year according 
 to the soil and aspect of tlie various trees. 
 
 The Indians of the Amazon find in the magnificent Peach 
 Palm {GiiUelma speciosa) delicious and nourishing fruits in 
 clusters of seventy and eighty together. 
 
 The nuts of the Coco-nut Palm (cocos nuci/era) which re- 
 lieve botli hunger and thirst, grow in clusters of from five to 
 fifteen; there are sometimes twenty clusters at a time on the 
 tree in various degrees of ripeness. In favourable situations 
 these nuts maybe gathered at almost every season of the j'^ear. 
 
 But it is not from one excellence or the other, but from 
 tlie happy combination of so very many admirable properties 
 that the Scripture-honoured palm is so distinguished from 
 the rest of the vegetable world in the incomparable analogies 
 it affords. 
 
 Whilst in her abundance of good fruits, the palm tree bids 
 us be earnest, strive, be diligent, she also whispers, be not 
 cast down or easily discouraged, for behold the marvellous 
 variety of this abundant fruit. 
 
 Look on the luscious date, the taste of which, when fresh, 
 has been likened to " sugared cream flavoured with orange 
 flowers." Its honey-dropping pulp is on the outside of its 
 seed, so that a child can help itself to its sweet food. 
 
 See now the large rough coco-nut, but little attractive in 
 its exterior, but how precious are these strong coarse fibres ; 
 how many a need will they supply ? The hard shell, too, 
 affords a drinking-cup, for the nectar inside, which it keeps 
 
THE SIMILITUDE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. ;i77 
 
 SO deliciously cool, and a bowl for the delicate, almond- 
 ilavoiired white jelly. 
 
 How different to both of these the long oval-shaped fruit 
 which the Doum Palm of Egypt {Hyphoene thehaica) affords, 
 in look and taste, so like gingerbread, that it is called the 
 " ffinsferbread tree." 
 
 In the palms of the West, the Assai's purple fruits, the 
 size of our English sloes, are slightly acid in flavour, and 
 yield a creamy beverage much esteemed. 
 
 Those of the Peach Palm, growing in gigantic clustres, are 
 gorgeously coloured with crimson and gold, and taste like 
 Spanish chestnuts. 
 
 Those of the Miriti are the size of apples, with a brown 
 reticulated covering like fir cones. Eaten before they are 
 fully ripe, they are farinaceous, resembling plantains ; like 
 them with age they become pulpy and sweet. 
 
 The fruits of (Enocarpus Baccaha yield a delicious bever- 
 age. They are like plums, deep violet, with a whitish bloom. 
 
 Those of the magnificent Inaja (JIarimiliana reg-ia) are 
 brown and sub-acid, 
 
 Astrocaryum murmuru, one of the thorny palms, bears a 
 small yellowish fruit, mealy, and melon-like in scent. 
 
 Bactris maraja produces fruit resembling bunches of black 
 grapes. 
 
 The fruits of Elans melanocca, an oil palm of the West, 
 and Eloeis guineensis, the African oil palm, are produced in 
 great abundance. They are small, of a brilliant gold colour, 
 partly overspread with vermilion. 
 
 The fruits of the Eastern palm Pahnyra are the size of an 
 ostrich's egg. They are of a rich brown, towards the base 
 of a golden hue. They grow in huge clusters, one of whicli 
 is a load for a man. 
 
 The farina of Sago Palms, and the delicious vegetable mis- 
 named cabbage, afforded by the leaf bud of Areca olerace.a, 
 and many other palms, must also be included in the variety 
 of their ^ood fruits. 
 
;378 THE SIMILITUDE OF THE ERMITEOL'S. 
 
 Nor should we limit to food alone the glorious catalogue 
 of the palm tree's good fruits and good works. Here we need 
 only glance at the contents of her rich and seemingly inex- 
 haustible treasury. Leaves, flowers, fruit, and fibre, stem 
 and root, all bringing forth some kindly gift to man. 
 
 Bread, wine, milk, honey, oil, and wax, valuable medicines, 
 pens and paper, and books, needles and thread, weapons of 
 various kinds, musical instruments, articles of domestic com- 
 fort infinite in number and variety, hammocks, mats, baskets, 
 bags, the cradle for the young child, the mother's holiday 
 suit, the father's working dress, cooking utensils to prepare 
 the daily food, the house to shelter in life, the shroud and 
 coffin to shelter in death. 
 
 The bride's garland, the conqueror's crown, tlie evergreen 
 branch for the loved one's grave, telling of the Eden beyond 
 the tomb. 
 
 •' Servant of God and friend of man." 
 
 What other member of the vegetable world could reckon 
 up a tithe of such good offices so various and comprehensive 1 
 
 Strangely, indeed to the palm tree is given, as to the tree, 
 " so full of sap," the power to produce the three good gifts 
 promised to man in the preceding verse of the psalm. 
 
 " Wine, that maketh glad the heart of man ; oil, to make 
 his face to shine; and hread which strengtheneth man's 
 heart," — Ps, civ. 15. 
 
 On one of these gifts as most significant, let us dwell for a 
 moment. Offspring of sunny skies. Children of Light, Light 
 seems a peculiarly appropriate gift from the palm tree's royal 
 race. 
 
 The oil which they yield in such abundance is a precious 
 boon to those especially who dwell in northern climes, where 
 the long dark nights of winter would be dreary indeed if un- 
 cheered by artificial light. 
 
 This great need of mankind is supplied by many various 
 sources, but by none more excellently and abundantly than 
 by many species of palms. 
 
THE SIMILITUDE OF THE PJGIITEOUS. 379 
 
 The African Oil Palm and its sister in tlie West, the South 
 American palms, Attalea Cohune and Acrocomia sclerocarpus, 
 and the coco nut of both hemispheres, are amongst those to 
 wliom we are most indebted for oil. The Wax Palm of the 
 Andes (Cerooci/lon andicola) and Copernicia cerifera, especially 
 beautiful palms, afford valuable wax, which burns with a 
 brilliant light. 
 
 In Ceylon the spathes and dried leaves of the coco nut are 
 used as torches. This palm, indeed, not only yields in 
 abundance a pure clear oil, but also furnishes in the shell of 
 the nut, if gathered before it has ripened into hardness, a 
 semi-transparent lamp. 
 
 Strangely suggestive in the tree chosen as the type of the 
 righteous, the lamps of the righteous never wanting for 
 oil. 
 
 Another singularly illustrative picture is brought before us 
 in the story of the discovery of Guyana, where Raleigh and 
 his followers, as they exi3lored its mighty rivers, Avondering, 
 beheld fires gleaming out from the tops of tall trees. 
 
 When the Orinoco overflowed its banks, the Indian tribe 
 of the Guaranis took refuge in the Miriti, or Ita Palms. 
 Amid their branches, on mats woven from the fibres of their 
 leaves, and coated with damp clay, they lit their household 
 fires in security. 
 
 And still do wanderers on the river of life — hearts that 
 have found no resting-place — wondering gaze on those who 
 carry their lights burning on high, safe in their refuge from 
 the water floods. 
 
 Above, ever above, the troubled stream of earthly cares 
 gleam out the lamps of tlie righteous. 
 
 Children of Light, " Let your light so shine before men 
 that they may see your good works and glorify — not the poor 
 lamps of clay where light shineth out of darkness, earthen 
 vessels, whose 'excellency' is not of themselves — but that 
 they may glorify your Fatlier which is in heaven. 
 
 Has not the infinite variety of the palm tree's good fruits, 
 
S80 THE SIMILITUDE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 
 
 as typical of the good works of the righteous, a lovely lesson 
 for us, full of joy to loving and meek souls ] 
 
 A lesson in spiritual truth again and again set forth in 
 Holy Scripture by parable and precept, as it is again and 
 again illustrated by the great book of Nature. 
 
 The rose-lipped daisy at our feet, in making glad the heart 
 of one of Christ's " little ones," fulfils her mission as faith- 
 fully as does the venerated oak, the pride of our sea-girt 
 isles, from whose strong timbers Britannia's ships of war 
 are built. 
 
 "One star differeth," indeed, "from another star in glory;" 
 but the great God who has made us so different one from an- 
 other, and has apportioned to each such varied lots in life, 
 requires not from his frail children an impossible uniformity 
 of good fruits either in measure or kind. 
 
 To loving hearts yearning to do something for His dear 
 sake, who hath given them their all for this life and eternity, 
 like a strain of heavenly music, sweet and clear, comes from 
 the far distance of centuries gone by, the gentle Saviour's 
 words, " She hath done what she could," 
 
 Our Judge is in heaven, not on earth. Oh, let him read 
 his name upon our hearts, and then the " widow's mite," " the 
 cup of cold water," will be precious in his sight, even as the 
 " alabaster box of costly ointment." Nay, " a word fitly 
 spoken" shall be " as apples of gold in pictures of silver." 
 
 But we must be very sure that our offering is of our 
 lest. 
 
 Do Ave not read in the blessed book how various are the 
 " fruits of the Spirit" though all "lovely" and "of good re- 
 port." In God's " great house there are vessels of silver," 
 as well as " vessels of gold." 
 
 Go forth, formalist, to the garden and the field. The long 
 bright summer day will have waned ere ye have exhausted the 
 catalogue of the lovely varieties of flowers ye shall find. 
 
 Go to the forest ; gather your lapful of leaves. Can you 
 find any two exactly alike in shape ? Go again when the 
 
THE SIMILITUDE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 381 
 
 fever flu.-sli uf nutunin is on those dying leaves. Are there 
 two exactly matched in colour'? 
 
 The Avorks of Omnipotence are illimitable in their variety, 
 and he alone, the great Creator, knows the countless differ- 
 ences of mortal beings' capacities and the hindrances they 
 meet, invisible, perhaps, to their ch>sest companions. And 
 He who doth so know, blessed be his holy name, for that 
 sAveet name is Love! 
 
 Oh, how unlike man's iron rules — man's fearful Procrus- 
 tiau bed. 
 
 The strong-minded look down upon those who are as 
 children in this world's wisdom. They have no sympathy 
 with weaknesses, no pardon for inconsistencies. The tender- 
 hearted and impulsive shrink away too demonstratively from 
 natures opposed to their own, too often undervaluing the 
 real worth which a forbidding aspect conceals. 
 
 God's OAvn dear children not unfrequently forget liovj wide 
 the cloak of charity should be. 
 
 Zealous Martha could not see that Mary " served " though 
 only sitting at her Saviour's feet. It was to Peter that the 
 Lord's rebuke was given, " What is that to thee % follow 
 thou me ! " And the great prophet Elijah, " very jealous for 
 the Lord God of Hosts," knew not of "the seven thousand 
 in Israel" who had not bowed the knee to Baal. 
 
 " God doth not need 
 Either Tiian's work or his own sifts— \vho best 
 Bear his mild yoke they serve him best. His state 
 Is kiugly; thousands at his bidding speed, 
 And post o'er land and ocean without rest — 
 They also sei-ve, uho only stand and wait." * 
 
 " He prayetli best who loveth best 
 All things both great and small; 
 For the dear God who loveth us, 
 He made and loveth all." t 
 
 " Wisdom is justified of all her children," were the blessed 
 Saviour's words when the carping Pharisee alike rejected 
 John the Baptist and himself. 
 
 ♦ Milton. t Colcii.'ge. 
 
382 THE SIMILITUDE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 
 
 How strongly were tliey contrasted to each other. 
 
 The one a grand but stern impersonation of human virtue, 
 coming " in the spirit and power of Elijah," clad " in rai- 
 ment of camel's hair," girded with " leathern girdle," his 
 food " locusts and wild honey " — the honey of the Date 
 Palm distilled from the palm-groves of Jericho '• — preaching 
 in the wilderness, " neither eating bread nor drinking wine." 
 
 The other, the all-glorious perfection of Love incarnate. 
 
 " Gentle Jesus, Saviour mild."' To Him who came to save 
 mankind the wilderness and the mountain were unfrequent 
 resorts — he lived amongst men. The busy, cheerful shores 
 of Galilee's bright sea, the streets of Jerusalem, the crowded 
 synagogue ; nay, even the publican's feast, were the scenes 
 of his gracious ministry. 
 
 His first exercise of divine power was the turning of water 
 into wine, at the marriage festival to which he had been 
 hidden ; and twice repeated was his miraculous supply of 
 bread to hungry thousands, listening to his word. 
 
 The mission of the Prince of Peace was to "go about doing 
 good." None were afraid to draw near unto him ; his feet 
 were washed with the tears of a sinful woman, and infants 
 forgot their shyness to nestle in their Saviour's arms. 
 
 The SAveet fruits of the heavenly Vine hang low — the 
 smallest in stature, in faith outstretching the hand, may gather 
 of them. 
 
 Perfection is with God alone. Omnipotent power, infinite 
 wisdom, immeasurable love, asks only for the heart ; power, 
 wisdom, and love, know what each heart is able to bring 
 forth. 
 
 Of princely Abraham — of Moses, " mighty in word and 
 deed," God demanded sublimest sacrifices. 
 
 The father of the faithful was commanded to slay the 
 child of promise, and the leadei of Israel's hosts on the 
 borders of the promised land had to resign the possession 
 of it. 
 
 * Joscphus; Stanley's " Sinai and Falcstine," 
 
THE SIMILITUDE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 383 
 
 From the -widow of Sarepta the Lord of the universe, 
 through the mouth of his servant, asked but a little oil and 
 a handful of meal. 
 
 In each case it was the devout proof of their sincerity. 
 In one case the sacrifice was redeemed; in one it was en- 
 forced as a punishment and a warning; in the other it wa»i 
 chanci^ed to a blessino-. 
 
 To Nathan and the dauntless Elijah God entrusted 
 perilous messages to be delivered unto kings in their wrath; 
 and so, too, should Samuel, when grown to man's estate, 
 fearlessly utter terrible words before Saul ; but as a child, 
 his bidding was simply to warn the too indulgent Eli of 
 coming sorrows he had entailed on himself 
 
 To captive Nehemiali was assigned the great task of ob- 
 taining a heathen monarch's consent to the rebuilding of fallen 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 The little Jewish maid, a captive too, had a woman's 
 gentle mission to fulfil — to strive, through the influence of 
 her he loved best, to lead a mighty warrior where he might 
 be healed of a fearful disease. 
 
 To the Assyrian lord " a great thing " was appointed for 
 him to do, though it seemed not so in his eyes or the eyes 
 of other men. But the searcher of hearts knew that no 
 greater thing could be recjuired as a test of his necessary 
 faith, than for him, a conqueror, in his hour of trium2:)h to 
 bow his pride at a Hebrew's bidding, and seek his simple 
 cure in a river of that conquered land, so altogether little in 
 his eyes. 
 
 Our good God would have us but account to him for the 
 talents he himself hath given. He knows how utterly empty 
 and destitute we are of ourselves. 
 
 The faith of intrepid Daniel, which in the lions' deu 
 brought forth such glorious fruit, was as wholly and absolutely 
 God's gift as the loving trustfulness which made sweet Ruth 
 cling to her dead husband's Israelitish mother, and declare 
 that she would have no other God but hers. 
 
384 THE SIMILITUDE OF THE KIGHTEOUS. 
 
 The fervour of Peter, the tenderness of John, the energy 
 of Paul, the active service of Martha, and the silent adoration 
 of Mary, each one with more or less of earthly alloy, were 
 still as offerings of love — " good fruits," " acceptable unto 
 God." 
 
 Sweet is the task thus to turn from the one to the other 
 of the two glorious books our Father hath given to ns for 
 our teaching and our solace on earth. 
 
 Abroad to look on his lovely creations, and listen to the 
 psalm of praise ever ascending to the throne of God. At 
 home to linger over the bright characteristics of those who, 
 through faith in their unseen Captain, Christ the Lord, have 
 gotten the victory, and who now, with angels and archangels, 
 swell the exultant harmony of the redeemed's song. 
 
 Very sweet it is to think on those we ourselves have loved, 
 who, " faithful unto death," now wear the " crown of life," 
 thus realizing, while yet on earth, the glad " communion of 
 saints." 
 
 " One fiiniily, -we dwell in him— 
 
 One Clniicli above, beneatli ; 
 Though now divided by the stream, 
 
 Tlie narrow stream of death. 
 One army of the Wvins; God, 
 
 To his command we bow ; 
 Part of tlie host have crossed the flood. 
 
 And part art crossing uoic." * 
 
 Sweetest of all to look around and see in living beauty, 
 close beside us, dear ones who have " set as a seal upon their 
 hearts " the name of Christ as their "beloved ;" men, women, 
 and children, fulfilling their mission upon earth, bringing 
 forth good fruit continually. 
 
 Oh, that throughout the whole world the watchword of 
 all baptized in Christ, made real members and branches of 
 the tree of life, might be, as that of the crowned Palm tree, 
 " Servant of God and Friend of !Man." 
 
 Varied as her fruit."? are the soils in which she brings them 
 forth, 
 
 * Wesley. 
 
THE SIMILITUDE OB' THE RIGHTEOUS. 385 
 
 The great families of the vegetable kingdom are generally 
 confined to particular soils. 
 
 The willow seeks the water-courses ; the oak strikes its 
 roots deeply in a strong, rich soil ; a barren-looking, chalky 
 land suits best the beech ; the forest which the ash loves, 
 the elm avoids, frequenting the neighbourhood of men — the 
 hedge-row and the village green ; while the pine and the fir 
 crown mountain precipices, reigning amid perpetual snows, 
 like unloved kings, a chilly atmosphere surrounding them 
 continually. 
 
 But the lo^dng palm tree asks no peculiar soil. Her royal 
 rcice, as divided into diflferent families, adorn mountain and 
 plain, sandy desert, forest, and sea- shore. Nay, coral reefs 
 but just emerged from the ocean waves are quickly crowned 
 with groves of Coco-nut palms, at once the mariner's beacon 
 and his garden of delight in the midst of the vast loneliness 
 of the ■v\'ide-s2:)reading sea. 
 
 Are we, too, like that lovely palm tree, making of the 
 spot of ground assigned to us a garden of delight 1 Do 
 voyagers on life's ever-changeful sea look back to hours spent 
 with us as hours of refreshment — bles^^ed hours ? Have the 
 weary and the tempest-tossed been sent on their way rejoic- 
 ing through the sweet influence of onr kindly looks, and 
 words, and deeds ? 
 
 And yet more, though rude winds buftct our heads and 
 surging billows lash our feet, do we unflinchingly uphold the 
 ensign of the Lord, so that the soul of some fellow-man saved 
 from shipwreck by the sight may bless us to all eternity ? 
 
 To the palm tree rich earthly gifts are as nothing. Born 
 to minister delight to all, she asks for herself only such 
 things as are necessaries of life, and at the same time the 
 peculiar and direct blessings from above — light and water. 
 
 Those two great gifts, which our Father in heaven bestows 
 aUke on all created beings and things. " He maketh the 
 sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth irnn on 
 the just and on the unjust " (Matt. v. 25). 
 
 U) 
 
 20 
 
386 THE SIMILITUDE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 
 
 What a gracious significance is tbere in that these two 
 blessings, so inimitably bestowed, should have been chosen 
 as the types of the two great spiritual gifts — " the sun of 
 righteousness," "the water of life." 
 
 Earthly necessaries given unasked to all, that all may be 
 continually reminded that what is needful for eternal life 
 shall never be refused. 
 
 "Sun of righteousness," "water of life." Without them 
 the righteous cannot flourish ; for none are righteous, none 
 have life in and by themselves. 
 
 The tree which shall not "cease from yielding fruit " must 
 have the warm unclouded sunshine of the tropics — no winter's 
 frost must check the ever-ripening sweet fruit. 
 
 " The leaf that shall not wither " must have the never- 
 failing water-spring. 
 
 Children of light, and thirsting for heaven's crystal dews, 
 the palm trees have no other need on the spot of ground 
 appointed for each. Their royal race are amongst the "blessed 
 that sow beside all waters." 
 
 Go, seek them now on every variety of soil, and on all — so 
 that the sun shines bright above — ye shall find some meuiber 
 of the crowned palm tree's race, each one repeating their 
 great charter as of old, the charter of three thousand years 
 old, by which they reign — " The righteous shall flourish like 
 the palm tree" — and by the lesson of their lovely lives teach- 
 ing all the secret of true royalty of soul which all may win 
 and wear. 
 
 As a sentinel on the fiery desert, holding a perilous post, 
 "faithful unto death" — watching, aye watching, till the 
 hidden " streams break out " and the " wilderness prepare a 
 highway for our God," behold the ancient and time-honoured 
 IXate Palm of the East, girt about with reverence, dear to all 
 mankind, eloquent to Christian ears of many a Scripture truth. 
 
 A watcher by the troubled sea. is the graceful Coco-nut 
 Palm, her only footing on the shifting sands ; yet even there 
 doth she " hold fast." 
 
THE SIMILITUDE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 387 
 
 Travellers tell of Coco -nut Palms in the Mauritius, where 
 Lurricanes of wind are sudden and violent, -vvliich, though 
 half-wrenched from the ground, yet hold to what little soil 
 is left about their roots, and live on — though unable to 
 upraise themselves entirely again, still wearing their ever- 
 green crown. 
 
 The glad Palmyra is as a queen in the east, the burning 
 plains of India her wide domain. 
 
 In the dense forests that clothe the foot of the Himalayas 
 the giant Calameae uprear themselves. On the sides of those 
 " mansions of snow," a dwarf Fan palm — a species of Cham- 
 serops — shows itself, like a hardy mountaineer. 
 
 The Doum Palm of Egypt dwells as a mourner in a city 
 of the dead, Avhere fallen statues of colossal grandeur speak 
 to us of the majesty of Egypt's departed things. 
 
 The Oil Palm of Africa, significant of her glorious mission 
 in a land of slaves, changes by her presence the sterile sea- 
 coast of north-western Africa into scenes of beauty and 
 delight. 
 
 Where the mighty rivers of the Amazon and the Orinoco, 
 with swelling floods, overflow their banks, " there are virgin 
 forests of lofty trees, wdiose stems are, during six months in 
 every year, from ten to fifty feet under water."* They are 
 the Miriti or Ita palms {2Iauritia JJexuosa). " With a heart 
 for any fate," these noble palms, which thus in some places 
 afibrd a refuge from the floods — the Guarauis living in their 
 branches — are in others, as on the burning steppes of South 
 America, a shelter from the heat. "Were it not for the 
 occasional presence of single individuals of this life-support- 
 ing tree {Mauritia flexuosa), these steppes would be aban- 
 doned to wdld animals." t 
 
 And shall human beings ever venture to say they are 
 powerless for good, when single trees can thus redeem from 
 abandonment such perilous wastes as these ? 
 
 Is there any situation of life, are there any so unblessed, 
 
 * Wallace's " Travels on the Amazou." t Huniboldfs "Aspects of Nature." 
 
388 THE SIMILITUDE OF THE RIGHTP:OU?. 
 
 that they can do nothing for Him from whom they hope to 
 receive everlasting bliss? 
 
 Alas, alas ! there are human wastes ever close at band, where 
 a gracious look, a kindly word, a trifling act of kindness, will 
 go far to redeem them from being utterly given over to reck- 
 lessness and despair, which are as wild and ravening beasts 
 eating into the hearts of some of our fellow-creatures. 
 
 Oh, let us strive to be as the Ita Palm. We see her in 
 exactly opposite circumstance.^. She is faithful in each. 
 
 By the river's bank, where fertilizing waters overflow, she 
 is in prosperity ; in glad companionship, she attains the per- 
 fection, of her being. Her magnificent leaves are the shelter, 
 her abundant fruits are the food, of a nation. Look on her 
 now in adversity : alone in the thirsty desert she languishes ; 
 her leaves are drooping and pale, but she still bears fruit. 
 On the scanty pool at her foot her life depends ; but, trust- 
 ful and true, she grudges not to share with man and 
 beast those i)recIous water-drops. Her one talent is not 
 buried. 
 
 On the giddy heights of the giant Andes we must seek 
 the Wax Palm, the kingly Geroxylon andicola. There, amid 
 oaks and phies, he reigns the monarch of a savage realm. 
 Cataracts thunder around. His foot, on the brink of a pre- 
 cipice, is firm — his tall plumes towering to the skies, robed, 
 as it were, in vestments of unspotted white, a witness-bearer 
 to his God. 
 
 The Peach Palm gladdens the poor Indians of South 
 America, growing by their huts in the forests and on the 
 river banks of Guyana and Brazil. 
 
 The diminutive Palmetto Palm is artificially trained and 
 cultured in Mexico for the sake of its leaves, which are 
 plaited into hats. 
 
 The Oreodoxa rtgia and the Oreodoxa or Anca oUracea are 
 the pride of the sunny islands of the West. They are king.s 
 and queens in luxurious garden homes. 
 
 "What matter on what ground our feet shall rest .' ''Heaven 
 
Tin: SIMILITUDE OF THE RIGHTEOUS, 3b9 
 
 is above all yet." The uprising tree, peeking and finding its 
 needful blessings from thence, shall have its fit labour of 
 love assigned. 
 
 " We need not bid, for cloistered cell, 
 » Our neighbonr iind our work farewell." 
 
 The little Palmetto, in its cultured, artificial life, fulfilling 
 her mission of usefulness, whispers to us, — ■ 
 
 "The trivial romul tlie common task, 
 Will furnish all we ought to ask."* 
 
 The royal Oreodoxas show us liow lovelily virtue shines 
 forth in high places. 
 
 Let us but earnestly seek to do God's holy will, the how 
 and the where he will make plain to us. Xo lot in life is 
 witliout its special duties, no spot on earth without its capa- 
 cities and opportunities for good works. 
 
 As varied as the soils on which the palm tree's royal 
 family are found are the infinitely diversified stations and 
 circumstances of life in which the children of God are 
 placed; in all, capable of producing good fruit, various in 
 measure and in kind. The Husbandman knows what His 
 plants, planted in various soils, should bring forth. 
 
 In the fiery desert, Faith ; Hope, on the shifting sands ; 
 in forest and garden — nay, everywhere — Charity, or uni- 
 versal Love. 
 
 "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree." 
 
 Let us, then, listen to the palm tree's voice. We Hve 
 in a world of voices ; the whole bright world is full of 
 whispered wisdom. that the " Ephphatha " of old 
 may be spoken unto us, and, the ears of our soul unloosed, 
 we may delight in the ceaseless harmonies of God's crea- 
 tion. - 
 
 To many a thing that seemed dumb before, a voice was 
 given by our Lord — a voice that we might hear teaching us 
 high and holy truths. Tree and flower, fisherman's net, 
 
 * "Christian Year." 
 
390 THE SIMILITUDE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 
 
 merchant's pearl, and maiden's ]amp — for centuries have 
 they not been speaking unto men? 
 
 Favoured children that we are, our school-books are no 
 dingy tomes ; they are diverse in shape and size, and some 
 are pictured gloriously — their countless dyes are exquisite. 
 The loveliest lie at our feet, open to all ; books for the rich 
 and poor, books for children and for old age; the unlearned 
 and the dim in sight can read therein. Dainty little 
 volumes are they, in green and white, gold colour, violet, 
 rose, and blue. By rivulets, a tiny flower that matches the 
 hue of the sky overhead, as if it had fallen from thence, 
 whispers — Forget-me-not 
 
 The evergreen leaf we have looked on to-day — type of the 
 righteous, and symbol of their reward — is the symbol, too, 
 of the Holy Land ; still holy, because still overshadowed by 
 the Cross. The palm tree whispers to us the message it 
 there learned when, in the moonlit air of hill-side Bethlehem, 
 angel voices sang, at the birth of the Prince of Peace, 
 " Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, and good- 
 will to men." 
 
 More than eighteen centuries and a half had rolled by, 
 and then the same sweet message rang through the world 
 again. The crystal depths of ocean waked from their slum- 
 ber of nearly six thousand years, startled into joy, thrilled 
 and vibrated to its sound. Too quickly mute, those won- 
 drous wires never more, perchance, may repeat that heavenly 
 message; but its echoes have never died out from the air 
 we breathe. We may hear them on every side, and out of 
 them has grown the simple watchword for the crowned palm 
 tree as the similitude of the righteous, — Servant of God, 
 and Friend of Man. 
 
 Yet ere the Green Leaf floats away, to be carried far off by 
 some succeeding wave of thought, which, in the great river 
 of life, follow each other in such swift succession, let us 
 catch yet one more significant and beautiful feature in one 
 of the loveliest members of the palm tree race. 
 
THE SIMILITFDT^ OF THE EIGHTE0U3. 391 
 
 Slender and tall, a green wand springs up from the centre 
 of the leafy plumes of Areca oleracea. It is a young unde- 
 veloped leaf. Apparently solid, it looks like an emerald 
 sceptre rising out of her magnificent crown. Carried as it 
 is on her head, it may remind us of the "horn" still worn 
 in the East by the women of the Druses, Scripture often 
 alludes to "the horn of the righteous," which should be 
 "exalted." Fitly it shows, therefore, on the lofty palm 
 tree's upright brow. 
 
 But it has yet another and more lovely significance. To 
 the Palm of Palestine — the Date Palm of the East — belongs 
 of right the royal charter of the race. The Areca oleracea is 
 of the West ; but though oceans roll between, and centuries 
 have gone by, it would .seem that, true to the instincts of a 
 race, her homage is paid to that land where the palm tree's 
 greatest glory was gained, — her sceptre points ever to the 
 East. To the East, where, yet more gloriously than before, 
 the Day-star from on high shall arise, bringing the dawn of 
 an everlasting day of unutterable gladness to all who are 
 watching, even now, as servants who wait for their lord — as 
 a bride who looks for her bridegroom's coming — who cry, 
 " Say, watchman, what of the night?" 
 
 God's blessing on the brave voices which again and again 
 ring out, as the seamen's cheery cry when the storm is at its 
 height ! Their fearless tone breathes a new vigour into all. 
 Those are fearless who see their Captain at the helm. 
 
 Hark ! from all quarters of the globe those fearless voices 
 come. From the crimsoned snows of the Crimea, from the 
 red nursery-floors of India, strong men, soft women, .and even 
 babes bearing witness to the truth of God's promise — of 
 strength afibrded in the hour of trial. 
 
 In the dark chamber of utter extremity, " the doors shut" 
 upon human help, still does the felt presence of the Saviour 
 shine forth, speaking "Peace" — when the fiery furnace is 
 quenched which must try tlie pure gold of our faith — Eter- 
 nal Peace ! 
 
392 
 
 THE SIMIUTUDE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 
 
 Even unto the end shall the Scripture text be proved true : 
 — "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree" till the 
 mission of the palm tree is accomplished, — the glad " multi- 
 tude" of the redeemed standing in the presence of their 
 God, "clothed in white robes, and palms in their hands" 
 (Rev. vii. 10). 
 
^\n cStiituu of tin ^elobetr. 
 
 "0 prince's daughter! . . . how fair, how pleasant art thou! 
 is like to a palm tree." — Cant. vii. 1, 6, 7. 
 
 This thy statui-9 
 
 Y the inspired Psalmist the pahn tree was chosen 
 as the similitude of the righteous. By his 
 son, the mighty Solomon, wisest of men — he 
 who " spake of trees, from the cedar tree that 
 is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that 
 springeth out of the wall" — it was chosen also 
 as an emblem of his Beloved.* 
 
 The Songs of Solomon were a hundred and 
 five, this marriage song alone remaining to us. But the 
 "Song of Songs*' was not only an earthly love song; the 
 great king on whom so large a gift of wisdom was bestowed 
 wrote by inspii-ation : his poem was a prophecy. 
 
 When the Spirit of the Lord was upon Isaiah, he spake of 
 Judea as a "married" land — "Beulah;"t and again, as hav- 
 ing her " Maker" for her "husband," J the Lord of hosts by 
 name. Jeremiah, too, speaking the words of a merciful God, 
 tells of Israel "married" to her lord. § 
 
 wondrous condescension ! "The high and lofty One that 
 inhabiteth eternity" deigning, by the use of terms best under- 
 stood by men, to show forth his loving-kindness unto them ! 
 The hoasehold names of "father," "husband," "brother," 
 are used to force, as it were, the conviction upon His mis- 
 
 * In the words of Jesus the son of Sirach, Wisdom speaks of herself as ''exalted 
 like a palm tree in Engaddi; " that Wisdom which is as "a tree of life to all that lay 
 hold upon her" (Prov. lii. 18). 
 
 t Isaiah Jxii. 4. J Isaiah liv. 5. § Jeremiah iii. 1-4. 
 
394 TTli: STATURE OF THE BELOVED. 
 
 trustful creatures, of how tenderly, how sincerely he loves 
 them. 
 
 The Song of Solomon has almost universally been received 
 as a mystical allegory, the true and the figurative combined, 
 in the manner of Eastern poems. Solomon, who, as prince 
 of " Peace," was one of the types of the coming Messiah, in 
 marrying his "beloved," the "prince's daughter," speaks as 
 a lover : he speaks as a prophet also, presaging that won- 
 drous marriage of the Lord, to be accomplished at the 
 end of the world — the indissoluble union of the blessed 
 companj^ of redeemed people with Christ Jesus their Lord. 
 
 Great mystery indeed, that even as a husband should love 
 his wife, so has Christ loved the Church ; so doth He still ; 
 so will He ever love her, even as bridegi'oom loveth his bride. 
 So will it be seen by those who now, in the night preceding 
 eternal day, watch for his coming with their lamps burning 
 and "oil in their vessels," as becometh those who, as " chil- 
 dren of the light," love light. 
 
 As a bride adorned for her husband shall the redeemed 
 stand before their Lord in unutterable gladness — in white 
 robes, and crowns of pure gold upon their heads. 
 
 But are we now, while life and strength and hope is given 
 us — are we, each one of us, as dutiful and loving brides, 
 seeking to adorn us as we know our Lord would have us 
 adorned ? 
 
 " With the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit" — 
 "mercy and truth" as "jewels" about our necks — our wed- 
 ding garment not made from the " filthy rags" of our own 
 righteousness, but looking for that "white robe" which can 
 only be given by the Bridegroom himself, the Lord Jesus, 
 For even now, ere the cry is heard, " Behold the Bridegroom 
 Cometh !" here one and there one is summoned away to await 
 in bliss that day when the Lord of hosts will make up his 
 jewels. 
 
 Even now doth the " reaper, whose name is Death," " trans- 
 plant for the Lord of Paradise," flowers into " fields of light." 
 
THE STATURE OF THE BELOVED. 'Sdr) 
 
 Even now our Lord himself is amongst us, " in liis garden" 
 of this lower world, gathering "lilies."* 
 
 Are we like the Bride as a "lily among thorns H Is our 
 ^'Stature'' "like to a 2^«/?/i tree?'' If so, then we shall be 
 counted amongst the " beloved." 
 
 Flourishing like the palm tree — " all members of one 
 body," yet all members having "not the same office" — 
 " having gifts differing according to the grace that is given 
 to us." 
 
 The truthfulness of the similitude as applied to the right- 
 eous as individuals, is equally true as applied to the Church 
 of Christ. 
 
 The Church — not the outward and nominal Church, in 
 which as in a field the wheat and the tares grow together, 
 till the Lord of the harvest comes — but the true Church — 
 the blessed company of the faithful upon earth. Is it not 
 the glorious numbering together of God's chosen ones, " the 
 righteous," wherever tJiey may be 1 
 
 Palm trees — types of the beloved, children of light, dwellers 
 in the regions of the sun, but there confined to no peculiar 
 ground, rooted in various soils — would seem to point at the 
 glorious truth that the grace of God hath no such narrow 
 limits as chary mortals lacking charity too often dare to set. 
 
 In shining letters, behold the charter of each faithful 
 band, however insignificant its numbers may be, if faithful 
 in the sight of an all-seeing God. 
 
 " Where two or three are gathered together in mi/ name, 
 there am / in the midst of them." 
 
 His name — your watchword, true soldiers of the Cross. 
 Why seek for " Shibboleths," with stern intent to slayl 
 
 His name — on helmet, shield, and sword. " Strong in the 
 Lord," and be the silken banner what it may that floats 
 above your head, the powers of hell shall not prevail against 
 you ! 
 
 What ! think ye that the form and fashion of your flag, 
 
 * Cant. \ i. 2. t Ccint. ii. 2. 
 
396 THE STATURE OF THE BELOVED. 
 
 Avhicb is but the earth-worm's spinning, could avail to loosen 
 one joint of that proof armour in which ye shall be clothed, 
 if in sincerity and ivhole-hearted truth ye are followers of 
 Jesus ] 
 
 Flags and ensigns there must be, else where were order 
 and discipline 1 And deorly does each brave soldier love, and 
 gladly would he die in defence of, his colours. 
 
 Some banners, too, are brighter than the rest. The Cross, 
 as on England's Church banner, dyed crimson in ancestral 
 martyrs' blood, and carried by her gallant sons " far as the 
 breeze can bear, the billows' foam," is matchless in many 
 eyes. But should the most glorious of standards come as a 
 imll between those who in all faithfulness serve the same 
 Master, follow the same great " Captain of their salvation," 
 and in God's eyes fight side by side, through the stern con- 
 flicts and unceasing perils of Christian warfare^ 
 
 Hark! 'tis the trumpet's sound 1 It speaks of embattled 
 hosts marshalled the one against the other in terrible array. 
 
 On the one side, behold our island-kingdom's sons — a gal- 
 lant band ! 
 
 Gem-like, the many-coloured ranks glitter and glance in 
 the noontide rays— rich blue, vivid scarlet, and dusky green 
 — tlae :light of their true steels shimmering through them all ! 
 
 The helmets of the horsemen, too, gleam out beneath 
 dancing plumes of crimson, black, and white. 
 
 High over all float proudly to the breeze the separate 
 colours of each brave regiment. A varied cognizance is on 
 each, but the Cross and the Crown are on them all. 
 
 In that magnificent spectacle, the eye is not bewildered 
 by the infinite variety of colour, harmonizing, as they do, 
 into one glorious whole, even as the dauntless spirits of the 
 men unite to form one indomitable force. Those intrepid 
 corps, to whom their individual "colours" are inexpressibly 
 dear, who would die to defend them from one hostile toucli, 
 are they not as one man against the general foe? 
 
THE STATURE OF THE BELOVED. 397 
 
 If traitors be there, tliey -will cast them out ; but shall 
 true hearts wrangle about the hues of then- ensigns and 
 uniforms ? Divided amongst themselves, would victory be 
 theirs ] Ah no. 
 
 In Great Britain's conquering troops, in each gallant 
 breast, there is one determination to overcome — one inspira- 
 tion — their duty to their country — on every lip is one name, 
 their Sovereign's name, omen of siiccess — Victoria ! 
 
 "As an anny ivith banners'''* are Scripture words, de- 
 scribing the beh)ved, the bride. 
 
 The glorious palm tree — earthly remembrancer of the 
 *'■ tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God" — 
 repeats its sweet lesson here to the Cimrches, as repres-mted 
 by the Bride. 
 
 We see the separate species of the royal race inhabiting 
 distinct localities, affording various products, differing some- 
 times in outward graces of form ; yet through all such differ- 
 ences preserving still the characteristic marks of the "up- 
 rising" trees whose " crown fadeth not away." 
 
 Inward growth, firm root, upright stature, good fruit, and 
 ever-green leaves. 
 
 Upright stature none can obtain who are not rooted and 
 built up by faith in Christ. As a green-leafed tree by the 
 water side none can be who rejoice not in hope of the pre- 
 mises of God's word. Good fruit none can bring forth who 
 are not filled with the "fruits of the Sjjirit," the first of 
 which is love. 
 
 Will the day ever return when, as of old, we may hear, 
 " Behold those Christians how they love one another?" 
 
 Meanwhile the mission is plain of all who love their Lord. 
 Let each one who has found a refuge from the troubled 
 waters of life's unquiet sea, look forth from their precious 
 ark, and seek to woo back the errant dove. 
 
 * Cant. Yi. 10. 
 
39S THL STATURE OF THE BELOVED. 
 
 Alas ! will the dove with the olive branch never return 
 till the ark rest on the everlasting hills of Jerusalem which 
 is above? 
 
 Pilgrims and palmers of different race and name, yet jour- 
 neying all to the " better country," should there not be kindly 
 fellowship between us all] 
 
 Should not the "children of light" claim kindred, though 
 seas may roll between the respective lands of their birth ? 
 
 The seed on which the blood of martyred saints have been 
 poured out, has brought forth fruit in various lands. To 
 good trees bringing forth good fruit have been allotted dif- 
 ferent destinies. 
 
 See where the giant Andes rear their snow-capped sum- 
 mits to the skies! Mountains rent apart shuddering look 
 down into gulfs of unfathomable blackness ; like tlie strange 
 shapes of some fearful dream fantastic rocks start out from 
 amidst continuous clouds of misty spray, overhanging the 
 wild torrents that leap and foam on every side. 
 
 Behold how calm in fearless majesty stands there the 
 crowned tree. With foot unshaken on the precipice's brow, 
 upright in stature, he dauntlessly " holds fast." 
 
 The Wax Palm of the Andes has an erect and lofty stem, 
 which is of singular whiteness, being encrusted with wax. 
 It is seen from afar, like a column of fair marble. Its superb 
 diadem is of a vivid and unfading green ; the under surface 
 of the leaves has a silvery hue. 
 
 Does not this Mountain Palm Tree, in its unshaken atti- 
 tude and in its singular whiteness, remind us of the Church 
 of the Waldenses? In her mountain home a faithful wit- 
 ness-bearer to the truth ; unshaken by cruel persecutions, 
 clothed in the wdiite robe of the saints, she is seen from 
 afar. Must she not be loved and honoured by all who love 
 God's word? To preserve that w^ord in its integrity the 
 blood of her children has crimsoned the Alpine snows amongst 
 which she dwells. 
 
 We read of palm trees in the Western world which do not, 
 
THE STATURE OF THE BELOVED. 3!)9 
 
 like the generality of their race, congregate with other trees. 
 They love to form forests by themselves, admitting no 
 strangers there. Of this kind are the Cohiine Oil Palms, 
 which cover large tracts of land in Honduras. 
 
 Forming a singular exception to all tropical forests, the 
 Cohune groves are free from all undergrowth. 
 
 Tlie sunbeams love to linger in the Cohune palm groves 
 of the West, each fair illumined stem rising in upright, simple 
 uniformity, like pillars of light. Living trees, building a 
 lovely temple to the Lord. 
 
 May the sunshine of God's presence ever make glad tlie 
 blameless communities of the excellent Moravian Church. 
 In their primitive mode of life they are true-hearted and 
 sincere. In adopting restricted forms of life and a some- 
 what exclusive fellowship, their labours of love include all 
 mankind. 
 
 But there are social palms, and to them more important 
 missions are assigned. 
 
 To the motherly Sago Palms, to the " married" Palmyra, 
 millions of human beings look for their daily food. The 
 palm trees never fail of their mission. 
 
 God grant that from the beloved walls of the Protestant 
 Churches of England, Scotland, and America, none may ever 
 be sent hungering away. Enriched with peculiar blesshigs, 
 may they ever feed on the pure word, and delight in spread- 
 ing abroad the good gifts afforded to them. 
 
 On islands in the great sea the kindly Coco-nut Palm 
 loves to dwell. On her, much heathen people depend ft)r 
 tneir all. She is, too, a beacon to wandering ships, and 
 wrecked mariners bless her for the food and shelter she 
 bestows. 
 
 It is said that the abundance of these palms in the count- 
 less islands of tropical seas is greatly owing to English 
 linnds. lu their constant repassing to and fro, sailors of 
 English ships seldom fail to plant these nuts on every island 
 where they touch. Charity is ever twice blessed; the fruit- 
 
400 THE STATL^RE OF THE BELOVED. 
 
 bearing trees are often enjoyed by their own wandering 
 fellow-countrymen, sometimes in after years by themselves. 
 
 Oh, would that in every land the print of an Englishman's 
 foot had always to tell of some good work like this I Oh 
 that words from English lips, falling on uncultured ground, 
 might always be as good seed springing up and bearing good 
 fruit ! 
 
 May the missionary and colonial Churches that England 
 has planted all over the world be blessed, not only to the 
 heathen, but to her own children also. 
 
 In likening the Beloved — the Church of Christ— to a palm 
 tree, it is in one particular especially, that the likeness is 
 pointed out — her stature. 
 
 What is the stature of the palm tree ] Upright — " up- 
 rising," as its Hebrew name, " Tamar," signifies. 
 
 Her name is significant indeed ; uprising — springing up- 
 wards to her God. Looking not on this side or on that ; 
 looking not unto herself, but looking up — upwards to her 
 crown. 
 
 It is this oneness of purpose in her growth that, in the 
 palm tree, achieves such magnificent results. 
 
 So lateral branches weakens its upward tendency ; no 
 downward dropping roots binds it too closely to the earth, 
 thereby lowering the standard it should attain ; no change- 
 fulness or inequality of purpose distorts its symmetrical 
 straightness. 
 
 To spring upwards is the one aim of its life — the neces- 
 sity of its being ; and only thus the palm tree's fair stature 
 is attained. 
 
 And so too, only so, can the bride attain like stature. She 
 too, must not look to the right or the left, to others ox her- 
 self ; but only upwards to her Lord. 
 
 '■ Looking unto Jesus" should be engraved on the door of 
 every material church. "Looking unto Jesus" must be 
 written on every heart that hopes to be numbered amongst 
 tlie true spiritual church. We read of churches in tropical 
 
THE STATURE OF THE BELOVED. 401 
 
 lands built altogether of palm trees ; pillars and walls built 
 lip with the unwrought steins, and the roofing made from the 
 plaited fronds. 
 
 Such a church stands in some marshy rice lands in Bengal 
 — the Protestant church of Jangera. 
 
 Near a succession of magnificent cataracts formed by the 
 Orinoco, is the Indian village of Maypures. On a grassy 
 eminence near the village stands a little church, built also of 
 palm trunks. It is a church of the Jesuits. 
 
 Many of the zealous men that worship there, we may hope, 
 hold a purer faith than the dangerous doctrines they profess. 
 Secresy and deceit are weapons that Jesuits use, and they 
 defend their use. To serve the interests of their order they 
 think it well to soil their lips with falsehood. Their name, 
 which desecrates the Holy Name from which it is derived, 
 has passed into a proverb fur dealings that are insincere. 
 
 " In secret have I said nothing^''' * were the words of our 
 Lord. He bade us be as " little children," or we should 
 "in nowise enter into kingdom of God."t '' Simplicitif % 
 is "in Christ;" '^ guile ^ was not found in his mouth." 
 " The Lord is a God of truths Jesus said, " I am the way, 
 the truthy\\ " The Spirit of Truth'' was promised to guide 
 us " into all truths Oh, that in that palm-tree church of the 
 cataracts, a " beam" would " cry out of the wall ! " Oh, that 
 the typical palm tree could lift up her voice to say that the 
 stature of the bride, the Church, must be even as her 
 Lord's ! 
 
 But she cannot of herself " add one cubit to her stature." 
 " Looking unto Jesus" thus only, can the upright stature be 
 attained ;" thus only true uniformity be reached. 
 
 Alas for the garments parted at the foot of the cross ! 
 foreshowing the dissensions and separations that should 
 arise. But the " seamless coat" is still our sure hope. Let 
 all with jealous care guard it from sacrilegious hands. Oh, 
 
 • John xviiL 20. t Luke xvii. is. % 2 Cor. xi. 3. 
 
 5 1 ret. ii. 22. 1] Jer. n. 1 1 ; Jolm xiv. 6 ; John xvi. 13 ; Hab. ii. IL 
 
402 THE STATUKE OF THE BELOVED. 
 
 let no shreds and patches worn by mortal man come near the 
 unsullied spotless robe of Christ ! 
 
 With the robe of His righteousness shall the bride be 
 clothed. Let her seek to " grow as the lily, to " flourish like 
 the palm tree, and so attain the '• stature of the palm tree." 
 
 Leaf by leaf put forth, hastening the time when He who 
 is the crown of her life shall appear. 
 
 The palm tree's crowm is her life, unlike all other trees, 
 making no lateral shoots. If deprived of her crown, she 
 dies. 
 
 •' Faithful unto death," the righteous, each one, shall re- 
 ceive for themselves " a crown of life." 
 
 To the bride prepared for her husband shall be given the 
 marriage crown uniting her to Him ; her hope in this life, 
 her joy through all eternity. 
 
^^t S^cmplc of Sniomoir. 
 
 " And he carved all the walls of the liouse round about Avith carved figures ol che- 
 rubim and palm trees, and open flowers within and without. And for the 
 entering of the oracle he made doors of olive tree. The two doors* also were 
 of olive tree, and lie carved upon them carvings of clierubim and palm trees 
 and open flowers, and overlaid them witli gold, and sjjread gold upon tlie 
 cherubim and upon the palm trees. So also made he for the door of the 
 temple posts of olive tree. . . . And the two doors were of fir tree. . . . Aud 
 he carved tliereon cherubim and ^a?ni trees and open flowers, and covered them 
 with gold fitted upon the carved work." — 1 Kings vi. 29, 31-35. 
 
 'And the greater house he ceiled with the fir tree, which he overlaid with fine 
 gold, and set thereon palm trees and chains." — 2 Chron. iii. 5. 
 
 |HE Temple of Solomon I The colours may be 
 laid on the palette, but where is the pencil to 
 dip into them i None but a master's hand 
 could dare attempt, with those gorgeous hues, 
 to portray the most magnificent work of Solo- 
 mon's magnificent reign. 
 
 Solomon — whose name is a proverb among 
 all nations for wisdom and splendour — the tra- 
 ditions of whose greatness yet linger in the dazzling creations 
 of oriental romances. In the splendid East his name is still 
 — though tens of centuries have gone by — pre-eminent over 
 all for magnificence. The followers of Mahomet believe that 
 to Solomon was given absolute dominion over the genii 
 world — creatures of their imagination, of terrible power by 
 land, and sea, and air ; but one talisman ever compelled their 
 instant submission — Solomon's seal-ring, composed of brass 
 and iron. 
 
 * " Or leaves of doors" (marginal reference). The fori 
 mean door-posts. N'erses 33, 34. 
 
 ' doors" iupposod ti» 
 
404 THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. 
 
 But in tlie Sacred Yolumc we find a real and abiding tes- 
 timonj^ to his greatness. When the Son of God himself 
 would illustrate the highest pitch of human grandeur, he 
 spake of " Solomon in all his glory." 
 
 His kingdom was small in geographical extent, compared 
 with the vastness of Assyrian, Persian, Grecian, and Roman 
 empires, and also to the broad girdling of the globe that is 
 subject to our own island-kingdom's rule. But, in that it 
 was the inheritance of God's chosen people — that its capital 
 was Zion, the " city of the great king," enjoying the favour 
 of the Most High, and the promised cradle of the Messiah — 
 the kingdom of Solomon, in all the elements of real great- 
 ness, outmatched all others before or since. 
 
 What would, therefore, be the unparalleled splendour, the 
 absolute perfection of the great work which, bequeathed to 
 him as a solemn charge by his dying ftither, was to be the 
 crowning glory of his reign ? The permission accorded that 
 he should perform such a work was, as he humbly acknow- 
 ledged, an undeserved mark of the divine favour. 
 
 " Who is able to build Him an house, seeing the heaven 
 and heaven of heavens cannot contain Him ] Who am I, 
 then, that I should build Him a house, save only to burn 
 sacrifice before Him?" (2 Chron. ii. 6.) 
 
 Well might the young prince be at first almost over- 
 whelmed with this great honour. He knew how passionately 
 it had been desired by his father, to whom his own " house 
 of cedar" was a grief, while the "ark of God" dwelt "within 
 curtains." 
 
 But, touchingly as the poet and warrior king alludes to 
 this deep disappointment, in his dying charge to his son, it 
 had not chilled his zeal for the great work which another 
 should accomplish. With the whole-heartedness of his warm 
 temperament he had' thrown himself into so much of the 
 undertaking as he was permitted to share. David said — 
 " Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that 
 is to be builded for the Lord must be exceedingly magnifi- 
 
THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. 405 
 
 ral of fame and glory tlirougliout all nations. I will 
 tlierefore now make preparation for it. So David prepared 
 abundantly before his death" (1 Chron. xxii. 5). 
 
 He tells his young son — " Behold in my trouble (or pov- 
 erty*) I have prepared for the house of the Lord an hun- 
 dred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand 
 talents of silver, and of brass and iron without weight, for 
 it is in abundance ; timber also and stone have I prepared, 
 and thou mayest add thereto." 
 
 "Requisite labourers were also provided; workmen" in 
 abundance ; " hewers and workers of stone and timber, and 
 all manner of cunning men for every manner of w^ork." 
 David also commanded all the princes of Israel to help 
 Solomon his son. 
 
 Himself super naturally gifted, the young prince brought 
 the full freshness and untiring energy of the spring-time of 
 life to his noble task of executing and perfecting the beauti- 
 ful designs of his father, suggested to him by Divine inspi- 
 ration. 
 
 Rendered into English money, £1,223,629,344, 9s. 8|d.t 
 was the sum of gold and silver provided by David in his 
 comparative poverty, for this great work. 
 
 The whole of the magnificent framework of this temple, 
 and many exquisite details, are to be found in the Sacred 
 Chronicles, while additional information may be collected 
 from uninspired sources. The Jewish historian Josephus 
 asserts, that in his day there still existed, in the archives of 
 Tyre, letters that had passed between Solomon and his ally, 
 Hiram, king of Tyre, respecting the building of his Temple. 
 Josephus thus speaks of it:— "It was a wonderful one 
 (temple) indeed, such as exceeds all description in words ; 
 nay, if I may so say, is barely believed upon sight." 
 
 Not only was the edifice in itself transcendently fair, but 
 in the excellence of its position it was unrivalled. 
 
 * Mart;iiial reference, 1 CLron. xxii. 14. 
 + Fleury's " Ancient Israelites," p. 180. 
 
406 THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. 
 
 Countless ves.sols brought from afar the precious gems and 
 metals, the fragrant woods and costly stones that were re- 
 quired ; and the very ground on which it was to stand was 
 made to assume the form best suited to the grand design. 
 
 Great valleys were filled up with earth. We read that in 
 one part the ground was raised more than seven Iiundred feet, 
 so as to bring the outer temple, or " Omrt of the Gentiles" 
 to within a few cubits of the middle court, or Court of Israel, 
 which was again a little below that of the " Court of the 
 Priests." 
 
 A significant feature this, in the very ground plan of this 
 Temple. In the reign of Solomon (whose name signifies 
 " peace "), it was designed that by Jewish labour in the first 
 instance, should be accomplished the mighty enterprise by 
 which the " valley " should " be filled up," bringing the 
 Court of the Gentiles on a level with Israel's Court. 
 
 Prophetic type of those blessed labourers of the Hebrew 
 race who should, in the name of the Prince of Peace, go forth 
 amongst the Gentiles, and commence the work of bringing 
 out from amongst them a redeemed people, by means of 
 whom should be completed the grand design of a living 
 temple to the Lord. 
 
 The Tabernacle was raised by Jewish hands alone, but 
 Gentile joined with Jew in the completion of Solomon's 
 Temple ; type of the world-wide gospel of Christ. 
 
 The foundation of the building was laid B.C. 1012, being 
 the fourth year of Solomon's reign — those previous years 
 having been spent in completing the superb preparations 
 commenced by his father. 
 
 In seven years and six months it was completed. But to 
 accomplish so enormous a work in so short a time, 183,000 
 persons were employed upon it. Of Canaanites, 153,000 ; 
 of Jews, 30,000 — 10,000 at a time serving in monthly ro- 
 tation. 
 
 But even with these numbers, the rapidity of its erection 
 remains to this day a marvel, as compared with other great 
 
THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. 407 
 
 edifices. The Temple of Diana at Ephesns is said to liave 
 been two hundred and twenty years in building. 
 
 Many strange and remarkable circumstances combined in 
 the building of Solomon's Temple, such as never before or 
 since have combined. One striking peculiarity was, that the 
 stones, timber, and metal-work -were made ready before they 
 were carried to the spot ; " so that there was neither hammer 
 or axe, nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was 
 in building" (1 Kings vi. 7). 
 
 Xo sound of human tool ; but seldom sound of human 
 tongue. The workmen chosen for their skill were gathered 
 from all parts of the world ; of different races and languages, 
 their communication was mostly by tokens and signs. 
 
 The mighty Temple was raised amid a strange, impressive 
 stillness. Is it not so even now ? Around us, about us (may 
 we not humbly trust) within us, higher and higher, holy 
 fabrics arise to heaven ; the mighty work of tlie Spirit goes 
 on individually, collectively, building up spiritual temples to 
 the Lord. 
 
 Each one upon whose " heart" the name of Christ as their 
 Beloved is "set as a seal" — whose "bod^^," temperate and 
 pure, is made meet " temple for the Holy Ghost." 
 
 Brought from afar, made meet for the master-builder's 
 use — the fashioning of each unseen by its fellow — many 
 shall be gathered together in the great day, as lively stones 
 building up a spiritual house. 
 
 Clamour and noise ever attend, and not unfrequently mar, 
 the works of men. Confusion, uncertainty, and haste, wait 
 on their steps, too often baffling the grandest designs of 
 human skill and energy. But silent, gradual, and sure are 
 the irreversible workings of an invisible. Almighty hand. 
 
 Softly from their dew-bespangled bed, violets with the blue 
 eyes of infancy spring up ; they smile through spring's sun- 
 shine and showers, and then lay down their sweet heads and 
 die. As noiselessly the vigorous pine-shoots force their way 
 tlirough the stern soil on the steep mountain side apportioned 
 
408 THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. 
 
 for them to do battle upon tlirough a long lifetime of storms. 
 All silently, too, amidst the ocean waves, the coral insects do 
 their hidden work, and lichens gather ; winged birds and roll- 
 ing billows bring the apjDointed seed, and, lo ! an islet garden 
 has upsprung, to make glad the bosom of the unquiet sea. 
 
 The Temple of Solomon, in all its indescribable glory, has 
 long passed away ; nay, on the site of its successor, a mosque 
 of the False Prophet stands. The material building is no 
 more; its stones have crumbled into dust; so, too, centuries 
 on centuries gone by, have the human hands that upreared 
 that costly pile. Yet have these silent workmen (it is said) 
 left behind them a strange and lasting memorial of them- 
 selves. 
 
 Let us look on a battle-field of but a few years ago. The 
 fair-haired children of the North meet the dark warriors of 
 the East, hand to hand in deadly encounter. Two eager 
 opirits are opposed to each other. Brave as he is, the 
 English stripling, fresh from his mother's arms, is no match 
 for the bearded Moslem, the hero of a hundred fights, in the 
 full vigour of his age. He has grasped the boy's golden 
 curls, his scimitar is raised to slay, when, without a word, 
 his weapon drops as if the strong arm were paralyzed. 
 Hastily his turban i.s unwound to bind up the lad's gaping 
 wounds — the fierce enemy has become a tender friend. No 
 word has passed between these two, each is ignorant of the 
 language of the other, of different race, of different creed, 
 they only knew that they were foes, but now as brothers 
 they stand side by side. A token and a sign has done it all. 
 
 A sealed book to women are the Secrets of Freemasonry, 
 yet may the daughters of each Christian land find in tlie 
 supposed origin and broad outlines of the institution one 
 thought at least of surpassing interest. 
 
 Great epoch as it forms in the world's history, the meet- 
 ing together of people from all lands to join in the construc- 
 tion of the Temple of Solomon, how significant the contrast 
 it suggests to that earlier assemblage of builders. 
 
THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. 409 
 
 Met in defiance of their Maker, those who in unity of im- 
 pious design had joined together, were baffled; their oneness 
 of speech destroyed, they became altogether confounded. The 
 Tower of Babel, or Tower of Confusion, was for long a terror 
 and a warning to tlie nations. 
 
 When next the cliildren of men, in unusual numbers, met 
 together to handle the trowel and the measuring line, they 
 spake in diiferent tongues, and strangely fell their words on 
 one another's ears. But their unity of purpose was now for 
 good, not evil. It was a temple to Jehovah, the Lord God 
 Omnipotent, they had met together to build, and the Great 
 Architect of the universe bestowed on them a blessing. A 
 bond of brotherhood was then knitted which nearly three 
 thousand years has not unloosed. 
 
 All the respective ranks of workmen, however, separated 
 as individuals by difference of language and race, were en- 
 abled to communicate with facility by signs and tokens in- 
 vented for the purpose. 
 
 The higher the rank attained by any, the wider the field 
 opened out to him of such symbolical language. 
 
 By such an admirable system alone could the harmonious 
 working together of such an immense body of men of dif- 
 ferent countries, creeds, and tongues, have been accoinjjlished, 
 and the completion of so splendid a structure effected in so 
 short a time. 
 
 This new and peculiar bond of union had, too, its moral 
 effect. Temporal advantages so apparent were suggestive of 
 the higher spiritual blessing of brotherly love. 
 
 It is said that the illustrious sages gathering from all parts 
 of the world at Jerusalem to gaze on the mighty works of 
 Solomon, and to listen to his wisdom, sought admittance into 
 the mysteries of this language of signs and symbols. Re- 
 turning to their own homes, they carried Avith them the 
 secrets of Freemasonry, and thus the institution was sjDread 
 over the face of tne whole world. 
 
 Magnificent throughout were the appointments of this 
 
410 THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. 
 
 House of God. In the time of Solomon thirty-eight thou- 
 sand Levites were devoted to the service of the Temple. 
 Four thousand of these were singers and musicians, "those 
 that praised the Lord with instruments," cymbals, psalteries, 
 and harps. How superbly must David's triumphal songs 
 have been rendered by this chosen body of sweet singers.*' 
 
 As in a citadel "mighty men of valour" were appointed 
 to guard the gates, to go their rounds by night, and by day 
 to give notice by sound of trumpet of the proper hours for 
 the various solemnities, they were also at all times to enforce 
 reverence and order amongst the vast crowds of assembled 
 worshippers. 
 
 Each of the four Captains of the Gates had under them a 
 thousand men. In the Temple was pieserved the armoury 
 of David, a man of war from his youth. 
 
 Still in the house of God do His children find trusty 
 armour wherewith to gird themselves for the continuous 
 battle of life. 
 
 A square of half-a-mile in circuit is said to have been 
 covered by the Temple and its various courts. But even as 
 Judea in Solomon's reign, though not largest in extent, was 
 first amongst the kingdoms of the earth, so the grandeur of 
 the Temple was not measured by its size. 
 
 Costly, too, as were the materials intrinsically in them- 
 selves, and in their lavish abundance, their value was im- 
 measurably heightened by the exquisite workmanship with 
 which they were fashioned. 
 
 We read of sculptures in the Palace of Solomon that were 
 marvels of beauty ; trees and j^lants covering the stone, 
 " their leaves -wrought so prodigious thin and subtle, that 
 you would think they were in motion." f 
 
 In the consecrated adornments of the Temple the zeal of 
 the rival workmen, each seeking to surpass his fellow, would 
 inspire them to achieve still greater excellence. 
 
 * To the Temple Guards were cntruited the musical instrtiments, nhicli were of 
 exceeding value ■)- .Joseplius. 
 
THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. 41 1 
 
 But the crowning glory of the Temple was that its design 
 was from Heaven itself. 
 
 The gold and jewels which encrusted the dazzling walls 
 were no vulgar adornments as solely displaying wealth. 
 Each sparkling gem, each delicate tracery of goldsmith's 
 work was pregnant with meaning ; each leaf and flower had 
 their part assigned in the grand significant whole as dis- 
 tinctly as the " precious corner stone, its sure foundation," 
 so magnificent and rare in size. 
 
 Built up in silence, it was in itself a Speaking-Temple. 
 Voices were around and about on every side, the stone crying 
 " out of the wall,'" " the beam out of the timber " an- 
 swering. 
 
 Yet are they all passed away, — the gold, the jewels, the 
 marbles are not, — but in the "speaking leaves" that have 
 so long outlast-ed the more solid materials of their own times, 
 were handed down to us the story of the crumbled stones 
 and shattered gems. We find in the songs of David and 
 Solomon the key-note of many of the lavish adornments of 
 the Temple. 
 
 This magnificent work was in itself of short duration. 
 Gorgeous as were its materials, they w^ere of earth ; skilful 
 as were the builders, their hands were human hands, — " dust 
 thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return " is stamped upon 
 all finite things. The works of men's hands, however splen- 
 did, must be like themselves, perishable ; but not so the 
 spirit that conceives, it is immortal, and so must its works 
 be, whether for evil or for good. 
 
 The design, therefore, of this matchless Temple, inspired 
 as it was by God, still lives, — the building of nearly three 
 thousand years ago rises up before our eyes as we read the 
 description of it in holy writ, the songs of David and Solo- 
 mon serving as illustrations of the unexplained meaning of 
 many parts. 
 
 The first great Temple built up in honour of the one true 
 God, example and shadow of heavenly things, is pregnant 
 
412 THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. 
 
 witli themes for solenm thought. Each part was significant 
 to the Jew, are they not also to the Christian 1 
 
 For us the " rent veil " of the latter Temple has a more 
 glorious significance than aught besides ; but the veil of the 
 first Temple, similar to that of the Tabernacle, was sup- 
 posed to be emblematic in itself both in its fabric and 
 colours. White linen, woven from the fibres of flax, was 
 said to represent the earth; purple, a dye obtained from 
 a shell-fish, signified the sea ; blue was typical of the air ; 
 and scarlet denoted fire. Not unapt seems such, allusion 
 to the elements, curtaining, as with resplendent veil, the 
 glory of their great Creator. In this wondrous Temple of 
 old, the individual woods which were so especially cliosen may 
 be supposed to have had some meaning also. If the elements 
 were typified by the veil, the wood selected, each in itself 
 significant, may have emblemed the four quarters of tiie 
 globe, where, in the latter days, true worshippers of God 
 would be found. 
 
 The fir-tree chosen for strength, betokening the hardy 
 North. The olive tree, gladness and peace, is of the sunny 
 South. The almug, or algum, considered incorruj^tible, if, as 
 it is supposed to be, Lignum vUcf, then so rare, is common 
 in the Western world. The cedar tree, synonymous with all 
 that is excellent, was the glory of the East. 
 
 As a type of the Church the bride, the descriptions are 
 identical. " The king's daughter all glorious within : her 
 clothing of wrought gold; her garments of fragrant smell,"* 
 '•'her cheeks comely with rows of jewels." t Such was the 
 interior of the Temple, — walls, ceilings, and floors of fragrant 
 woods, overlaid with fine gold, and garnished with precious 
 stones. 
 
 But of neither of the four trees whose timbers were selected, 
 was there any representation to be made ; nor was one 
 living tree allowed within the sacred precincts of the Temple. 
 Linked in men's mind with idolatrous practices, neither groves 
 
 * Ti. xlv. 13, 8. + Cant. i. 10. 
 
THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. 413- 
 
 or single trees approached the House devoted to the one true 
 God. 
 
 And yet, upon^ the porch and within the holy House, 
 there was one tree', and only one represented. 
 
 Emblem of light and victory throughout the world, the 
 Gentile builders would have acknowledged the fitness of 
 palm tree pillars in a house of God, but to the children of 
 Israel the crowned tree was yet more eloquent. 
 
 Was it a memory 1 The tree of the covert, the tree of 
 the desert, the tree of the city-key of Palestine, the Israelites' 
 first conquest in the land of promise 1 
 
 Was it a prophecy ? The tree which Zion, duteous for 
 one^ day, should lay at Messiah's feet ? The tree then set 
 up in the Temple of Judea's glory, which should in after 
 times be the emblem of her land in captivity '? 
 
 A memory ! a prophecy ! And more, yet" more than all of 
 these, a place in God's temple was assigned to the tree in 
 which David had seen the similitude of " the righteous," in 
 which Solomon should see the stature of the " beloved." 
 
 Let us listen to the palm tree's voice as tens of centuries 
 gone by, she spoke from carved walls, ceilings, doors, molten 
 sea, and pillars of the porch. 
 
 In the porch stood two mighty pillars of exceeding height 
 and majesty of form. Jachin, " He shall establish ;" Bo^az, 
 "In it is strength."^ 
 
 Pillars commemorative of God's promise made unto David 
 that his throne should be established for ever,— the promise 
 fulfilled in the coming of Messiah, Son of David, whose 
 kingdom is everlasting. Commemorative also Avere they of 
 the two guiding pillars of the wildernes.s, typical as they 
 were, cloud and fire,— sorrow and joy, each of them, if God's 
 children see therein a Father's hand, guiding them safely 
 through life's wilderness. 
 
 Of the wreathen work that encircled the chapters of these 
 mighty pillars, the ornaments mentioned by the sacred writers 
 
 * 1 Kings Tii. 21. 
 
414 THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. 
 
 are " net work" and " chain work," " ply work" and " pome- 
 granates." But the Jewish historian Josephus describes the 
 network as " interwoven with small palms — covering the lily 
 work." 
 
 Palms and lilies joined together, even as we have seen, 
 they are alike in their manner of growth. The pure lily and 
 upright palm, lovely and significant tokens to greet us at 
 the entrance of the Great Temple. 
 
 But the palm tree not only " grows as the lily," but as the 
 tree of victory it is crowned as a conqueror, as in after times 
 it was chosen as the image of the athlete or contender for 
 victory. 
 
 The athletae of the Greeks fought not like the gladiators 
 of degraded Rome for casual hire. Maintained by the public 
 treasury, theirs was an adopted profession, commenced some- 
 times in infancy. Their lives were temperate and self- 
 denying, even as the runners mentioned by St. Paul, " tem- 
 perate in all things." Those of unblemished character alone 
 were admitted to the public games. They chose not their 
 opponents : it was decided by lot, even as in the Christian's 
 battle of life the trials and temptations we must overcome 
 cannot be of our own choosing. A finger held up sufficed 
 as token of submission. Alas ! so with us too : our great 
 Enemy is well pleased at first to accept our smallest con- 
 cession. In each combat the victory itself was its own 
 reward, followed by the crown so eagerly desired. The 
 leaves of the " wild olive-tree " formed the Olympic crown. 
 The leaves were wrought in gold, and in the victor's right 
 hand was placed a palm-branch. " Him that overcometh 
 will I make a pillar in the temple of my God."* 
 
 We have seen the crowned and conquering tree on the 
 pillars of the porch. The evergreen trees by the waterside 
 were carved too on the borders of tlie great "molten" or 
 "brazen" "sea" which contained the pure water required for 
 the cleansing of all things in the temple. 
 
 * ilev iii. 12. 
 
THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. 415 
 
 Look on it now carved on the outer doors, the leaves 
 of which were of fir-tree, emblematic of strength. Made 
 strong througli faith, tlie upright seek to enter the courts oi 
 God. 
 
 Next on the inner doors of the oracle behold the palm 
 trees carved now on the wood of the olive tree, symbol of 
 gladness and peace. The heavenly c<>urts once entered, all 
 is gladness and peace for evermore. And now they surround 
 us on all sides : on the walls and on the ceilings palm trees 
 still side by side with the "' open flowers," the flower per- 
 fected, the lily flowers together within as they have been 
 together without. 
 
 Yet more palm trees are represented side by side with 
 " cherubim."' Shining angels, albeit unseen, do stand ivithout 
 beside the " contenders for victory,'' •' ministering spirits to 
 them who shall be heirs of salvation." 
 
 But within the everlasting doors the earth-born palm trees 
 are " overspread with gold;" the crown of pure gold is won. 
 The eyes of those w^ho carry the palm-branch will in heaven 
 be opened to behold the glorious company who for so long 
 have been standing side by side with them. All clad alike 
 in effulgent robes, they rejoice together in the presence of 
 their God. 
 
Cl^c sample of (Bi^kuVs B'lBwn. 
 
 And it (the temple) vns made witli cherubim and palm trees, so that a palm tree 
 Avas between a clieiub and a cherub; and every clienib had two faces; so 
 that the face of a man was toward the palm tree on the ono side, and tlie face 
 of a young lion toward tiiepalm tree on the other side: it was made through 
 all tlie house round about. From the cronnd imto above the door were cheru- 
 bim and pahn trees made, and on the wall of the temple."— Ezek. xli. 18, 19, 20. 
 Vide also chap. xL 
 
 jHE Temple of Solomon, magnificent without, 
 dazzling within, the chief glory of its royal 
 builder, Jerusalem's jji'oudest boast ! 
 
 Alas ! for human triumphs, children's writing 
 on the sand — the coming wave shall sweep it 
 all away. 
 
 How grandly the completed Temple shone ! 
 A few short years and it was rifled of its trea- 
 sures : they became the spoil of Egyptian robbers. Warning 
 after warning still disregarded, till the mighty tempest of 
 God's wa-ath broke over the devoted city. Fired by the Baby- 
 lonian torches, the building itself was destroyed, — polished 
 marble, fretted stone, carvings of fragrant woods once overlaid 
 with fine gold and encrusted with gems, — lay an undistinguish- 
 able mass of blackened ruins. 
 
 The streets of Jerusalem were silent as the grave. Judea 
 mourned as a woman forsaken ; — where were her sons and 
 daughters 1 
 
 Where were the people that "joyful and glad of heart" 
 kept the Feast of Tabernacles twice seven days at the dedica- 
 tion of Solomon's Temple % 
 
 Were there none amoner their descendants who had learned 
 
THK TEMPLE OF EZEKIELS VISIOX. 417 
 
 file king's noble prayer? none to cry unto tlie Lord its 
 touching burden l 
 
 " Hear thou in heaven thy d^'elling-place," " and when thou 
 hearest forgive ! " * 
 
 "By the rivers of Babylon" the captive children of Israel 
 wept when they remembered Zlon. 
 
 Well might they weep, and the sweet singers '' hang their 
 harps upon the willows," for their sorrows were even as the 
 thorns and briers which a man's own wilful hand had planted 
 in his pleasant garden. How had God blessed them and 
 made them to prosper, but, stiff-necked and rebellious as they 
 were, they had drawn down on themselves the lightnings of 
 God's wrath. 
 
 But amongst the captive Hebrews God had his faithful 
 servants still. Two especially, who, in the different lots 
 assigned to each, stood forth with equal bravery unswerving 
 in their fidelity to him, who in trouble and joy alike they knew 
 as their best and truest Friend, their Father and their God. 
 Brave spirits both; each day unknowing what the morrow 
 would bring forth, they carried their lives in their hands, 
 ready at all times to give them up sooner than be for an hour 
 tniitors to their God. 
 
 One captive, the royally- descended Daniel glorified his God 
 in high places. His bkmeless life and admirable character 
 endeared him even to the hostile kings whom he served. 
 Honoured, trusted, and "greatly beloved" by God and 
 man, the glorious privilege was his of gaining from the 
 lips of the pagan monarch an acknowledgment of the 
 supremacy of Jehovah. Miraculously preserved from 
 the hideous death he so bravely encountered, his days 
 Avere ended in peace, though still a captive in a stranger 
 land. 
 
 As true a soldier of the Lord of Hosts, Ezekiel of the 
 sacerdotal race was zealous too in his Master's cause. He 
 ceased not to jeopardy his life, and fell at last by the hands 
 
 1 Kings viii. 30, oD. 
 
41i THE TEMPLE OF EZEKIEL S Vl:^Iu^'. 
 
 of his own degraded countrymen, provoked to anger by his 
 righteous zeal. 
 
 Far from the sumptuous court of Babylon, where Daniel 
 held an honourable post, did the widowed prophet on the 
 lonely banks of Chebar feel that for him there was nothing 
 to do 1 Conscious of his great gifts of eloquence and ear- 
 nestness of purpose, did Ezekiel's eager spirit chafe because 
 of his enforc^2d retirement ? Oh, no ! 
 
 By Chebar, a river of Mesopotamia, considered as one of 
 the " rivers of Babylon," a river therefore of captivity, is the 
 prophet's appointed place. Not his to make the M'alls of 
 palaces give back Jehovah's praise, but the lonely river-bank 
 he can and will make vocal to his name. 
 
 As he walked by the waters with kindling eyes, snatching 
 from the overhanging willows the harp of his country, he 
 sang. Xot as an hireling singer, to win praises from his 
 haughty conquerors ; not as one who speaketh " smooth 
 things" to lull into unmanly torpor the souls of his dejected 
 countrymen. Xo : with a heart swelling with noble indigna- 
 tion he sought to vindicate the honour of his outraged God. 
 Reproaching his fellow-captives with their past and present 
 idolatry, he strove to rouse them to better things ; and then, 
 remembering Zion, he wept — the slow unwilling tears wrung 
 from men's eyes when manhood's self gives way beneath 
 intolerable gxief. 
 
 Zion, lost Zion, the beautiful city, scene of his happy 
 childhood, how changed now! That day of horrors, when 
 he looked upon it last, will its hideous memory ever passi 
 from his brain I 
 
 Zion I — her walls cast down ; her streets resounding with 
 the tramp of armed men ; her palaces destroyed ; her Temple 
 in flames ; her boys and girls chained captives, driven away 
 by the fierce conquerors, striking back at the miserable 
 parents attempting to follow ; fathers with white lips cursing 
 their unnerved arms ; and shrieking mothers beseeching 
 some kindly sword to end their agony ! 
 
THE TEMPLE OF EZEKIEL S VISION. 419 
 
 " Remember Zion I" — well may tlie strong man weep ! 
 
 The harp-strings quiver beneath his hand, smitten across 
 with unmeasured force, wildly, passionately. Grand music 
 bursts from full vibrating chords, borne on the listening 
 waters, echoing far away, as with a trumpet's call it strikes 
 upon the startled ear of some degenerate countryman, bidding 
 him too '• remember Zion.'' So now the measure changes. 
 The unutterable sadness of the cry is piteous and tender as 
 a loving woman's reproach, 
 
 " Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye 
 die, O house of Israel ? why will ye die I " 
 
 " As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the 
 death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way 
 and live : turn ye, turn ye !" " Wliy will ye die ] " " Why 
 will ye die 1 " * 
 
 Again and again the sobbing notes go forth, till the harp 
 drops from his hands, the strong man trembling as a reed 
 before the blast. 
 
 The storm of passion has gone by. He snatches up the 
 harp again : he looks to heaven. The sunset splendours of 
 an Eastern sky stream on his face, and then — yet more 
 effulgent glories which are to come — the promised bright- 
 ness of Messiah's reign gleams on his spirit's raptured 
 sight. 
 
 Again the harp-strings speak, but tremblingly and low. 
 The vision is dim from excess of splendour. 
 
 But from amidst ineffiible light glimpses of glory are 
 vouchsafed to us. 
 
 On the "high mountain" the magnificent temple which 
 shall be built. 
 
 The healing waters, the great river of life. 
 
 The tree " whose leaf shall not fade," whose " leaf" shall 
 be " for medicine." 
 
 The city whose name shall be '' Jehovah-shammah," — 
 "The Lord is there." f 
 
 * Exfk. j.xxiii. 11 ; xviii. 31. f Ezck. xl. 2; xlvii. 9; xhii. 12; xlviii. ?,\ 
 
420 THE TEMPLE OF EZEKIEL S VISION. 
 
 THE TEMPLE OF THE VISION. 
 
 In the far East, on the western coast of Hindustan, tra- 
 vellers tell of a city of ruins. It has seemed to some as a 
 "city of enchantment:"* ruins of magnificent buildings, 
 luxuriant tropical vegetation on every side, but no signs of 
 human life. 
 
 Chief amongst those superb monuments of other days is 
 a stately cathedral. The massive walls remain of hewn 
 stone. The outline of the vast edifice may be distinctly 
 traced; the shape too of the windows is defined; but that is 
 all. It is roofless. There is no interior, no sculptured arch 
 or pillar of wood or stone; but instead, tall palm trees rise 
 at intervals. Their slender upright stems shoot high into 
 the air, bending their crowned heads each to each from either 
 side ; their plume-like branches meet and interlace ; while in 
 the intervals of space left by the palm-tree pillars shining 
 columns seem to stand. It is but the lustrous atmosphere 
 of tropical noonday, whose particles are like shredded gold. 
 
 Place a child within that grand skeleton; bid her look 
 upwards with dazzled eyes ; and then direct her tiny fingers 
 to build up yon stately edifice. 
 
 Even as that little child would know her task was hope- 
 less, so does the writer feci it impossible for her to trace, 
 from the grand outline revealed in Ezekiel's vision, the per- 
 fected whole of that magnificent temple. Nor would she 
 dare, through all its n^ysterious and shadowy revealings, to 
 pronounce upon its real and entire significance. 
 
 A grand outline is all that is given us. Strict measure- 
 ments; the length, width, height, foundation, and thickness 
 of the wall, exceeding greatly the size of Solomon's Temple. 
 But except the tables of "hewn stone" and the "altar of 
 wood " no materials are given. No brass or iron, marble or 
 fragrant woods, no gold or gems, no veil, no adornments are 
 spoken of; no " pomegranates," no " lily work," — -with one 
 
 * Bassein. . 
 
THE TEMPLE OF EZEKIEL S VISION. 421 
 
 only exception, and tliis one adornment is repecated again 
 and again, even as in tlie description of Solomon's Temple. 
 Each gate of the temple " had palm trees, one on this side, 
 and another on that side, upon the posts thereof." 
 
 In the house itself " from the ground unto above the door 
 were cherubims and palm trees made, and on the wall of the 
 house." t 
 
 In both temples, palm trees, as types of the righteous 
 children of light, are placed side by side with the shining 
 angels that stand before the throne of God. 
 
 Doubtless this temple is typical throughout, even as was 
 the former, of that spiritual temple building up around us, 
 though unseen, to be made visible in its fair perfection in 
 that day when the number of the elect shall be completed; 
 when the redeemed Church, as a bride adorned with her 
 jewels, shall be for ever united to her Lord. 
 
 But we also believe, with one of our most gifted and most 
 earnest-minded divines, J that this vision will be literally 
 fultilled, this temple actually built, and within its walls the 
 Messiah acknowledged by Jew^ as well as Gentile. 
 
 But the secrets of the future are with the Most High ; the 
 duties of every day are with ourselves. And ordinarily they 
 are very plainly set forth, or will be so, if with a true heart 
 we earnestly beseech his guidance. 
 
 Our lot, as yet, is in this lower world — a grand and 
 glorious temple, also, of our God, which iiis own hands have 
 fashioned and upraised. 
 
 The temple of the vision hath a home lesson for each of 
 us. The palm-tree pillars ask of us, are we as pillars here 1 
 Have we the upright stature of the palm tree, which alone 
 can fit us to be pillars here, and hereafter to be within the 
 gates and within the "house not made with hands, eternal 
 in the heavens?" That stature we cannot attain of our- 
 selves, but it shall be given to all who are firmly rooted in 
 faith. 
 
 ♦Ezek. xl. 26. t Ezek. xli. 20. $ '• Isiael's ruture." Ruv. Ctipel Molyneux. 
 
422 THE TEMPLE OF EZEKIEL's VISION. 
 
 Palm trees (the incomparable type of the rigliteous), in 
 both temples as pillars upholding the house of God, are 
 joined in their holy happy work with cherubim — shining 
 angels from the bright company of heaven. 
 
 Glad thought, but very solemn. Is our daily work fit 
 work for them ? In our goings out and our comings in dare 
 we desire their company ? 
 
 Would it be joy to us could a beam of light from the 
 unutterable glory of God's throne i -^veal to us close at our 
 side one in white robes, holy and pure, with clear angelic 
 eyes ? 
 
 We repeat those words by rote, "Thou God seest us." 
 Let us seek to realize them. Let us begin by realizing the 
 presence of his servants. Through the day-time's busy 
 haunts, through the night-hours' still repose, would we wish 
 to have angels always with us — to see them by our side, to 
 feel that our every thought, and word, and deed, was known 
 to them 1 
 
 AVould this be a glad thought to us 1 If so, happy are 
 we. We may then feel sure, however humble our daily 
 work may be, that we are doing God's work on earth, even 
 as the bright angels do his will in heaven. We may know 
 we are working together with them. 
 
 Death, which is the unveiling of the spiritual world, will 
 have no terrors for those who love to feel angel companion- 
 ship on earth. Ministering spirits are they, leading con- 
 querors through Christ to the Celestial City's gates of pearl. 
 
 Beyond the grave is the Tree of Life. Paradise regained 
 — the cherubim's flaming sword is sheathed — and those made 
 perfect in love shall stand equal in glory to those whose 
 name signifies " Fulness of knowledge." 
 
I^etbanp— *' '^)omt oi gates." 
 
 THE HOME OF THOSE THAT JESUS LOVED. 
 
 And lie entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha 
 
 received him Into lier liouse. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat 
 
 at Jesus' feet, and heard his word." — Luke x. 38, 39. 
 Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of JIary and 
 
 her sister Martha. Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus."— 
 
 JoHX xi. L 5. 
 
 j^E look not now to temples and to types — tlie 
 Saviour of mankind himself has come ! 
 
 Star-crowned Bethlehem has rejoiced in 
 the fulfilment of the promise made to her 
 seven centuries before, tliat slie should be 
 the earthly cradle of the Lord of Glory. The 
 home of David the shepherd-king was also 
 the appointed birth-place of the Good Shepherd, whose flock 
 should be gathered out of all nations, whose fold should be 
 the Paradise of heaven. 
 
 The moon-lit air of hill-side Bethlehem caught the sweet 
 echoes of the herald angels' song, — " Glory to God in the 
 highest; on earth, peace, good-will toward men." The star- 
 crowned village beheld the lovely Babe receive the homage 
 of the Eastern sages, types of the Gentile world, tlie wide 
 Christendom that was to be. 
 
 Nazareth looked on the child-Hfe of Jesus, " increasing in 
 wisdom and stature, in favour with God and man." 
 
 The wilderness witnessed the mystery of the Temptation. 
 The smiling shores of Galilee's bright sea, the streets of 
 Jerusalem, and all the cities and villages around, each in 
 
424 BETHANY — " HOUSE OF DATES," 
 
 tlieir turn, had been the scene of our Lord's gracious 
 ministry. 
 
 At length, in a " certain village," taking its name from its 
 groves of Date Palms, Jesus has found a home — a place of 
 temporary rest between his toilsome journeyings to and 
 fro! 
 
 Bethany, Village of Palms, thy glory has out-lived that of 
 the stately City of Palm-trees. Of Irhat-temarim, or Jericho, 
 the City of Moon-worship, not a stone remains to tell of its 
 " fenced walls."' 
 
 But Bethany, sweet \illage, snnlcs safely still. " A wild 
 mountain hamlet, screened by an intervening ridge from the 
 view of the top of Olivet, perched on its broken plateau of 
 rock, the last collection of liuman habitations before the 
 desert hills which reach to Jericho, this is the modern village 
 of El-Azarieh, which derives its name from its clustering 
 round the traditional site of the one house and grave which 
 give it an undying interest."* 
 
 Time hath passed lightly over the consecrated ground 
 where last the feet of Jesus trod — the home of those that 
 Jesus loved — the scene of his grandest miracle. With 
 reverent finger even the wild Arab points to the " rocky 
 knoll "' a little Avay out of the village, where a few stones, 
 unwilling to ftill away from the hallowed walls, are honoured 
 as the remains of the " House of Martha." 
 
 " The sepulchre is a deep vault, excavated in the limestone 
 rock in the middle of the village. This spot has been a 
 place of remarkable veneration in very early ages, the ' Crypt 
 of Lazarus ' behig mentioned in a.d. 333, and also by Jerome 
 about seventy years later, as the site of a church, successive 
 monasteries also having been built on it."t 
 
 A house and a grave — the wide wide world can give its 
 children nothing beside; but if like the house of Bethany it 
 be a home for Jesus — and like the grave of Bethany, the 
 
 * Stanley's "Sinai and Palestine." 
 
 t Roberts' "Holy Land," quoting from ancient authors. 
 
BETUAXY— " HOUSE OF DATES." 425 
 
 sleepiug-place of Jesus' friend, unspeakably blessed shall 
 both of them be ! 
 
 Hallowed by the past, for palm-crowned Bethany there 
 are glimpses of a glorious future revealed. 
 
 When the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the "midst," an 
 '* highway shall be there," the " way of holiness ; the 
 unclean shall not pass over it," but " the ransomed of the 
 Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs, and ever- 
 lasting joy upon their heads" (Isa. xxxv, 8-10). 
 
 This new highway for the feet of the righteous must pass 
 by the Village of Palms. The great ri\-er of healing waters, 
 traced in Ezekiel's vision ■" as issuing from under the thresh- 
 old of the magnificent temple '''eastward," where its brimming 
 banks are described as overshadowed by unfading trees, takes 
 its course by the palm groves of Bethany.f How fit it 
 seems that so it should be ! — the Saviour's glory first re- 
 vealed on the only spot on earth where duteous love ever 
 welcomed him — where, parted from those he loved in the 
 act of blessing them, he should first return to consummate 
 the blessing. 
 
 From palm groves restored to happy Bethany, rejoicing 
 multitudes shaU gather once more homage-branches to strew 
 in his path, whom all the nations of the earth shall then 
 acknowledge as their King. 
 
 Ah, would that Bethany's palm groves, living still, could 
 have kept for us the tender lessons they heard, — no jarring 
 note of sneering scribe to mar their heavenly harmony; could 
 display to us the pictures they beheld, — no scowl of envious 
 Pharisee to darken the light of those hallowed home-scenes. 
 
 We weep when we remember Zion; we cannot but love 
 Jerusalem ; but our love is saddened by reproach, and heart- 
 aches mingle with our memories of her. 
 
 • Ezek. xlvii. 1-12, 
 
 t In acknowledging lier deep obligations to the author of " Memories of Bethany " 
 for that and many pievious inestimable works of his, the writer desires to say that 
 the whole of this chapter was sketched out before she saw his far more complete work 
 on the same subject. 
 
4:2G BETHANY—" HOUSE OF DATES.'' 
 
 As the gentle Saviour traversed lier streets, tlie shadows 
 of malicious scribes and Pharisees, " laying wait for him," 
 gloom ever behind, the picture continually darkening to the 
 end. Sorrows endured for us — fierce cries and hideous 
 jnockery — the purjile robe and crown of thorns— till on the 
 cross the Sacrifice complete — earth is convulsed and heaven 
 itself obscured. 
 
 But the palm groves of Bethany are bathed in light; 
 sun-lit the quiet village lives in our memory. 
 
 An earthly home was Bethany, so sorrow's foot-prints must 
 be there — sorrow, and tears, and a sepulchre. But it was 
 sorrow tliat had hope in the end; they were the tears of 
 those that Jesus loved, and of the compassionate Saviour 
 himself, as the dew of heaven watering the earth that it 
 should bring forth good fruit; and the sepulchre was an 
 opened sepulchre. 
 
 None need shudder to look within: from thence streams 
 forth a radiance as of the Morning Star, heralding the fuller 
 glory of Easter Morn. 
 
 Bethlehem's air is resonant with the sweet notes of an 
 angel choir — the birth-song of the infant Christ; but over 
 Bethany still sweeter melody for ever floats — the last accents 
 of the risen Saviour : the cross endured, the grave rent, the 
 ransom completed, the victory won ! 
 
 Palm-crowned Bethany, redolent of peace and joy, in 
 thought we travel back to that far off story of thine. With 
 the sisters we stand at the house-door, or go fortli upon the 
 road which leads from Jerusalem, swift-footed and with strain- 
 ing eyes, eager to catch the first glimpse of the coming 
 Saviour. 
 
 Do we so watch for him even now in our own homes ? If 
 we do, he will surely enter there and abide with us, 
 
 "A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief," up that 
 long ascent he journeys, heart-weary and foot-sore, after the 
 long day's thankless toil. But home peace awaits him at 
 Bethany. As they issue from beneath the palms, the 
 
HOUSE OF DATES." 427 
 
 Saviour smiles to recognise from afor tlie sisters and Lazarus, 
 his "friend." 
 
 Good trees bringing forth good fruit : how significant are 
 the SAveet fruits of tlie Syrian pahn tree of the lovely lives 
 of those dwellers in the House of Dates ! 
 
 The ui)right trees, crowned with abundance of pleasant 
 fruit, are the more forcibly brought to mind from the contrast 
 they afford to the evil tree farther off on the road to Jeru- 
 salem. The barren fig-tree, with its false show of leaves — 
 accursed; a double warning of impending doom — to the 
 traitor Judas, present at the time, and the hypocrite Pharisee 
 rulers of that nation whose deserved ruin was at hand. 
 
 Who has not imagined to themselves that opening scene 
 at Bethany? Martha hurrying to and fro, in her haste 
 growing impatient, in her impatience becoming unjust; — 
 gentle and pure-hearted Mary, child-like, sitting the while 
 at Jesus' feet. The silent service of an entirely devoted 
 heart was incomprehensible to one like Martha, who only re- 
 cognised the visible, the outward service of her hands and feet. 
 
 She loved the Lord, but not with the high and holy love 
 of her sister's more exalted nature. In Mary's perfect love 
 all thought of self was lost. Did her sister, in her ungentle 
 haste, seek to bring on her the reproach of her Master? 
 She attempted no self-defence. In his hands to whom she 
 had given her heart she left her cause, and nobly was her 
 trust redeemed. 
 
 Could we but think so, how often is it our " strength to 
 sit still : " 
 
 We murmur when our words are wrested, our actions mis- 
 understood; but if we always "sat at Jesus' feet," we should 
 learn meekness, even as sweet Mary of Bethany learned. 
 
 Like the dove of old, she held her path above tlie troubled 
 waters of life's anxious cares. The tossing spray might 
 fleck her shining wings, but had no power to weigh them 
 down or stay her buoyant flight 
 
 But Martha fluni^ herself into the surging waves. Safely 
 
428 BETHAXY 
 
 to walk a sea of worldly care demands an especial gift of 
 grace. Too often, like Peter, thinking ourselves strong, we 
 go fortli seeking for trials of faith which are be3^ond our 
 strength. If we wait till Jesus, unasked, bids us come, tlien 
 M'ill his right Land hold us up. 
 
 AVe read of no repetition of either of ^Martlia's grievous 
 faults. We may feel sure the sisters of Bethany were both 
 amongst the weeping daughters of Jerusalem tliat lingered 
 at the cross, that hastened to the sepulchre. 
 
 From their own village Martha and Mary may have beheld 
 the glories of the Ascension ; and we may well believe that, 
 in such solemn scenes, the character of Martha would be 
 spiritualized and enabled to realize the invisible. In tlie felt 
 presence of her glorified Master, she would diligently seek 
 to disencumber herself of all that hindered her running the 
 race set before her, so that when the angel messenger came,: 
 repeating to her her own old words, " The Master is come, and 
 calleth for thee," she would joyously, with good hope, arise 
 to meet her dear Lord in heaven. 
 
 Another picture from the home in the Village of Palms : 
 Love's offering, mixed with faith — the " alabaster box of 
 very precious ointment," the fragrance of which has gone 
 forth into all lands, a witness for the truth of God's word. 
 
 " She hath done what she could." Gracious words ! Oft 
 have they stayed the tears of disappointed hope, and com- 
 forted, in baffled hearts, the fruitless yearnings of impulsive 
 zeal. Through all time they shall be as music to all loving 
 and lowly spirits. 
 
 Though man's stern judgment may contemn, Jesus still 
 sees and graciously accepts all that we offer of our best. 
 
 Faith crowned the offering of Clary's love, as in the world's 
 earliest days it made the excellence of the sacrifice of Abel's 
 lamb. 
 
 The nature of her offering, and the time chosen, evidenced 
 in her a faith surpassing even that of the Lord's disciples — 
 faith in him as the atonement soon to be offered up for the 
 
BETHANY— ' HOUSE OF DATES. 429 
 
 sins of the whole world. Peter shrank from the mention of 
 the coming cross ; but JMary in spirit went forth to meet it. 
 Her woman's tender heart made strong by love, she tear- 
 lessly anointed her dear Lord for his burial; — in that she 
 poured it on his head, anointing him also as a king. 
 
 Repentant Magdalene dared only anoint the Saviour's feet, 
 mingling the ointment with her tears, wiping them, even as 
 Mary did, with her long dishevelled hair, unbound — with 
 Eastern women a token of grief. 
 
 Again was gentle Mary reproved for a misconstrued act of 
 love. Painful must have been her surprise at the disciples* 
 "indignation;" but her Lord's approval soon changed her 
 distress into joy. Again she had left her cause in his hands. 
 
 But we linger too long at the home. Death and the grave 
 await us without. But the grave of Bethany is the triumph 
 of the Christian mourners, even as the tears of Bethany are 
 their best comforters. 
 
 At Bethanj^, Jesus, as conqueror, stood before the gates of 
 the stronghold of the King of Terrors. In his own citadel 
 of the grave the Lord of Life grappled with Death, and from 
 the jaws of the sepulchre the bound prey was wrested forth. 
 
 The stone was rolled back by human hands. Even in the 
 exercise of faith, obedience taught to use all possible means. 
 
 At Christ's own sepulchre the stone was rolled away by 
 angel hands unseen, for earthly might was powerless there. 
 
 From Bethany's grave Lazarus came forth, to be his sis- 
 ters' comforter in the dark hours near at hand — to be a wit 
 ness and a reminder to them, to himself, and to all the 
 world, of the almighty power of Him who "for a little while" 
 they should not see. 
 
 Ls there a Christian home where tears have not fallen on 
 the Bible page that tells of Lazarus' grave ? 
 
 In our island race how often are the "graves of the house- 
 hold'' not in our own villages, but far apart ! North and 
 south, east and west, earth holds the lumps of clay where 
 once so brightly s'tione the light of many an English home. 
 
430 BETHANY— HOUSE OF DATES. 
 
 It may be that with some of us a palm-crowned island of 
 the West has been even as the palm groves of Bethany to the 
 sisters of Lazarus. There our darling may have been laid 
 down in the full flush of manhood's early prime. 
 
 Not for us, like those glad sisters, to see the lieavy stone 
 that had crushed all gladness from our hearts rolled back 
 from the brother's grave. 
 
 Not for us to see the wrappings of the tomb unwound 
 from the beloved form — to see, as they saw, the dear eyes 
 smile again — to hear, as they heard, the joyous voice once more. 
 
 The palm trees of the West droop over the still shut 
 grave. Only at heaven's gate shall the tender brother's 
 voice be heard again. 
 
 The cold marble is unconscious of farewell kisses and tears ; 
 but the sacred words engraved thereon enter into the mourners' 
 hearts. Still, still do the Saviour's words sound sweet, — 
 
 "I am the Resurrection and the Life : he that believeth 
 on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live " (John xi. 25). 
 
 Sorrowing sisters, our "brother shall rise again."' 
 
 The sweet name of Bethany may be lost in the modern 
 name of the village — El-Aziriyeh (from El-Azir, Arah.^ 
 "Lazarus."*) Its palm groves, too, may have passed away 
 for a time. But so long as a Christian household exists, the 
 one house ajid the one grave of the Yilla.sje of Palms will 
 live imperishably in loving hearts. 
 
 Were it only for the remembrance tliat its evergreen 
 branches overshadowed the opened sepulchre of Litzarus, the 
 palm tree would be dear to the followers of Him who hath 
 redeemed us from the power of the grave. 
 
 The Date Palm, the Phoenix of the ancient Greeks, spoke 
 to them through a fable of a bird rising from death to 
 life. The descendants of the Syrian palm trees, as living 
 witnesses, speak to us of a reality — of the risen man they 
 beheld. 
 
 * Roberts' "Holy Land." 
 
Cb lalm Wxmxcb of (garflr. 
 
 CHRIST S TRIUMPHAL EXTRY INTO JERUSALEM. 
 
 On the next day much people that Avere come to the feast, when they heard that 
 Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of pcdm trees, and went forth to 
 meet him, and cried, Hosannal Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in 
 the name of the Lord."— John xii. 12, ID. 
 
 ^T is a rugged mountain path. The soil is rocky. 
 Loose stones heaped together here and there 
 make it a toilsome road to pass over. To the 
 left the ground falls suddenly away, but the 
 steep declivity looks fair. Fig trees, with 
 broad leaves of glistening green, clothe and 
 conceal its slippery sides. On many of these 
 full-leafed trees there is no fruit ; they are barren. On the 
 right slopes upward from the rugged road a lovely mount. 
 The fragrant myrtle, tlie fruitful olive and palm tree, make 
 it a garden of delight.'"' 
 
 But see ! two mighty crowds are streaming t(3 the spot 
 from oi^posite sides — a joyous and triumphant multitude. 
 Their shouts are those of victory, and the symbols of victory 
 —palm branches — are in their hands. 
 
 They have met — the j^eople from the city, the people from 
 the village. But one spirit influences both. Their mingled 
 shouts are pealing to the skies ; they cast their palm branches 
 of homage to the ground ; they spread their garments in the 
 Avay; and again and again the rocks give back their loud, ex- 
 ultant cry. 
 
 * Again, for the picture of the road from whicli her sketch is taken, the writer 
 acknowledges her obligation to the author of " Sinai and Palestine." 
 
432 THE PALM BEAXCH OF EARTH. 
 
 Who is that they greet? Palm branches are for victory. 
 A conqueror ? 
 
 There looks no conqueror there. One rides, but meek and 
 lowly. He sits on an ass's colt. 
 
 Those that ride on white asses, says the song of Deborah 
 the prophetess, are those who " sit in judgment." 
 
 A judge? 
 
 Nay, but he hath no guards, no retinue. A few poor 
 men press lovingly around him, gazing upon his countenance 
 with eager looks, although his "visage is marred," — " a man 
 of sorrow^s, and acquainted with grief." 
 
 See, now, the winding of the road reveals Jerusalem, the 
 holy city, and the cry of the rejoicing multitude rends the 
 air : " Hosanna to the Son of David ! Blessed is he that 
 cometh in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the 
 highest!" 
 
 Son of David? of the royal race? a judge? a conqueror? — 
 a king ? Ay, Lord of lords, and King of kings ! the Prince 
 of Peace— Christ, the anointed !— Messiah — Saviour — God ! 
 
 Who is He ? The mighty dead, one of IsraeFs own pro- 
 phets, shall tell thee ; a voice which nearly five centuries 
 before had gone forth! Long had its echoes slept; but 
 now they wake again, and roll their living thunders on each 
 startled ear ! 
 
 " Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion ; shout, O daughter 
 of Jerusalem : behold, thy King cometh unto thee. He is 
 just, and having salvation ; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and 
 upon a colt, the foal of an ass." * 
 
 Thy King, O Zion ! thy Eedeemer — " Shepherd of Israel" 
 — " Star of Jacob" — the Sun of Pdghteousness which should 
 arise with healing on his wings." 
 
 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would He '-have gathered 
 thy children" under those saving wings ! but thou " wouldest 
 not;" and now that at length ye are moved to say, " Bless- 
 ed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord," the 
 
 ♦ Zech. ix. 10. 
 
THE PALM BRANCH OF EARTH. 433 
 
 end drawetli near. The hour is at hand when the Son of 
 man shall be betrayed into the hands of sinners. 
 
 Christ cometh as a conqueror to meet the cross ; for on 
 the accursed tree his victory shall be completed. Death 
 swallowed up in victory, risen from the sepulchre, Christ 
 shall become " the first-fruits of them that sleep." " As in 
 Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive." 
 
 Shout, then, ye sons and daughters of Jerusalem, and 
 clap your hands, ye little ones whom Jesus bade come unto 
 him, for in him " your redemption drawetli nigh." 
 
 Those gracious feet that went about doing good— those 
 kindly hands which, laid upon the sick, had relieved them 
 from their suffering — they must be wounded unto death for 
 you. The tender voice that ever spoke to cheer, to comfort, 
 and to teach " things which belong to everlasting peace," ere 
 long will utter that bitter cry at the sound of which the 
 shuddering rocks shall be cleft, and the face of nature be 
 darkened with dismay. 
 
 So gather around him tenderly now, all ye whom his 
 never-failing compassion has so often caused to rejoice. And 
 ye most blessed little ones, who have been taken to his 
 arms, well may your grateful mothers, lifting you up on high, 
 clasp your tiny fingers round the palm leaf ye too shall w^ave 
 in his honour. 
 
 Look ye all upon him tenderly, and from swelling hearts 
 let the cry of welcome go forth pealing aloud, to meet the 
 answering homage of the sky. 
 
 A day of triumph, closed in tears, in pitying tears, Jeru- 
 salem, for thee, who gave one little day of gratitude to Him 
 whose life w^as the ensample, whose death the ransom of the 
 W'hole world. . 
 
 The Babe of Bethlehem in his cradle received the 
 liomage of the Gentile world, presented through the 
 Eastern sages, who, in their offerings of myrrh, gold, and 
 frankincense, confessed him to be Saviour, King, and 
 God. 
 
 in 28 
 
434 THE TALM BRANCH OF EARTH. 
 
 Judea's homage, latest tlien, even as it tarries now, was, 
 when it came, significant also. 
 
 Palm branches unto Him, sole "covert" in life's wilder- 
 ness. 
 
 Palm branches, telling of the desert's saving springs, to 
 Him the fountain of living water. 
 
 Palm branches carried by all partakers in the Feast of 
 Tabernacles, in double remembrance of Succoth, their first 
 night of freedom, and of the City of Palm-trees, their first 
 possession in the Promised Land — to Him who, though they 
 knew it not, was the true Joshua through whom alone they 
 could enter the heavenly Canaan 
 
 The woman of Canaan herself might lay at her Deliverer's 
 feet the palm branch, of universal significance in all lands, 
 as a token of gladness, and light, and victory. 
 
 Pass on, rejoicing multitude ; ay, even to the temple 
 gates conduct in triumph your anointed King. 
 
 Ah, sorrowful thought! but five days hence — ere those 
 lovely palm branches have withered on the road — the cry of 
 the multitude will have changed. To-day they repeat the 
 angels' song, " Hosanna in the highest;" then it will be as 
 the hideous cry of fiends, " Away with him, away with 
 him, crucify him." 
 
 " Away" with the Lord of light and life — teacher, friend, 
 physician, shepherd, priest, and king ! " Away" with Jesus, 
 and give unto us Barabbas ! 
 
 Christians, as we have been called from infancy, our baby 
 brows marked with the cross, 
 
 " In token that we should not fear 
 Christ crucified to own," 
 
 do we ever choose Barabbas rather than the holy Jesus ? 
 Do we not, whenever we choose to serve Mammon rather 
 than God? Do we not, whenever we knowingly, wilfully 
 turn away from the pure and perfect law of God, to follow 
 the devices of our own hearts, whose imaginations are evil 
 continually 1 
 
THE PALM BRANCH OF EAKTH, 435 
 
 Ah ! too often, we fear, some who have followed the Lord 
 to the temple on God's holy day, and there carried the pahn 
 branch of praise to do him honour, have changed their cry 
 ere the week has come romid, almost as madly as the blind 
 Jews. 
 
 Hosannas and palm branches forgotten, they have bowed 
 down to the golden image that a stionger than Nebuchad- 
 nezzar sets up in the busy marts of men. 
 
 How strangely agitated by this thrilling and unexpected 
 scene must the loving disciples of our Lord have been ! Those 
 shouts of welcome, that homage as to a conqueror and king, 
 how unreal it must have seemed ! They had companioned 
 with him in poverty and peril, on the l(3nely mountain, on 
 the storm-tossed sea: they had been with him when the 
 Gadarenes besought him to "depart;" when the people of 
 the village in Samaria would "not receive him;" twice in 
 Jerusalem they had seen "stones" taken up to "cast at 
 him ; " but never before had he been acknowledged as king. 
 
 As Christ the consoler, the sick and the sorrowful had 
 crowded about him; but now they came not for healing or 
 help, but only to do him honour. 
 
 We read, " These things understood not his disciples at 
 the first." Even to them, the chosen followers of Jesus, 
 many things were dark till the bright rising of the Easter 
 Sun. To them the glad light streaming from the unsealed 
 sepulchre was as the dawn of a new day. " The stone was 
 rolled away,'' and the fountain of living waters sprang up. 
 Taught by their risen Lord himself, they then discovered the 
 well-springs of truth in e'^ery Scripture page. 
 
 They have recorded for us the lessons they received ; 
 and again and ligain, through the long sadness of the 
 Holy Week we catch the echo of Palm Sunday's joyous cry, 
 till bursts the full harmony of Easter morn — "Christ is 
 
 risen 
 
 The early Christian Church received the palm branch as a 
 type of the resurrection — victory over the grave. Emblem 
 
436 THE PALM BRANCH OF EARTH. 
 
 also of light, we Avill bear it about -with us tlirougb the week 
 from one Sun-day to the next. 
 
 Pilgrims of old, when bound for the Holy Laud, chose for 
 their staffs the wood of the hallowed palm tree. While it 
 supported their sometimes sinking steps, it reminded them of 
 their vow to fulfil the enterprise they had undertaken — a 
 palmer's vow, which could not be abandoned. 
 
 Are we not bound by our baptismal vows to set our faces 
 Zionwards 1 As pilgrim pahners seeking the heavenly Jeru- 
 salem, shall we not cherish the palm branch ] The moun- 
 tain path is rugged and steep by which we must go to meet 
 our Lord; but if our staff be from the uprising tree, it will 
 be both strong and straight, and will never fail us. 
 
 The ever green branch, type of many a holy truth, may be 
 our sweet remembrancer upon earth of the ensign of victory we 
 hope one day to receive at the hands of Christ the conqueror. 
 
 Again and again did the watchman of the night, in the 
 old dispensation, take up the warning cry, " Prepare ye the 
 way of the Lord." The prophet of the Highest caught the 
 glad echo from the last of the prophets of the law, " Pre- 
 pare ye the way of the Lord." 
 
 And still, albeit unheard by many amidst the din and 
 tumult of an over-busy world, the warning cry goes forth ; 
 not as yet trumpet-tongued, but as a " still small voice, ' in 
 which the Lord is.' " He speaks to every child of man. To 
 all He says, " What dost thou here 1 " " Prepare to meet 
 thy God." 
 
 Yet again, hark ! '*' Every tree tliat bringeth not forth good 
 fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire." 
 
 The duteous Earth keeps watch. The rolling seasons, as 
 they pass, behold her fulfilling the work assigned to her; 
 supplying fit food for the vegetable creation, so that each 
 tree may perfect its bud and flower, its frait and seed. 
 
 The crowned trees keep watch. They watch from tlie 
 mountain-tops; watch from sea-girdled isles; A^atch from 
 
THE PALM BRANCH OF EARTH. 
 
 437 
 
 crowded forests ; watch from fair garden homes ; from arid 
 deserts watch ; heedfiiUy, lovingly, all watch. 
 
 Some keep a double watch. The Desert Palms have silver 
 wells to watch; hidden springs, unsealed at times to slake 
 some wanderer's burning thirst ; but still the music of their 
 gushing streams is held back. Xot yet these crystal waters 
 may be loosed to flow abroad and swell creation's harmonies 
 of praise. Not yet. But the Desert Palms keep watch. 
 
 For yet again : " The desert shall prepare a highway for 
 our God." " The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all 
 flesh shall see it together." 
 
 Then shall " the Vvilderness and the solitary place be glad." 
 " The desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose." 
 
 For " in the wilderness shall waters break out, and 
 streams in the desert." " And the ransomed of the Lord 
 shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting 
 joy upon their heads; and sorrow and sighing shall flea 
 away."* 
 
 A Festival of Palms is yet to come ! 
 
 * I?a. 3xxr. 1, 6, 10. 
 
^t f rfm llranA nf feafam. 
 
 Lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, 
 and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed 
 with white robes, and palnis in their hands."— Rev. vii. 9. 
 
 |HE upright crowned tree, typical below of high 
 and holy truths, is at length glorified above. 
 
 Him that overcometh is made partaker in 
 Paradise regained of the Tree of Life. 
 
 Conquerors through Christ carry in their 
 
 hands the palm branch of victory and gladness. 
 
 A close and intimate connection runs through 
 
 the whole of the analogies suggested by this 
 
 sacred tree. The Jl'rst mention of it is most significantly 
 
 linked with the last. 
 
 In the Feast of Tabernacles, not only v/ere the leafy booths 
 or coverts in which the children of Israel were to dwell for 
 seven days, woven of " boughs of goodly trees, branches of 
 palm trees," '"' with " willows of the brook," but all who took 
 part in the festival also carried in their right hands a palm 
 branch entwined with willow and myrtle. 
 
 A foreshadowing, it would seem, of the heavenly palms 
 which the " great multitude" shall carry in their hands. 
 
 It has been noticed how clearly the three great feasts or- 
 dained by God for his people to observe, are connected with 
 the ingathering of the fruits of the earth in different seasons, 
 which were to be offered up with thanksgiving to Him from 
 whom all good gifts come. In each of these festivals a 
 deeper meaning may be discerned. 
 
 * Lev. xxiii. 42. 
 
THE PALM JJllANCH OF HEAVEX. 439 
 
 The first was the Feast of the Passover, or " Feast of Un- 
 leavened Bread." It was when the lamb without blemish 
 was slain. All were to partake of it with girded loins, shoes 
 on the feet, and staff in hand, as men attired for a journey. 
 Well for us if in life's journey we go in the strength of that 
 meat — feeding on the unleavened Bread of Life. 
 
 " On the morrow after the Sabbath," the sheaf of the first- 
 fruits of the harvest (barley harvest) was to be waved before 
 the Lord. •' Or the morrow after the Sahhath, which was 
 "an high day," succeeding the sacrifice on the Cross, our 
 Eastern Morn beheld the " first-fruits" of the " resurrection 
 of the dead," even Christ our Lord. 
 
 The second was the Feast of Pentecost, counting fifty days 
 from the " Feast of Weeks," counting " seven Sabbaths" from 
 the Feast of the Passover, t On it the first-fruits of " wheat" 
 harvest — " bread of the first-fruits" baked with leaven— were 
 to be offered to the Lord. The deeper meaning of this festi- 
 val has also been fulfilled, when on the Day of Pentecost, our 
 Whit Sunday, by the descent of the Holy Ghost, marvellous 
 gifts were vouchsafed to the apostles. 
 
 The preaching of Peter was followed by the conversion of 
 "three thousand souls" in one day. A noble "first-fruits" 
 of the multitude of many nations which should be gathered 
 in. The kingdom of heaven likened unto leaven — these 
 loaves of fine flower baked with leaven — a promise of the 
 far-spread leavening there should be. These loaves of bread 
 of the first-fruits were as the loaves which fed the five thou- 
 sand, besides women and children, of which no fra^-ments 
 should be lost. 
 
 The third, the Feast of Tabernacles, was the gladdest of 
 all : then were they especially bidden to " rejoice before the 
 Lord", \ as well they might, remembrancer as it was of 
 their escape from captivity, even as the Passover was of 
 
 * Lev. xxiii. 11, 10, t Erod xxxiv. 22; Jcr. xxiii. 15, xx. 17. J Lev. xxiii. 40. 
 
440 THE PALM BKAN'CH OF HEAVEX. 
 
 clelivej-aiice from death. To it Avas also joined a special 
 service in remembrance of their first possession in the Land 
 of Promise: carrying palm branches in their hands, the 
 worshijjpers passed before the altar seven times, trumpets 
 sounding the while. And yet again the Feast of Taber- 
 nacles included thanksgiving for the ingathering of the har- 
 vest, when they should have gathered in their labours. 
 
 The first two feasts as fulfilled in gospel festivals, are re- 
 membered ever by the Christian Church. But let us not 
 forget the third glad feast, though it has as yet had no an- 
 swering festival amongst the followers of Christ. How 
 could it have, when as yet unfulfilled is the promise made to 
 (.dl God's labourers, that "he that soweth to the Spirit" 
 should " of the Spirit reap life everlasting." '"' 
 
 Many who have "sown in tears" have "reaped in joy;" 
 many labourers have entered into their rest, dying in the 
 Lord. But not yet is the harvest fully ripe. Many labour 
 yet — planting, watering — praying God to give the increase. 
 Glorious thought, — " labourers together with God ! " 
 
 The Feast of Tabernacles — the feast of the ingathering of 
 the fruits of the earth, which was in the end of the year — 
 the month ushered in by the Feast of Trumpets — it has not 
 yet come to the followers of Christ. 
 
 But shall not the palm branches, carried in the hands of 
 all who took part in the Jewish feast — "palm branches en- 
 twined with willow^ and myrtle" — tell us when it shall be 
 gloriously fulfilled?" Partly foreshadowed in Christ's 
 triumphal entry into Jerusalem, this feast of gjrcat joy, will 
 it not find its complete fulfilment when, at the bidding of 
 the crowned Lord of the harvest, "He who sits on a 
 cloud" shall thrust in his sickle on the earth, "and the earth 
 shall be reaped." t 
 
 Wheat and tares — children of liglit, children of darkness. 
 
 At that great harvest-time, when the everlasting "covert" 
 shall be gained, the " more perfect tabernacle not made with 
 
 * Gal. vi. 8. t Hcv. xiv. lo, Kf. 
 
THE PALM BRANCH OF HEAVEN. 441 
 
 hands"* then shall the "Feast of Tabernacles," the Festival of 
 Palms, be fulfilled. With joy unspeakable, all who shall take 
 part therein, " clothed in white robes," shall carry " palms 
 in their hands," crying hosanna to their King ! 
 
 But will the glorious palm branch be given to all who at 
 the sound of the trumpet shall arise to judgment ? 
 
 Does the coward, the deserter, the rebel, find favour at 
 an earthly monarch's hands? 
 
 Our Queen's cross only rests on brave and loyal breasts. 
 Victoria's precious badge is only for the valiant and the true ! 
 
 Dare any think more lightly of the King of kings ? Is 
 the faint, faltering service of half-hearted loyalty meet offer- 
 ing for him I 
 
 No common courage or constancy must be theirs who 
 press forward to gain an everlasting prize. No common 
 victory is theirs. In earnest and entire devotedness to God, 
 striving through faith in Christ to overcome the wiles of the 
 devil, the temptations of the world, the evil of their OAvn hearts. 
 
 But to " him that overcometh" will be given of *' the Tree of 
 Life." t Ensign of victory, how blessed none upon earth can 
 know I We read of " gates of pearl" and " streets" of shining 
 "gold;" of the "crystal river," and the "sapphire throne." 
 Dazzling imagery, indeed ; but oh, how faint and dim are all 
 earthly images will be seen in that day when the transcendent 
 glories of " the kingdom prepared from the foundation of 
 the world" shall be made known to those who hear the joyful 
 words, " Come, ye blessed of my Father I " 
 
 Oiir chief joy will be the presence of the Giver of all joy. 
 
 But may we not, in all humility, be permitted to imagine 
 to ourselves also the perfection of every happiness, the com- 
 plete fulfilment of all desires, according with the excellency 
 of the Divine Nature ] 
 
 Does it not seem accordant to divine wisdom and love that 
 every better property of our human nature, purified here and 
 fitted for the atmosphere above, shall in our future home find 
 
 * Heb. ix. 11. t Hcv. ii. 7. 
 
442 THE PAL-M BRANCH OF HEAVEN. 
 
 their glad development, their appointed exercise in unspeak- 
 able joy ? 
 
 Affection and intellect both, here sanctified, be there 
 glorified, even as the seraphim and cherubim are supposed 
 to signify angels excelling in love and in knowledge. 
 
 The bliss of love perfected and imperishable, all can un- 
 derstand : human hearts leap up to catch the music-echoes of 
 tlie word. May we not hope that all that is pure and holy 
 in earthly affections, perfected in glorified spirits, will remain, 
 to add another source to the unspeakable bliss of heaven] 
 A shining exhalation as it were, " a mist from the earth," 
 as in the old Paradise, going up to water " the whole face of 
 the ground," brightening the flowers of the Paradise above. 
 
 And there is bliss in knowledge, too, which in heaven shall 
 be inseparably joined with love. We cannot certainly know 
 of what nature, but we can feel how bright, how wide those 
 fields of knowledge must be, which lie beyond the eternal 
 gates. Even on earth, where some degree of toil must be 
 connected witb it, there are many who have a quiet but deep 
 joy in acquiring knowledge, an exquisite though silent de- 
 light in each new source of high and noble thoughts — golden 
 keys unlocking treasure chambers without end. 
 
 Have w^e not read of, or perchance may even know of 
 some whose pleasure in study is so intense that their book- 
 room is to them the world. 
 
 There, all unconsciously, they grow old, grey hairs and 
 wrinkles gather on their brows unfelt. Absorbed in Learn- 
 ing s wide and noble pursuits, tracking events, footprints of 
 history in the grand march of centuries gone by, they wot 
 not how, with mufiled feet. Time swiftly steals around 
 their own arm-chair the narrowing circle of their appointed 
 days. 
 
 Such precious treasures of thought are contained in books 
 that miser-sages are content to contemplate them for their 
 own sakes, — they do not care to circulate their hoards. 
 But to otliers, wealth of all kinds looks dim unsunned in 
 
THE PALM BRANCH OF HEAVEN. 443 
 
 heaven's light : to them the tiniest wells of knoAvledge seem 
 more blessed when unsealed and flowing abroad. If the lips 
 of one little child has tasted with pleasure of its cool clear 
 drops, no rivulet has sparkled in vain. 
 
 This bright bright world of ours, how fair it is 1 But 
 brighter, fairer far, the boundless expanse over which angelic 
 visions range. The starry splendours of our night to them 
 are countless worlds, moving harmonious in their bidden 
 spheres — a radiant company of peopled orbs. We may not 
 prove it, but love doubts 'not that the extremest ends of space 
 are vocal to the Almighty's praise. 
 
 While fiery comets are dumb to us, and to our sages' eager 
 questionings the dazzling strangers will vouchsafe no answer 
 — to men their origin, their errand, and their end unknown — 
 angelic eyes may track their shining course. Wise purposes 
 are revealed to them where all is mystery to us, for they can 
 read the " writing on the wall." 
 
 Yet, oh ! not wholly dnmb to us is the comet's glittering 
 sign — God's finger-mark upon the sky. Some message it 
 must have to every child of earth; of joy to some — another 
 glorious creation from a Father's hand; to others a startling 
 wonder — a bewilderincr thin^ of dread. 
 
 In the bright realms above, all Wisdom's paths, though 
 measureless, are sure. The wisest here are sometimes bafiled 
 in their search, and some attractive road has scarce been 
 opened up ere mists arise, and the vexed wanderer has to 
 retrace his steps. Nature has mysteries to which no human 
 hand may ever find the clue ; but in the light of God's pres- 
 ence all that is fjood and beautiful and true will be made 
 clear to us. 
 
 And Love, how boundless are her spheres of joy ! to com- 
 mune with the glad company of glorified spirits, the great 
 redeemed family of earth— all that in human form has been 
 noblest, wisest, best, and dearest. 
 
 To commune with angels, offspring of light ! To us it 
 may be given to share tlieir glorious tasks— on shining 
 
414 THE PALM BRANCH OF HEAVEN. 
 
 wings to speed off to far-off worlds that we call stars, doing 
 the bidding of our Lord ! Or, dearer still, appealing to our 
 old sympathies, on glad commissions sent to homes of earth ! 
 
 Even in our own old homes a gracious God may give us 
 work to do for Him — works of joy unmixed with fear of 
 failure. No human imperfections then will mar Love's ser- 
 vice; no blinded eyes from quickly starting tears; no ears 
 bewildered by heart-beats that are too loud and fast. Angels 
 of little ones, we may in heaven behold our " Father's- face," 
 having on earth the sweet task to guide an infant's steps into 
 the path which leads to the eternal throne. Unseen to kiss 
 the childish tears away, to soothe the childish grief, to be 
 beside when tempting fiends draw near, bidding the little 
 heart " be true," " be brave ;" and when the victory is gained, 
 see joyfully the dark shapes depart. Then, at our Master's 
 bidding, plant in the sweet bosom of the babe the " good 
 seed," which shall " spring up" and bear fruit "an hundred 
 fold." Oh, in the service of a God of love how countless 
 and how various may be the kindly offices vouchsafed us to 
 perform ! 
 
 It maybe ours to rouse a fainting Hagar in the wilderness, 
 and through some human hand point out the fountain of 
 pure water, the stream of eternal life. 
 
 Or, on the eve of battle against fearful odds, to strengthen 
 the heart of some grand old warrior, like Joshua of old, like 
 our Havelock of yesterday (whose proud motto was Jidelitur)^ 
 —to show him unsheathed the glittering sword of the Lord 
 of Hosts, in whose strength he should surely prevail. 
 
 Veiled in cloud, or clothed in fire, we may be commissioned 
 to guide the onward progress of a people chosen of God, or 
 bid to carry healing to some stream beside which a prayerful 
 watcher stands. To some "blameless" Elizabeth convey 
 the glad answer to some cherished prayer; to some meek 
 Mary who has "found favour with God" bear a message of 
 great love. 
 
 By the loved one's grave, to comfort those that weep with 
 
THE PALM BRANCH OF HEAVEN. 445 
 
 the blessed woi-ds, " Fear not," — " He is not here, but he id 
 risen." 
 
 To show a praying Cornelius " wliat to do." 
 
 Led by Love's shining hand, when we seek to do even 
 here somewhat of angels' work, Heaven draws more near. 
 Brightening the lot of others fails not to brighten our own. 
 The more earnestly and faithfully we strive to perform God's 
 will on earth, the more fitted we may be for higher, holier, 
 happier work hereafter. 
 
 Varied as will be that heavenly work, so must our desti- 
 nies be varied here. Each several tool must be fashioned 
 according to the service that the Master will require 
 from it. 
 
 Oh, how this simple thought would ennoble our every 
 trial; great or small, could we but remember that each and 
 all are fitted and apportioned to the end ! We cannot know 
 what are God's purposes for us, in this life or in the world to 
 come; but if we are God's servants we may be sure tho 
 "Lord hath need" of us. 
 
 Without even the cheering brightness of this sublime hope, 
 worldly wisdom itself has been brought to confess how neces- 
 sary trials and disappointments and self-denials are to insure 
 even a hope of safety to man's immortal soul. 
 
 In that city of the world, where Pleasure is the peculiar 
 object of worship, there has been of late years a new version 
 of the fearful tale of man selling his soul to the devil. The 
 prince of darkness demands not now, as of old, that his bond 
 sliould be signed with his victim's blood. He asks no 
 written compact; he bids him only receive all his gifts, ob- 
 tain the fulfilment of all his vdshes — enjoy without a check 
 all that the natural heart of man desires. For thus, towards 
 tlie close of the sixth thousandth year of the world, the devil 
 is supposed in his wisdom to see secured to him, without 
 fail, the soul of the lost and wretched man. 
 
 Is not the terrible drama true 1 
 
 If it has become so plain even to worldly wisdom now, why 
 
446 THE PALM BRANCH OF HEAVEN. 
 
 there must be disappointments and trials upon earth, how 
 much more vividly does a light from the eternal world reveal 
 the wisdom which appoints diversities and apparent in- 
 equalities in the destinies of human beings ! 
 
 Freely ransomed as we are by the blood of Christ — saved 
 by faith — must we not need the discipline of life as suited 
 to our various characters and temperaments, to prove that 
 faith, and work in us a fitness for a glad eternity of serving 
 God] 
 
 How clearly do we see why to the one gate many paths 
 must lead ! 
 
 Patiently, bravely, cheerily, fellow-pilgrims all, let us then 
 press on. The Celestial City is before us. Shall weariness 
 oppress, or danger daunt, or grief utterly cast down those 
 whose bright hope it is to win the Tree of Life in God's 
 bright Paradise above? 
 
 The Tree of Life ! 
 
 Let us carry great ensigns, and our lives shall be great. 
 
 Let us openly enlist under the colours which we truly wish 
 to defend. Let no suggestions of unworthiness keep us back. 
 Oh, if we wait till we are* worthy, we shall tarry till the last 
 trumpet sound ; and then — it will be too late ! We must 
 then be found on the one side or the other. 
 
 Do earthly commanders expect their recruits to bring the 
 well set-up frames and steady bearing of long-trained vete- 
 rans'? Never! They only ask a healthy frame, a loj^al 
 spirit, and a willing mind. And our great Captain asks less 
 — not more. He will not reject us, however weakly our 
 bodies may be. If we are whole-hearted, docile, and true, 
 he will do all the rest. If we give ourselves to his service, 
 he will himself make us fit for it. He will furnish the 
 weapons ; he will teach us how to use them ; and he will 
 give us the victory. 
 
 In days of old, in the days of chivalry, a lady's glove 
 carried on breastplate or helmet, was sufficient inspiration for 
 the performance of gallant deeds. 
 
THE PALM BRANCH OF HEAVEN. 447 
 
 AVas not Christ's ensign laid on our baby brows ? Shall 
 our baptismal cross be meaningless'? Brave brothers! is it 
 knightly never to draw the sword, never to strike one stroke 
 for him whose cognizance ye bear, when his enemies, hidden 
 or avowed, are on every side ? 
 
 Ask of your Leader wliat he will have you to do, and your 
 appointed work will be set before you. 
 
 Dear sisters, we too have our work; but let us never be 
 tempted from our allotted paths. They may sometimes run 
 side by side with those of men ; they never rightly can be 
 the same. Let the strongest-minded of women but think, 
 had God required man's service from her, would he not have 
 sent her into the world as a man ? 
 
 But fair fields and wide are open to us. The Lord of the 
 harvest hath need of many labourers. The sharp sickle is 
 not for us, but our hands may be busy still. Are there no 
 hurtful weeds about us that we may pluck up ] no stray 
 ears of corn w^e may gather out of the way of being trodden 
 down ? Into many a woman's veil has good measure been 
 poured out. Ruth the gleaner sits beside the reapers. 
 
 The story of the battle of Jehovah nissi — " the Lord my 
 lanner^^'* — has significance also for those whose natural 
 powers, or whose circumstances of life render them incap- 
 able of carrying out the fervent desires of their hearts to do 
 some great thing to further the good cause. 
 
 In that battle-field victory swayed to and fro, not from the 
 influx of fresh hosts on either side, but according as the 
 hands of one who took no part in the conflict were held up 
 in prayer or drooped down in weariness. 
 
 If the Lord is our banner, sister, have we not a sweet lesson 
 here? 
 
 Into no field of strife should women's footsteps stray ; but 
 it is for us, trustful and true, to strengthen the hands of the 
 righteous. It is for us to hold up our own in earnest and 
 unwearied prayer. 
 
 * Exod. xvil 15. 
 
448 
 
 THE PALM EKANCIl OF HEAVEX. 
 
 The weakest woman's voice may be as the voice of one of 
 the " children in tlie temple" — as the voice of a " babe per- 
 fecting praise." * 
 
 The weakest woman's hand may be as the hand of one of 
 the "little ones" in the crowd going forth to meet the Lord, 
 carrying a palm-branch in her hand. 
 
 * ilatt. xxi. 15, 16. 
 
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