called pulut or bras se-pulut (Oryza gelatinosa), of which
mention has been made in the list above, is in its substance of a very
peculiar nature, and not used as common food but with the addition of
coconut-kernel in making a viscous preparation called lemang, which I
have seen boiled in a green bamboo, and other juadahs or friandises. It
is commonly distinguished into the white, red, and black sorts, among
which the red appears to be the most esteemed. The black chiefly is
employed by the Chinese colonists at Batavia and Fort Marlborough in the
composition of a fermented liquor called bram or brum, of which the basis
is the juice extracted from a species of palm.

COCONUT.

The coconut-tree, kalapa, nior (Cocos nucifera), may be esteemed the next
important object of cultivation from the uses to which its produce is
applied; although by the natives of Sumatra it is not converted to such a
variety of purposes as in the Maldives and those countries where nature
has been less bountiful in other gifts. Its value consists principally in
the kernel of the nut, the consumption of which is very great, being an
essential ingredient in the generality of their dishes. From this also,
but in a state of more maturity, is procured the oil in common use near
the sea-coast, both for anointing the hair, in cookery, and for burning
in lamps. In the interior country other vegetable oils are employed, and
light is supplied by a kind of links made of dammar or resin. A liquor,
commonly known in India by the name of toddy, is extracted from this as
well as from other trees of the palm-kind. Whilst quite fresh it is sweet
and pleasant to the taste, and is called nira. After four and twenty
hours it acidulates, ferments, and becomes intoxicating, in which state
it is called tuak. Being distilled with molasses and other ingredients it
yields the spirit called arrack. In addition to these but of trifling
importance are the cabbage or succulent pith at the head of the tree,
which however can be obtained only when it is cut down, and the fibres of
the leaves, of which the natives form their brooms. The stem is never
used for building nor any carpenter's purposes in a country where fine
timber so much abounds. The fibrous substance of the husk is not there
manufactured into cordage, as in the west of India where it is known by
the name of coir; rattans and eju (a substance to be hereafter described)
being employed for that purpose. The shell of th