ct, live from day to day dependent on his palmyra
alone. Multitudes so live, and it may be safely asserted that this tree
alone furnishes one-fourth the means of sustenance for the population of
the northern provinces.

[Footnote 1: _Borassus flabelliformis_. For an account of the Palmyra,
and its cultivation in the peninsula of Jaffna, see FERGUSON'S monograph
on the _Palmyra Palm of Ceylon_, Colombo, 1850.]

The _Jaggery Palm_[1], the _Kitool_ of the Singhalese, is chiefly
cultivated in the Kandyan hills for the sake of its sap, which is drawn,
boiled down, and crystallised into a coarse brown sugar, in universal
use amongst the inhabitants of the south and west of Ceylon, who also
extract from its pith a farina scarcely inferior to sago. The black
fibre of the leaf is twisted by the Rodiyas into ropes of considerable
smoothness and tenacity. A single Kitool tree has been pointed out at
Ambogammoa, which furnished the support of a Kandyan, his wife, and
their children. A tree has been known to yield one hundred pints of
toddy within twenty-four hours.

[Footnote 1: Caryota urens.]

The _Areca_[1] _Palm_ is the invariable feature of a native garden,
being planted near the wells and water-courses, as it rejoices in
moisture. Of all the tribe it is the most graceful and delicate, rising
to the height of forty or fifty feet[2], without an inequality on its
thin polished stem, which is dark green towards the top, and sustains a
crown of feathery foliage, in the midst of which are clustered the
astringent nuts for whose sake it is carefully tended.

[Footnote 1: A. catechu.]

[Footnote 2: Mr. Ferguson measured an areca at Caltura which was
seventy-five feet high, and grew near a coco-nut which was upwards of
ninety feet. Caltura is, however, remarkable for the growth and
luxuriance of its vegetation.]

The chewing of these nuts with lime and the leaf of the betel-pepper
supplies to the people of Ceylon the same enjoyment which tobacco
affords to the inhabitants of other countries; but its use is, if
possible, more offensive, as the three articles, when combined, colour
the saliva of so deep a red that the lips and teeth appear as if covered
with blood. Yet, in spite of this disgusting accompaniment, men and
women, old and young, from morning till night indulge in the repulsive
luxury.[1]

[Footnote 1: Dr. Elliot, of Colombo, has observed several cases of
cancer in the cheek which, from its peculiar characteristics