that the Devil in propia persona could not harm the
wearer. Especially efficacious is it against a poison communicated by
breathing upon one, for not only does it protect the wearer, but it
kills the individual who wishes to poison him. Camel further mentions
a series of miracles which superstition ascribed to the Ignatius bean.

[Coconuts.] On the southern half of the eastern border, on the shore
from Borongan by Lauang as far as Guiuan, there are considerable
plantations of cocos, which are most imperfectly applied to the
production of oil. From Borongan and its visitas twelve thousand
pitchers of coconut oil are yearly exported to Manila, and the nuts
consumed by men and pigs would suffice for at least eight thousand
pitchers. As a thousand nuts yield eight pitchers and a half, the
vicinity of Borongan alone yields annually six million nuts; for
which, assuming the average produce at fifty nuts, one hundred-twenty
thousand fullbearing palms are required. The statement that their
number in the above-mentioned district amounts to several millions
must be an exaggeration.

[Getting coco oil.] The oil is obtained in a very rude manner. The
kernel is rasped out of the woody shell of the nut on rough boards,
and left to rot; and a few boats in a state of decay, elevated on posts
in the open air, serve as reservoirs, the oil dropping through their
crevices into pitchers placed underneath; and finally the boards are
subjected to pressure. This operation, which requires several months
for its completion, yields such a bad, dark-brown, and viscid product
that the pitcher fetches only two dollars and a quarter in Manila,
while a superior oil costs six dollars. [186]

[Oil factory.] Recently a young Spaniard has erected a factory
in Borongan for the better preparation of oil. A winch, turned by
two carabaos, sets a number of rasps in motion by means of toothed
wheels and leather straps. They are somewhat like a gimlet in form,
and consist of five iron plates, with dentated edges, which are
placed radiating on the end of an iron rod, and close together,
forming a blunt point towards the front. The other end of the rod
passes through the center of a disk, which communicates the rotary
motion to it, and projects beyond it. The workman, taking a divided
coconut in his two hands, holds its interior arch, which contains the
oil-bearing nut, with a firm pressure against the revolving rasp, at
the same time urging with his breast, wh