It
is notable for the number of plants that find a footing in the joints of
its stem. On one tree in Java I have counted thirteen species of such
parasites, nearly all ferns. The tree appears in the foreground of the cut
at p. 273.
Crawford thus describes its treatment in obtaining toddy: "One of the
spathae, or shoots of fructification, is, on the first appearance of the
fruit, beaten for three successive days with a small stick, with the view
of determining the sap to the wounded part. The shoot is then cut off, a
little way from the root, and the liquor which pours out is received in
pots.... The Gomuti palm is fit to yield toddy at 9 or 10 years old, and
continues to yield it for 2 years at the average rate of 3 quarts a day."
(Hist. of Ind. Arch. I. 398.)
The words omitted in translation are unintelligible to me: "et sunt
quatre raimes trois cel en." (G.T.)
["Polo's description of the wine-pots of Samara hung on the trees 'like
date-palms,' agrees precisely with the Chinese account of the shu theu
tsiu made from 'coir trees like cocoa-nut palms' manufactured by the
Burmese.
