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Updated: June 3, 2025
In spring of course the solitary date-palm here and there threw out its spathe of young green leaves, to add to the number of those which, grey or brown, hung drooping down the stem, withering but not decaying for many a year in that dry atmosphere; or perhaps the accacia bushes looked somewhat gayer for a few weeks, and the Retama broom, from which as well as from the palm leaves he plaited his baskets, threw out its yearly crop of twigs; but any greenness there might be in the vegetation of spring, turned grey in a few weeks beneath that burning sun; and be rest of the year was one perpetual summer of dust and glare and rest.
It makes an excellent bag, in which the native carries his paints or other articles; and a large one, stretched out, makes a very comfortable cap. Indeed, Guapo used the first spathe he laid his hands upon for this very purpose. There remained now to be found some palm-tree that would split easily, and make laths for the roof, as well as planks for the door, shelves, and benches.
Had you entered the establishment about this time, you would have observed many odd articles and implements, most of them quite new. You would have seen boxes woven out of palm-leaves, and bags made of the fibrous, cloth-like spathe of the "bussu," filled with the soft, silky cotton of the bombax, to be afterwards spun and woven for shirts and dresses.
The spathes are oblong acute or acuminate, convolute at the base, brownish-purple, striped longitudinally with narrow whitish bands. The spadix is cylindrical, slender, terminating in along, whip-like extremity, much longer than the spathe.
He beats the green spadix with wooden implements to make fibre for his ropes; in the dry state he uses it as fuel; he makes his mats, the only known form of carpet and bedding here, out of it; his baskets are made of the leaves. From the fresh spathe, by distillation, a certain stuff called tara water is obtained, of strong but agreeable smell, which is much used for the making of sherbet.
On examining the tub I have spoken of, we found that it was formed from the spathe of the palm. In a short time a repast was placed before us in several bowls. In one was fish, in another was a stew of meat. Arthur, without ceremony, ate some of the latter, when he came to a bone which I saw him examining curiously. "Why, I do believe," he said, in a low voice, "it is a bit of monkey!"
Coal-measures, Edinburgh. c. Stem and spike; 1/2 natural size. b. Remains of the spathe magnified. c. Portion of spike magnified. d. Robert Paterson. The spike is covered on the exposed surface with the four-cleft calyces of the flowers arranged in parallel rows.
He rises on work-days early in the morning, partakes of his frugal meal of rice and salt, or rice and fish, varied by a piece of wild pork or venison, which he may have received as a gift or bought from some hunting friend. His wife wraps up his midday meal for him in the spathe of a Pinang palm, and he goes to his work of cutting down the jungle for planting, returning home in the evening.
The adúbé, drawn from the cut spathe, which continues to yield for two or three months, is held to be wholesome, diuretic, and laxative. The inséfu is produced in mortice-like holes cut along the felled trunk; they fill freely for a fortnight to three weeks, when fires must be lighted below to make the juice run into the pots.
The spathe that encloses the yet-unopened flowers is made to yield a favorite beverage called palm-wine, or, more familiarly, 'toddy. When the fresh juice is used, it is an innocent and refreshing drink; but when left to ferment, it intoxicates, and is the one evil result from the bountiful gifts of the tree. Oil is prepared in great quantities from the nuts and used for various purposes."
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