The next consideration with the native, respecting the cocoa-nut, is its water, by us called cocoa-nut milk. This pleasant beverage is contained within the shell, and, in general, may amount to three quarters of a pint. It is purest when the nut is so young and tender as to allow the husk and shell to be cut with about as much facility as a stringy turnip; at which time, very little coagulum adheres to the interior of the shell, and that little is soft, like milk barely turned by rennet. Gradually, the water becomes rather turbid, and acquires a stronger taste; while the coagulum encreases to about the third, or even the half, of an inch in thickness; hardening, and becoming tough, but easily snapped into pieces. When arrived at this state, it abounds in oil, which, at first is remarkably sweet, though of a peculiar flavor, and is much used by the native Portugueze, in lieu of ghee, in their culinary operations.
The mode of extracting the oil is very simple: a piece of wood, say two feet in length, six inches broad, and two or three thick, bears at one of its extremities a stem of iron, driven in by means of a spike: this stem must be stout, and should measure about ten inches; but, towards its summit, spreading into the form of an inverted crescent, somewhat concave, and deeply jagged at its circumference. Sitting, as usual, on the ground, the operator keeps the baton from tilting, by placing one of his feet firmly upon it: in that position he takes the nuts, commonly broken into two or more pieces, by a forcible stroke of some heavy implement, or by dashing them on the floor, and, by rasping the interior of each piece against the jagged edges of the iron, causes the coagulum to fall, in form of a coarse powder, into a vessel placed below to receive it. To effect this with more facility, the stem slants obliquely from the baton; allowing room for the receiver to be put immediately under the crescent. The raspings are now put into hot water, in which they are well stirred and pressed with a large wooden spoon; by this means the oil is separated; it is drawn off by opening a little hole near its surface, as it floats upon the water. It is inconceivable how much oil is thus obtained in a few minutes; but, both from its own nature, and the mode of extraction, it soon becomes offensively rancid; a state in which it is by no means objectionable to the swarthy Signors, who, as well as the Hindus in general, are partial to it as an unguent for the hair. To a fresh European, the scent of this powerful finish to the charms of an Indian Venus is highly objectionable: of all the stinks of which India can boast, it certainly is the worst. But, as before observed, if used immediately after extraction, nothing can be sweeter: it also burns remarkably well; therefore is in general use for lamps among all the European inhabitants. The residuum, after separating the oil, fattens poultry better than grain: the pork of swine fed upon cocoa-nuts is delicious; as must be confessed by all who have visited the Andamans and Nicobars. Considering the coagulum as a food for mankind, I should by no means feel disposed to recommend it; though it is certain that the natives eat of it freely: experience satisfies me, that it is extremely difficult of digestion; and that, when ate as a meal, much inconvenience, if not indisposition, will generally follow. Nor can I recommend the water of the young nut to persons whose bowels are not of the strongest; it being aperient, and, when used beyond a certain quantity, extremely apt to induce dysentery: the amount of a nut-ful may, perhaps, be drank with perfect safety. During very hot weather, if the nuts are fresh gathered, or suffered to remain for a while in cold water, it is not very easy to withstand the temptation.
The shell of the cocoa-nut is always most valuable when suffered to ripen upon the tree; it then acquires great hardness, and a fine dark chocolate color, interveined by fine lines of a rich dun, or clay, or perhaps striated with those tints: they then take a good polish, and may, when tastefully mounted, be considered as ornamental to the sideboard. But, it is to be observed, that they are rather a brittle ware, compared with their solid appearance; and, that it requires a great length of time to divest them wholly of a certain strong scent, reminding those who have been accustomed to the oil, of that peculiar and powerful rancidity it invariably acquires by long keeping, and especially by exposure to the air.
Previous to the introduction of lamps in the halls, passages, &c., in the houses of Europeans, cocoa-nut oil was to be had for about three-pence, or four-pence, per seer (i.e. the measurement of a seer, which comes very nearly to the English quart; in some places exceeding it, but in others falling short). Since that practice has obtained, in consequence of candles having been doubled in price, the oil has likewise been enhanced; so that it now sells at about three and a half, or four seers per rupee; which accords with seven-pence halfpenny of our currency per quart. No kind of animal oil is in use among the natives of India, either as food, or in manufactories; if, indeed, we except that most curious production, the meemii-ke-tale, or oil extracted from the bodies of malefactors; who, being well fed for a month, or more, previous to execution, for the purpose of encreasing their fat, have large fires lighted under them while on the gibbet, and metal vessels placed to receive the drippings. That this practice has heretofore obtained, under the government of the native princes, does not, I believe, admit of a doubt; but, that it is now obsolete, is equally certain. Still meemii-ke-tale (i.e. human oil) may be had at many places; though not genuine, but composed of whatever materials may form a mass resembling that originally in use. I have seen several of these masses, which were of a dark, opaque brown, appearing something like coagulated blood mixed with dirty jelly, and become hard by exposure to the sun, or by inspissation: its smell was intolerably offensive. On the whole, this celebrated extract, which is supposed to cure all contractions, and stiffness of the joints, is a subject of astonishment, when we consider it to be in use among a people so very peculiar in their tenets, and professing so much humanity, not only towards their brethren, but towards all animated nature. Had Shakespeare been acquainted with the existence of the meemii, he certainly would have given it a place in Hecate’s stir-about!
If the natives were intent upon obtaining animal oils, the greatest abundance could be commanded; porpoises, turtles, alligators, dog-fishes, and sharks, all of which contain large quantities, exist in every part where the water is brackish; some of them, indeed, become even more numerous as their distance from the sea encreases. Whales, likewise, are occasionally seen in the Indian Sea, and in the Mozambique Channel are extremely common. But, to persons habituated from their infancy to the use of high-savored viands, any sweet oil would be insipid: such people want a haut-goût in their sauces; yet it must be confessed, they certainly manage to render even their strongest preparations extremely palatable; but, to relish them properly, the culinary operations must not always be witnessed. Babachees, or cooks, in the employ of Europeans, are sometimes extremely filthy; far more so than when dressing their own victuals. Few of the natives are sparing in the use of water on such occasions, even though it should be brought from some distance; yet, it is equally true, that whole villages are sometimes content to use water from a pool, comparable only with that into which Ariel ushered the surly Caliban.
The trunk of the cocoa-nut tree not only answers, when the central pith is scooped out, for canoes, but, when split, as it may easily be into slips of any width, forms excellent rafters: if applied to that purpose, all the soft part is taken entirely away, leaving only the exterior case, which is very hard, tough, and elastic, about three inches in thickness. A trunk of about a foot in diameter will commonly rive into five staves, each about seven inches wide: such should be placed edgeways on the walls, that their scantlings may be in a proper direction. Rafters thus made, provided they be not more than twenty feet, or thereabouts, in length, and not too heavily laden, will stand for generations, without shewing the smallest symptom of decay. In saying this, I am to be understood as alluding to their being under cover; otherwise, they will not exhibit such durability, although they may fully claim to be on a par with most of the indigenous timbers.
The reader is to understand, that, excepting where merely temporary, that is to say, intended for a few weeks, or months, bungalows are always built with pavilion thatches; by which construction they resist the weather far better, while the quantity of brick-work is considerably less than where gables are run up. The proximity of the thatches in the veranda parts, renders them far less cool, in the hot months, than the interior, in which the thatch is so much further removed: the latter would be rendered much cooler were flues, or ventilators, to be made for the purpose of carrying off the rarefied air, as already suggested. Cocoa-nuts are often sawed into two equal parts, for the purpose of being made into ladles: to effect this, a hole is made on each side, about half an inch from the edge, and a stick is passed through, serving as a handle; much the same as we see in the jets used by brewers for taking liquor out of their vats. When sawed into two equal parts, across the grain of the coir coating, cocoa-nuts make excellent table brushes, causing the planks to assume a very high polish from their friction. As this operation requires some strength, it is proper to be careful that the edges of the shell, if left in, (as is sometimes, though improperly, done,) should be perfectly smooth; being once rendered so, they will never scratch, however forcibly the brush may be applied. A very good mode is, to strip off the coir, and, after soaking it well in water, to beat it with a heavy wooden mall until the pieces become a little pliant, when they should be firmly bound together with an iron ring: their ends being then levelled, the implement is fit for use. A little bees’-wax rubbed occasionally upon them, adds greatly to the lustre of the furniture, without being clammy.
The stem of the toddy-tree is very similar to that of the cocoa, but grows to a much greater height, and is put to the same purposes. On first seeing a grove of toddy-palms, one would suppose that a strong wind must inevitably tear up the whole by their roots; which consist of innumerable small fibres, that penetrate but a very little way, comparatively, into the soil. When one of these trees is laid prostrate by the wind, a very small cavity is made, rarely so much as a cubic yard. The leaves differ very widely from those of the cocoa: the former being rather spear-shaped, about a foot, or more, in length, by perhaps two inches at their broadest part, and attached to each side of the rib, which may be from ten to fourteen feet in length, and hang gracefully on every side of the trunk; covering the nuts, which grow on very short, stiff stems, close under the place where the leaves start from it in all directions; a tuft of similar, but smaller, branches, grow with rather a vertical tendency.
The toddy-palm has, on the contrary, about ten or a dozen large leaves, radiated from their stems, arranged in folds very similar to a lady’s fan half spread; but the outer edges are indented considerably: the leaves form each about three-fourths of a circle, but not very regularly so; some more, some less. These are made into punkahs, or fans, of various sizes; or, when torn into strips of about two inches wide, which may be about the medium breadth of each fold, serve the natives in lieu of paper. The greater part of the accounts kept by Bengallees are written on these leaves, by means of any sharp-pointed instrument, which, marking through the glossy rind, or coating, on either side of the leaf, remains, ever after, perfectly distinct and legible. Those who wish to have the letters still more so, rub the leaves, after filled with writings, with kaujool, or lamp-black; which sinks into the porous parts laid open by the instrument, but easily wipes off from that portion of the surface which has not been pierced. Some hundreds of these leaves may be seen, secured together at one end by a twine passed through each, like waste paper in a grocer’s shop; thus forming a voluminous collection. The fruit of the taul consists of two, or sometimes three, lobes, or pods, somewhat similar to those in a horse-chesnut, and, like them, concealed in a pithy, spherical coating, but with a smooth exterior. Each lobe is hollow, and contains a small quantity of very clear liquor, partaking, in a very slight degree, of the flavor of rose-water; the lobes themselves are about the size of a Chelsea-bun, are rather of a crisp, but gelatinous substance, and pleasant to the palate: their exterior is covered with a very thin, brown rind, like that of an almond; rather astringent, but by no means acrid.
The liquor, called toddy, is obtained by making an incision under the head of the tree, when, a thin wedge being introduced, the toddy will gradually exude into a vessel suspended to receive it. This liquor is very pleasing when fresh drawn, but, in a few hours, acquires a harsh flavor, ferments, and becomes highly intoxicating. It answers admirably as leaven, making very light dough; but if kept, as is too commonly done, until rather sub-acid, it communicates a most unpleasant tartness to the bread. Groves of toddy-trees, in some parts of the country, yield a very handsome revenue, and great profit to the renters. Like the cocoa-nut tree, they have within their summits a substance very like a cabbage in flavor: this occasions mariners sometimes to fell them, with the view of carrying that part to sea; where it will, if left within its rind, keep for many months. I have tasted of this vegetable, but did not feel much gratified, though it assuredly was not disagreeable: it seemed to require much boiling.