owth, which also bears fruit, although less
plentifully. A grove of these is a pretty sight.

Sir Emerson Tennent, referring to these trees in Ceylon, is reported
to have stated [146] that the cocoanut-palm "acts as a conductor
in protecting houses from lightning. As many as 500 of these trees
were struck in a single _pattoo_ near Pattalam during a succession
of thunderstorms in April 1859."--_Colombo Observer_.

_Nipa Palm_ (_Nipa fruticans_) is found in mangrove swamps and flooded
marshy lands. It has the appearance of a gigantic fern, and thrives
best in those lands which are covered by the sea at high tide. In the
same manner as the cocoanut-palm, the sap is extracted by incision made
in the fruit-bearing stalk, and is used for distilling a liquid known
as nipa wine, which, however, should properly be termed a spirit. The
leaves, which are very long, and about three to five inches wide,
are of immense value in the country for thatched roofs. Nipa is not
to be found everywhere; one may go many miles without seeing it, in
districts devoid of marshes and swampy lowlands. In El Abra district
(Luzon Is.) nipa is said to be unknown. In such places, another
material supplies its want for thatching, viz.:--

_Cogon_ (_Saccharum koenigii_), a sort of tall jungle grass with a
very sharp edge, plentifully abundant precisely where nipa cannot be
expected to grow. I have ridden through cogon five feet high, but a
fair average would be about three to four feet. It has simply to be
cut and sun-dried and is ready for roof thatching.

The _Cotton-tree_ (_Gossypium herbaceum_, Linn. ?), (Tagalog,
_Bulac_), is found growing in an uncultivated state in many islands
of the Archipelago. Long-staple cotton was formerly extensively
cultivated in the Province of Ilocos Norte, whence, many years ago,
large quantities of good cotton-stuffs were exported. This industry
still exists. The cultivation of this staple was, however, discouraged
by the local governors, in order to urge the planting of tobacco for
the Government supplies. It has since become difficult to revive the
cotton production, although an essay, in pamphlet form (for which
a prize was awarded in Madrid), was gratuitously distributed over
the Colony in 1888 with that object. Nevertheless, cotton spinning
and weaving are still carried on, on a reduced scale, in the Ilocos
provinces (Luzon west coast).

Wild cotton is practically useless for spinning, as the staple is
extrem