a latronum._]

The _Acacia tomentosa_ is of the same genus, with thorns so large as to
be called the "_jungle-nail_" by Europeans. It is frequent in the woods
of Jaffna and Manaar, where it bears the Tamil name of _Aani mulla_, or
"elephant thorn." In some of these thorny plants, as in the _Phoberos
Goertneri, Thun._,[1] the spines grow not singly, but in branching
clusters, each point presenting a spike as sharp as a lancet; and where
these formidable shrubs abound they render the forest absolutely
impassable, even to the elephant and to animals of great size and force.

[Footnote 1: Mr. Wm. Ferguson writes to me, "This is the famous
_Katu-kurundu_, or 'thoray cinnamon,' of the Singhalese, figured and
described by Gaertner as the _Limonia pusilla_, which after a great deal
of labour and research I think I have identified as the _Phoberos
macrophyllus_" (W. and A. Prod. p. 30). Thunberg alludes to it
(_Travels_, vol. iv.)--"Why the Singhalese have called it a cinnamon, I
do not know, unless from some fancied similarity in its seeds to those
of the cinnamon laurel."]

The family of trees which, from their singularity as well as their
beauty, most attract the eye of the traveller in the forests of Ceylon,
are the palms, which occur in rich profusion, although, of upwards of
six hundred species which are found in other countries, not more than
ten or twelve are indigenous to the island.[1] At the head of these is
the coco-nut, every particle of whose substance, stem, leaves, and
fruit, the Singhalese turn to so many accounts, that one of their
favourite topics to a stranger is to enumerate the _hundred_ uses to
which they tell us this invaluable tree is applied.[2]

[Footnote 1: Mr. Thwaites has enumerated fifteen species (including the
coco-nut, and excluding the _Nipa fruticans_, which more properly
belongs to the family of screw-pines): viz. Areca, 4; Caryota, 1;
Calamus, 5; Borassus, 1; Corypha, 1; Phoenix, 2; Cocos, 1.]

[Footnote 2: The following are only a few of the countless uses of this
invaluable tree. The _leaves_, for roofing, for mats, for baskets,
torches or chules, fuel, brooms, fodder for cattle, manure. The _stem of
the leaf_, for fences, for pingoes (or yokes) for carrying burthens on
the shoulders, for fishing-rods, and innumerable domestic utensils. The
_cabbage_ or cluster of unexpended leaves, for pickles and preserves.
The _sap_ for _toddy_, for distilling arrack, and for making vinegar,
and su