be constructed. Baskets and brooms are made from the ribs of the
leaves and the fibres of their footstalks. The young leaf, previous to
its expanding, is soft, and of a pale-yellow colour; in this state it
is cut into longitudinal stripes, and plaited into hats; while the
downy substance by which it is covered, is found valuable for stuffing
beds and pillows. Vessels, of various forms and uses, are made out of
the light, strong, and durable nut-shells. When preserved whole, with
merely a perforation at the top, they are used to carry water, some
holding nearly three gallons. When divided, the parts serve, according
to their size and shape, for platters, dishes, or drinking-cups. Being
jet-black, and susceptible of a high polish, they are often curiously
carved, and mounted with the precious metals, to form sugar-basins,
toilet-dishes, and other useful and ornamental articles for the
dwellings of the tasteful and refined.

The group of islands termed the Seychelles lie to the northward and
eastward of Madagascar, in the latitude of 6 degrees south of the
equinoctial. The tree, in its natural state, is found on three small,
rocky, and mountainous islands only--Praslin, containing about 8000
acres; Curieuse, containing but 1000; and Round Island, smaller still;
all three lying within a few hundred yards of each other. These
islands are about 900 miles distant from the Maldives; and as Garcias
ab Horto, in the sixteenth century, supposed, the nuts, many of which
grow on rocky precipices overhanging the sea, drop into the waves, and
are transported by the prevailing currents to other shores. It is a
remarkable fact, that the trees will not flourish on any other of the
adjacent islands of the Seychelles group. Many have been planted, but
they merely vegetate, and are wretchedly inferior to the splendid
natural trees of Praslin and Curieuse. From the time that the nut
falls from the tree, a year elapses before it germinates; it only
requires to lie on the ground without being covered, for the germ
shoots downwards, forming a root, from which ascends the plumule of
the future plant.

Several attempts have been made to grow this tree in some of the
larger horticultural establishments in Great Britain, but hitherto
without success. Hopes, however, are now entertained; for the
interesting spectacle of a double cocoa-nut in the act of germination
may be witnessed at this moment in the national gardens at Kew.

FOOTNOTES: