agan Tahiti, a coco-nut branch was the symbol of regal
authority. Laid upon the sacrifice in the temple, it made the offering
sacred; and with it the priests chastised and put to flight the evil
spirits which assailed them. The supreme majesty of Oro, the great god
of their mythology, was declared in the coco-nut log from which his
image was rudely carved. Upon one of the Tonga Islands there stands a
living tree, revered itself as a deity. Even upon the Sandwich Islands
the coco palm retains all its ancient reputation; the people there
having thought of adopting it as the national emblem."

Besides the foregoing and following uses, I am aware of several scents
and spirituous liquors being procured from the flowers and pulp of the
coco-nut.

This palm tree is one of the finest objects in nature. Its stem is
tall and slender, without a branch; and at the top are seen from ten
to two hundred coco-nuts, each as large as a man's head: over these
are the graceful plumes, with their green gloss, and beautiful fronds
of the nodding leaves. Nothing can exceed the graceful majesty of
these intertropical fruit trees, except the various useful purposes to
which the tree, the leaf, and the nut are applied by the natives.

1. The stem is used for--Bridges, posts, beams, rafters, paling,
ramparts, loop-holes, walking sticks, water butts, bags (the upper
cuticle), sieves in use for arrowroot.

2. The coco-nut is used for--milk, a delicious drink; meat from the
scraped nut, for various kinds of food; jelly, _kora_, pulp, nut, oil,
excellent and various food for man, beast, and fowl.

The shell for vessels to drink out of, water pitchers, lamps, funnels,
fuel, _panga_ (for a game).

The fibre for sinnet, various cordage, bed stuffing, thread for tying
combs, scrubbing-brushes, girdle (ornamental), whisk for flies,
medicines, various and useful.

3. The leaf is used for--Thatch for houses, lining for houses,
_takapau_ (mats), baskets (fancy and plain), fans, _palalafa_ (for
sham fights), combs (very various), bedding (white fibre), _tafi_
(brooms), _Kubatse_ (used in printing), _mama_ (candles), screen for
bedroom, waiter's tray.

Here are no less than forty-three uses of which we know something; and
the natives know of others to which they can apply this single
instance of the bounty of the God of nature. For house and clothes,
for food and medicine, the coco-nut palm is their sheet anchor, as
well as their ornament and amuseme