COCONUTS
Few Americans realize what an important part in the lives of the
Filipino people the coconut plays. The tall slender trees without a
branch, except the cluster of leaves at the very top, are the most
characteristic feature of the Philippine landscape. These trees
supply timbers for building, thatch for roofs and walls of houses,
hats, fans, household utensils, oil, food, and drink. The trees are
often used as corner posts for houses, thus giving a secure anchorage
against wind-storms and earthquakes, while the roofs and sides are
covered with coconut leaves.
Each nut is surrounded by a large fibrous husk, so that the fruit
as it comes from the tree is two or three times as large as the nut
itself. The fibers in this outer husk are very stiff and are used to
make hats, brushes, mats, and other similar articles. Cups, spoons,
ladles, and trays are made from the shell of the nut, which takes a
very handsome polish.
The ripe coconut with its hard dry kernel, as it is generally seen
in the United States, is quite different from the young nut as it
hangs on the tree. Then it contains only a thin layer of soft white
meat around the inner part of the shell, the remaining space being
filled with a delicious liquid.
When people are traveling in the Philippines and become thirsty, a
man fastens a strap or cord to his feet so that they will be about as
far apart as the diameter of the tree, and with this aid in bracing
himself, he climbs easily up the long straight trunk to the leafy
crown where the nuts hang in clusters. He cuts off and drops to the
ground as many nuts as are wanted, and then slides down the tree. With
his bolo he strikes a slice from the husk of a nut so deftly that a
small hole is opened in the shell and the liquid, cool, sweet, and
refreshing, is easily drunk. When the traveler's thirst is quenched,
the nut is split in half, a rude spoon is made from the husk, and the
thin layer of soft white meat is scooped from the shell and eaten. By
boiling the kernel of the ripe nut an oil is obtained which is used
for burning in lamps, for cooking, and for oiling the hair. When the
meat of the coconut is dried it is called copra (co'-prä), and large
quantities of this are shipped to foreign countries, where it is used
for making candles and soap.
By tapping the flower, a liquid is secured that is made into a drink
called tuba. Each day in the cool early morning, a Filipino, having a
bamboo tube slung from his shoulder in place of a bucket, climbs the
tree to collect this sap. The flowers can be so tapped for about three
months; of course the nuts have to be sacrificed if tuba is wanted,
because the flowers die. It is a common sight in a coconut grove to see
large bamboo poles reaching from the top of one tree to its nearest
neighbor. These are for the use of the one who taps the flowers, so
that instead of climbing each separate tree he can pass from one to
another by this dizzy bridge and thus secure his tuba with less effort.
Owners of coconut groves take great pains to keep thieves from climbing
their trees and stealing their fruit. If a man's grove is far away
from his house, where he cannot keep close watch, he makes notches
in the trees about fifteen feet from the ground and inserts pieces
of broken glass all around the trunk; then if any one tries to climb
past this barrier, he is severely injured by the sharp glass and is
forced to return to the ground. Sometimes, instead of glass, large
thorny branches are fastened to the trees for the same purpose. When
the owner wishes to get his crop of nuts, he either carefully removes
these obstacles, or he climbs a near-by tree and crosses over from
the top by means of a bamboo pole as when getting tuba.
Francisco's grandfather, who owned a tienda (tï-en'-dä), or small
store, in Camalig, used to tell him a very interesting story about
a coconut. "A long, long time ago," he said, "many years before my
grandfather was born, there grew a very tall coconut tree, far taller
than any you have ever seen; and the fruit that grew on this tree was
so large that you could not even see round it. One day the largest
of these nuts fell from the top of the tree, but instead of striking
the ground, it remained floating about in the air. The fibers changed,
and instead of being brown and coarse, they became soft and green and
slowly grew into grass and flowers and trees. By and by, God put people
on the outside shell of this large nut to use and enjoy the vegetation.
"The milk which was inside changed into a terrible fire that sometimes
burst through cracks in the shell of the nut, causing what we call
volcanoes. Demons and various kinds of evil spirits began to inhabit
this inner fiery region, and they have been known to come out through
the craters of volcanoes to trouble the people who live near by. The
smoke and gases that are so often seen coming from volcanoes, or from
cracks in the ground, are from the burning bodies of wicked people
whom these demons have caught and carried away. And so, Francisco,
if you are wise, you will be a good boy and do just as your father
and mother tell you, or you may be taken from the outside to the
inside of this wonderful coconut."