The first of our Engravings is a species of palm, a native of Ceylon,
and is one of the most magnificent wonders of the vegetable kingdom. The
leaf is circular, terminating in the most beautiful rays, and folding up
into plaits like a fan, which, in figure, it nearly resembles.
This leaf is used in the maritime provinces of Ceylon as a mark of
distinction, each person being allowed to have a certain number of these
leaves, folded up as fans, carried with him by his servants; and also in
the Kandian country, in the shape of a round, flat umbrella on a long
stick. The talipot leaves are likewise used by the common people to
shelter themselves from the rain, _one leaf affording sufficient
shelter for seven or eight persons_. It is also used in making tents.
In 1818, Sir Alexander Johnston gave to Sir Joseph Banks a very fine
specimen of a tent made of their leaves, large enough to hold a party of
ten persons at table.
All the books of importance in Pali and Cingalese, relative to the
religion of Buddhoo, in Ceylon, are written on lamina of these leaves,
with either a brass or an iron style. There are some of these books in
Sir A. Johnston's collections, which are supposed to be from 500 to 600
years old, and which are still very perfect. In the museum of the
Asiatic Society, there is a complete copy of the Pali book, called the
_Pansyapanas Iatakah_, written on 1,172 laminae of the finest
description of this sort of palm leaf. Large as the dimensions of the
talipot leaf may appear, it is exceeded in size by the _troolie_ of
Surinam, which extends on the ground, and has frequently been known to
attain the width of three feet, and the length of thirty.
Our Engraving is copied from the _Gardener's Magazine_, where it is
reduced from the Transactions of the Asiatic Society.