But the most interesting use to which they are applied is as substitutes for paper, both for books and for ordinary purposes. In the preparation of _olas_, which is the term applied to them when so employed, the leaves are taken whilst still tender, and, after separating the central ribs, they are cut into strips and boiled in spring water. They are dried first in the shade, and afterwards in the sun, then made into rolls, and kept in store, or sent to the market for sale. Before they are fit for writing on they are subjected to a second process, called _madema_. A smooth plank of areca-palm is tied horizontally between two trees, each ola is then damped, and a weight being attached to one end of it, it is drawn backwards and forwards across the edge of the wood till the surface becomes perfectly smooth and polished; and during the process, as the moisture dries up, it is necessary to renew it till the effect is complete. The smoothing of a single ola will occupy from fifteen to twenty minutes.[1] [Footnote 1: See Vol. II. p. 528.] The finest specimens in Ceylon are to be obtained at the Panselas, or Buddhist monasteries; they are known as _pusk[(o]la_ and are prepared by the Samanera priests (novices) and the students, under the superintendence of the priests. The raw leaves, when dried without any preparation, are called _karak[(o]la_, and, like the leaves of the palmyra, are used only for ordinary purposes by the Singhalese; but in the Tamil districts, where palmyras are abundant, and talpat palms rare, the leaves of the former are used for books as well as for letters.