After passing the first station the travellers settled down to sleep, and, as there were four of them, each had a corner to himself. The boys slept quite well during the night, waking only from an occasional jolt or when stopping at the stations for the change of horses. The night air was damp from the fog that poured in from the sea, and, by advice of their new acquaintance, they wrapped themselves well around the throat to avoid taking cold. In the morning they were still among the cocoa-trees, and, as they looked out on the forest of tall trunks extending as far as they could see in any direction, the conversation naturally turned upon the uses of this product of the earth. The coffee-planter told them that there were fifteen varieties of the palm-tree in Ceylon, the most of them growing in the hilly regions of the interior of the island. "The cocoa-nut palm," said he, "grows only along the coast; you find it occasionally among the hills, but not often, and it never seems to flourish there." [Illustration: GATHERING COCOA-NUTS.] "And I suppose its chief use is to produce cocoa-nuts?" Fred remarked, as the stranger paused. "That is its principal use," was the reply; "but, according to the natives, it has ninety-nine others." "A hundred uses for one tree!" replied Fred, in astonishment. "Yes," said the stranger, "the natives claim that they can rely on the cocoa-palm for a hundred different things. It is sufficient to build, rig, and freight the small vessels of the Maldive Islands. It produces wine, water, oil, sugar, spirits, vinegar, and milk; a species of sago is obtained from the pith of the trunk near the head, and a vegetable like cabbage from the young buds when boiled; the old leaves make huts, fences, baskets, and the like, and the young leaves are yellow and transparent, so that they make pretty lanterns and decorations; the shells of the nuts are made into cups, ladles, spoons, and similar utensils, and, when not wanted for any other purposes, they can be converted into charcoal for cooking food. From the fibres of the leaves brooms can be made, the butts of the stalks make paddles and handles to farming implements, while the fibres of the husks may be converted into ropes, twine, matting, carpets, and mattresses. "You may think that is all, but it isn't. The tree has many medicinal properties: the natives extract a powerful oil from the bark, which they use in cutaneous diseases; the juice of the flower makes an astringent lotion like alum; a decoction of the root is given in fevers; and the juice of the leaves mixed with some of the oil is used for ophthalmia. Cocoa-nut-oil is the best remedy for the stings of insects, and it is already well known to European and American chemists. The bamboo is said to be one of the most useful trees in the world, but I doubt if it holds a higher place than the cocoa-nut-tree." Frank wished to know how long the trees lived, and how soon they began to bear fruit.