Food, clothing, and the means of shelter and protection, are all afforded by the cocoa-nut-tree. The kernels of the _nuts_, which somewhat resemble the filbert in taste, but are of much firmer consistence, are used as food in various modes of dressing, and sometimes are cut into pieces and dried. When pressed in a mill, they yield an oil, which, in some countries, is the only oil used at table; and which, when fresh, is equal in quality to that of almonds. It, however, soon becomes rancid, and, in this state, is principally used by painters. The Indians prepare an oil from cocoa-nuts, by steeping the kernels in water till they putrefy, and then boiling the pulp. In this operation the oil rises to the surface, and is skimmed off. This oil is used for anointing the hair, in cookery, for burning in lamps, and for various other purposes. The _milk_, or fluid, contained in the nuts, is an exceedingly cool and agreeable beverage, which, when good, somewhat resembles the kernel in flavour. Cocoa-nut-trees flourish best in a sandy soil, and first produce fruit when six or seven years old; after which each tree yields from fifty to a hundred nuts annually. The fibrous coats or _husks_ which envelope the cocoa-nuts, after they have been soaked for some time in water, become soft. They are then beaten, to free them from the other substances with which they are intermixed, and which fall away like saw-dust, the stringy part only being left. This is spun into long yarns, woven into sail-cloth, and twisted into ropes and cables, even for large vessels. The cordage thus manufactured is valuable in several respects, but particularly for the advantages that are derived from its floating in water. The woody _shells_ of the nut are so hard as to be capable of receiving a high polish; and they are formed into drinking cups, and other domestic utensils, which are sometimes expensively mounted in silver. On the summit of the cocoa-nut-tree the tender _leaves_, at their first springing up, are folded over each other, so as somewhat to resemble a cabbage. These are occasionally eaten in place of culinary greens, and are a very delicious food; but, as they can only be obtained by the destruction of the tree that produces them, and which dies in consequence of their being removed, they are considered too expensive a treat for frequent use. The larger leaves are employed for the thatching of buildings, and are wrought into baskets, brooms, mats, sacks, hammocks, and many other useful articles.