The singular method of making the oil is very simple. The nut having been removed from the shell, is boiled in water for a short period; it is then pounded in a large mortar, taken out, and pressed. The _milk_, as it is called, is then boiled over a slow fire, when the oil floats on the top, which being skimmed off, and afterwards boiled by itself, two quarts of oil may be procured from fourteen or fifteen cocoa-nuts. When fresh, the oil is used in cookery, and has an excellent flavour; the Singalese anoint their bodies with it after bathing, and invariably use it for the sake of giving a glossy and smooth appearance to the hair, and it is in great requisition by both sexes. The remains of the cocoa-nut, from which the oil has been extracted, is called by the Singalese _Poonak_, and the best _Poonak_ is obtained when the oil is extracted by pressure; it is an excellent food for pigs, poultry, &c. This substance is termed by the Tahitans _Ota_, and by the natives of Tongatabu _Efeniu_, and they use it also for fattening their pigs, poultry, &c. as also at the other Polynesian islands. At Tahiti they procure the _Morii_, or oil from the nuts, by first grating the kernel, then depositing it in the hollow trunk of a tree, or some kind of hollow vessel, which is exposed to the sun during the day. After a few days have elapsed, the grated nut is heaped up in the trough or vessel, leaving a space between the heaps, the oil exuding drains into the hollow spaces, from whence it is collected by the natives into large bamboo canes; (containing each a gallon, or more;) in this way it is sold for shipping, or rather exchanged for axes, cotton, cloth, or rum; but the indolence of the natives prevents its being so important an article of traffic as it might be in the South Seas. Sometimes the Tahitans, after the oil ceases to collect in the vessel, put the kernel into a bag, and submit it to the action of pressure by a rude lever press; but the oil thus obtained is considered inferior to that procured by the heat of the sun. The Malabar method of extracting oil, is, by dividing the kernel into two equal parts, which are ranged on shelves made of laths of the Areka palm, or split bamboo, spaces being left between each lath of half an inch in width; under them a charcoal fire is then made, and kept up for about two or three days, in order to dry them. After this process they are exposed to the sun on mats, and when thoroughly dried (then called Koppera) are placed in an oil press, or Siccoor. The Malabars have a caste of oil pressers, called the Waany caste.