The most majestic and wonderful of the palm tribe is the talpat or talipat[1], the stem of which sometimes attains the height of 100 feet, and each of its enormous fan-like leaves, when laid upon the ground, will form a semicircle of 16 feet in diameter, and cover an area of nearly 200 superficial feet.  The tree flowers but once, and dies; and the natives firmly believe that the bursting of the shadix is accompanied by a loud explosion.  The leaves alone are converted by the Singhalese to purposes of utility.  Of them they form coverings for their houses, and portable tents of a rude but effective character; and on occasions of ceremony, each chief and headman on walking abroad is attended by a follower, who holds above his head an elaborately-ornamented fan, formed from a single leaf of the talpat.

[Footnote 1:  Corypha umbraculifera, Linn.]

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.

The palmyra[1] is another invaluable palm, and one of the most beautiful of the family.  It grows in such profusion over the north of Ceylon, and especially in the peninsula of Jaffna, as to form extensive forests, whence its timber is exported for rafters to all parts of the island, as well as to the opposite coast of India, where, though the palmyra grows luxuriantly, its wood, from local causes, is too soft and perishable to be used for any purpose