The pulpy matter that it contains is then scraped out with a shell while the drupe is held on a heavy slab of wood, and then the bristly fibres with which the nutritious portion is intermixed are extracted from the latter by drawing threads of a sort of bass through the pasty mass resulting. Thus is obtained a smooth dough, of a yellowish colour and somewhat sweet taste, that has been likened in flavour to apple-marmalade. A portion of this (_kow-en_), with some grated coconut, and sometimes a piece of chicken or pork, constitutes the usual meal.
This food is often made up into leaf-covered bundles, in which state it acquires a distinctive, though not unpleasant, odour, and can be kept a long time.
The fibrous drupe, after treatment as above, is commonly used as a foot-brush[177] at many of the islands, for which purpose it is kept near the top of the hut-ladder for those entering the hut.
The principal beverages are the water of the green unripe coconut, and toddy, made by fermenting the sap of the coco palm, which is regularly bled at the crown into bamboo receptacles. The toddy is largely manufactured, and as it is no more intoxicating than strong ale, much has to be consumed before drunkenness results. Ordinary water is scarcely ever taken, and its use is almost entirely restricted to cooking.
For the last few years the authorities at Port Blair have attempted to inculcate in the natives a liking for tea, the taste for which they have fostered by presenting the headmen with quantities of the leaf, in the hope that it will, if it become popular, somewhat minimise the prevalent consumption of toddy, which, when largely indulged in, cannot but have a bad effect on the general health of the people.
Toddy, however, does not stand alone as an intoxicant: nearly everywhere one comes across the black, square bottles in which gin is conveyed to all parts of the world: occasionally brandy is inquired for, but on all the islands there is a demand for rum, and this seems to have been the favourite drink since it was introduced to the natives by British captains bartering for coconuts in the early part of the last century. At present, however, Chinese traders are the only smugglers, and the spirit they introduce, _samshu_, runs only occasional risk of confiscation, as the trade of the junks is for the most part in places seldom visited by the occasional patrolling steamer.