The Betel tree in India. This is a tree which is cultivated as is the grape-vine, and trained to grow up trellises of cane. Betel trees are also planted close to coconut trees, so that they may climb them as does the vine, and the pepper also. The betel has no fruit, being grown for its leaves which resemble those of the bramble; the best leaves are the yellow sort. Its leaves are picked every day. It is so prized by the Indians that even five leaves of betel are a gift fit for a prince, worth everything in the world.

It is used in this manner. First, one takes areca nut; this is like a nutmeg, but it is broken up into small pellets, placed in the mouth and chewed. Then the eater takes his betel leaves, puts a little chalk upon them, and chews them along with the areca. The properties of betel are to sweeten the breath, remove four odors from the mouth, aid digestion of food, and stop the injurious effect of drinking water on an empty stomach. Also, the eating of betel leaves gives a sense of exhilaration and promotes cohabitation; a man will put some by his head at nights, so that if his wife or a slave-girl wakens him, he can take a few of them to freshen his kisses. Ibn Battuta relates that he was told that the slave-girls of the sultan and of the amirs in India will eat nothing else. Source: Ibn Battuta Vol II.

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