FIBER PLANTS. 149 
family which does not possess 2 rope-making apparatus similar to the 
simpler forms of those used in rope walks elsewhere. On the east 
coast of Guam, in traveling from Pago to the southern extremity of 
the island, it is necessary to cross the mouths of several rivers. Balsas, 
composed of several layers of bamboo, are used for this purpose. The 
cables by means of which they are pulled across are made from the 
fiber of Parité tiliaceum. Though this fiber is not easily worn out in 
its natural condition, its strength and durability are increased by the 
application of tar, such as that used on board ship. Among other 
members of the mallow family are several species of Sida, called 
“escobilla” by the natives. They grow without cultivation on the 
island, in waste places and along the roadsides. They yield a good, 
strong fiber, but on account of the abundance of other material the 
natives do not use it. Allied to these in general appearance and use 
are several species of Tiliaceae, including Zriumfetta procumbens, 
which is called ‘‘masigsig” by the natives, allied to the species which 
produce the jute of commerce, so extensively used in the manufacture 
of gunny sacks, matting, and carpets. They are not, however, utilized 
in Guam. 
The principal member of the Urticaceae, or Nettle family, is the 
celebrated rhea fiber plant (Bochmeria tenacissima). In Guam it 
erows to the height of a shrub or small tree, though in many other 
parts of the world it is herbaceous. Though allied to the nettles in 
appearance and inflorescence, it is not armed with stinging hairs. 
The closely related Boehmeria nivea, which yields the China ** grass 
cloth” tiber, is a plant of temperate regions, the lower surface of the 
leaves being covered with white down, like felt. The leaves of the 
Guam plant, though pale beneath, are not coated with felt. This 
plant, though of great importance in other parts of the world and 
growing in Guam rankly and without care, is in this island not 
utilized at all, except for medicine. 
The last species I shall mention is the principal member of the 
Moraceae, the breadfruit tree (Artocurpus communis). In addition to 
its importance as yielding the principal staple of food, excellent wood, 
fodder for animals, and a gum suitable for paying the seams of canoes 
and for use as a medium in mixing paints, it yields a tough leathery 
bark, which in the olden times was made by the natives into aprons or 
breechcloths. 
Tapa cloth, which is made from it in other islands of the Pacific, was 
apparently not made by the aboriginal inhabitants of Guam. The 
paper mulberry, Zapyrius (Broussonetia) papyriferus, the tapa plant 
so widely spread throughout Polynesia, docs not oceur in Guam. 
Mar AND HAT PLANTS. At least four species of pandanus occur in 
Guam, two of which, called ‘* pahong” and ‘*kaf6” by the natives, are 
widely spread in the forests, and furnish food to the fruit-eating bats 
