54 TROPICAL NATURE, AND OTHER ESSAYS. 



suitable for a spear, dagger, or arrow-head, and capable 

 of penetrating an animal's body as readily as iron. Such 

 spears are constantly used by many of the Malay tribes. 

 In the eastern half of the Archipelago, where bows and 

 arrows are used, these weapons are often formed entirely 

 of bamboo. The harder and thicker sorts, split and 

 formed with tapering ends, make a very strong and 

 elastic bow, while a narrow strip of the outer skin of the 

 same is used for the string, and the slender reed-like 

 kinds make excellent arrows. One of the few agricul- 

 tural tools used by the Papuans a spud or hoe for 

 planting or weeding is made of a stout bamboo cut 

 somewhat like the spear. 



For various domestic purposes the uses of bamboo are 

 endless. Ladders are rapidly made from two bamboo 

 poles of the required length, by cutting small notches 

 just above each ring, forming holes to receive the rungs 

 or steps formed of a slenderer bamboo. For climbing 

 lofty trees to get beeswax, a temporary ladder reaching 

 to any height is ingeniously formed of bamboo. One of 

 the hardest and thickest sorts is chosen, and from this a 

 number of pegs about a foot long are made. These are 

 sharpened at one end and then driven into the tree in a 

 vertical line about three feet apart. A tall and slender 

 bamboo is then placed upright on the ground and 

 securely tied with rattan or other cords to the heads of 

 these pegs, which thus, with the tree itself, form a ladder. 

 A man mounts these steps and builds up the ladder as he 

 goes, driving in fresh pegs and splicing on fresh bamboos 

 till he reaches the lower branches of the tree, which is 

 sometimes eighty or a hundred feet from the ground. As 

 the weight of the climber is thrown on several of the 



