193 EOTAN*. 



CANE. 



Cane or ratan is used extensively by the natives instead 

 ef cordage. The stays of the masts in native boats are 

 usually made of ratans, and they are split up into strings 

 for innumerable purposes to which cord and twine are 

 usually applied. All that gives stability to bamboo houses, 

 is the ratan which ties them together. There are numer- 

 ous species indigenous in the forest, and the Karens have 

 different names for seventeen species or varieties. 

 Calamus. 



ofj!$.. ol oS 



BAMBOO. 



The bamboo is used for all purposes to which timber is 

 usually applied. Most of the native houses in the Provin- 

 ces are built principally of bamboos tied together with 

 ratans. Cots, seats, and tables are often formed of the 

 same material. The Karens have names for seventeen 

 species or varieties, one of the strongest of which is 

 covered with large thorns, and makes an impenetrable 

 fence ; but the China bamboo, which has been introduced 

 f:om Penang, makes the closest and prettiest hedge, and 

 when cut annually, looks like an English quick-set hedge. 

 The gigantic bamboo, the largest bamboo in the world, 

 is indigenous, but in the southern provinces is seen only in 

 cultivation. 



Bambusa spinosa, (thorny bamboo.) 



olcsj^n OSjjS" CJG3J. °-r?S? B 



Bambusa gigantea, (gigantic bamboo.) 



di^i ojg^j. £?flf " °r cr 31P !l 



Bambusa nana. (Penang, or China bamboo.) 



