322 Voyage of the Novara, 



the '■^ Musa textiUs,^'' a species of banana, and is called by the 

 Tagals abaca. The plant comes in great quantities from al- 

 most every one of the Philippines, from Luzon to Mindanao, so 

 that the area over which it extends stretches between the 

 equator and 20° N. This seems, however, to be the most 

 northerly limit of vegetation of the Musa textilis, and conse- 

 quently it is out of question to attempt to introduce into Eu- 

 rope the cultivation of this most useful plant, which, ere it can 

 be profitably grown, requires a temperature of 77^ Fahr. The 

 stem of this musacea grows in the Philippines to a height of 

 from 9 to 12 feet, by about 6 inches in thickness, its leaves 

 being of an exceedingly dark green colour, 8 feet in length by 

 1 J feet in width. The fruit is smaller, and neither so yellow 

 nor so palatable as that of the common banana. To procure 

 the hemp, the trunk, so soon as the fleshy bulbous fruit makes 

 its appearance, is stripped of its splendid leaves, which serve as 

 fodder for the oxen, and is left about three days to ferment. 

 It is then peeled off in pieces, which by the application of a 

 corresponding pressm'e are drawn between two knives, not too 

 sharp, in order to separate the hemp, which now begins to be 

 visible, from the bast, which, owing to the fermentation, has 

 become rather brittle. This process is continued until the 

 hemp is sufficiently cleaned to admit of its being spread out 

 and dried in the sun. A skilful workman may make extract 

 from 8 to 10 feet of hemp a day. There are 450,000 cwt. 

 of hemp produced annually, of the value of £520,000, the 

 greater part of which is sent to the United States of North 



