324 Voyage of the Novara. 



tropics, two main objects could be attained, viz. providing 

 a plentiful subsistence for the natives, and extending and 

 cheapening the medium that mainly contributes to widen the 

 circle of knowledge of mankind.* 



Next to Musa textilis^ the Ram^ shrub {Boelimeria tenacissima) 

 especially deserves the attention of business men. The fibre of 

 this member of the urticacece, which unites extraordinary tough- 

 ness with much beauty and fineness, is stronger and more 

 durable than that of Russian hemp, and with careful prepara- 

 tion would make into finer thread than the very expensive 

 material which is used in Europe at the present day for mak- 

 ing the world-famous Brussels point-lace. The variety of pur- 

 poses to which this useful plant may be applied has hitherto 

 been less fully recognized than those of the Manila hemp. In 

 Europe the Boelimeria tenacissima is but found in botanical 

 gardens, or herbariums, and as yet not the slightest use is 

 made of it for industrial purposes. And yet the introduction on 

 a large scale of Manila hemp and Ram^ fibre into the Euro- 

 pean markets in place of Russian hemp, would have more than 

 merely a commercial and industrial importance ! f 



We may also notice in this connection another description 

 of fabrics made from fibrous material, which, though but little 

 known beyond the limits of the Archipelago, seems to us to 

 deserve to be more extensively known, and, it would seem, may 



* Compare with Forbes Royle's valuable treatise upon Manila hemp, entitled 

 "The Fibrous Plants of India fitted for cordage, clothing, and paper." London, 1855. 



•j- The best Manila hemp is worth fi-om 4h to 6 dollars per Spanish /;/('?</:= 140 lbs. 

 Cordage made by steam power of the various dimensions, from half to one inch thick, 

 sells at 25, and from one to five inches thick, at 10, piasters~per /j/c?</. 



