Uses of Bamboo. 87 



heaviest fruits known, however, the Brazil-nut fruit (Berthol- 

 letia) and durion, grow on lofty forest-trees, from which they 

 fall as soon as they are rij^e, and often wound or kill the na- 

 tive inhabitants. From this we may learn two things : first, 

 not to draw general conclusions from a very partial view of 

 nature, and secondly, tliat trees and fruits, no less than the 

 varied productions of the animal kingdom, do not appear to 

 be organized with exclusive reference to the use and conven- 

 ience of man. 



During my many journeys in Borneo, and especially during 

 my various residences among the Dyaks, I first came to ap- 

 preciate the admirable qualities of the bamboo. In those 

 parts of South America which I had previously visited, these 

 gigantic grasses were comparatively scarce, and where found 

 but little used, their place being taken as to one class of uses 

 by the great variety of palms, and as to another by calabashes 

 and gourds. Almost all tropical countries produce bamboos, 

 and wherever they are found in abundance, the natives apply 

 them to a variety of uses. Their strength, lightness, smooth- 

 ness, straightness, roundness, and hollowness, the facility and 

 regularity with which they can be split, their many different 

 sizes, the varying length of their joints, the ease with which 

 they can be cut and with which holes can be made through 

 them, their hardness outside, their freedom from any pro- 

 nounced taste or smell, their great abundance, and the rapid- 

 ity of their growth and increase, are all qualities which render 

 them useful for a hundred difierent purposes, to serve which 

 other materials would require much more labor and prepara- 

 tion. The bamboo is one of the most wonderful and most 

 beautiful productions of the tropics, and one of nature's most 

 valuable gifts to uncivilized man. 



The Dyak houses are all raised on posts, and are often two 

 or three hundred feet long and forty or fifty wide. The floor 

 is always formed of strips split from large bamboos, so that 

 each may be nearly flat and about three inches wide, and 

 these are firmly tied down with rattan to the joists beneath. 

 When well made, this is a delightful floor to walk upon bare- 

 footed, the rounded surfaces of the bamboo being very smooth 

 and agreeable to the feet, while at the same time afibrding a 

 firm hold. But, what is more important, they form with a 



