On the Flax of New Zealand. 345 



filaments proper for the uses of rope-making ; for besides 

 some gramineous plants, most of the palms, and all the 

 species of the Agave, &c. there are many others of this 

 great division which have not yet been employed, and 

 which might be turned to advantage, particularly several 

 kinds of iris, the leaves of which possess very great 

 strength. 



I must here observe, that in most plants of the division 

 of tlie monocotyledons, the leaves produce the filaments 

 proper for the purposes of rope-maknig; and the disposi- 

 tion of their fibres, which is nearly parallel throughout the 

 whole length c)f the leaves, will call to the rcmenjbrance 

 of botanists the excellent memoir of our colleague Desfou- 

 taines, on the organization of the monocotyledon plants. 

 On the other hand, in the division of the dicotyledons, the 

 filaments employed for ropes is obtained from the bark; 

 and it is well known, that among the great number of sec- 

 tions which these vegetables contain, they are found chiefly 

 in those of the Thymeli, Urticce, Malvacece, Tilice, and 

 the AmentdcecE. The bark of a shrub of the first section 

 (of a new kind of Pimeleu) produces filaments w hich I have 

 seen the inhabitants of Cape Van Diemen employ for the 

 purpose of making ropes. These savages have so little in- 

 dustry, that they use them wMtliout the least preparation. 

 They even take no advantage of a very excellent kind of 

 flax which grows spontaneously on their coasts. The crude 

 bark of the Pimelea abovementioned formed the handles of 

 gome baskets made of reeds, w hich the women at the hours 

 of repast filled with shell-fish, diving in the sea to consi- 

 derable depths, at the risk of being devoured by sharks, or 

 of being detained at the bottom of the water by marine 

 plants, some of which, and particularly the Flats pyrifentSy 

 are several hundreds of feet in length. 



They employed this bark also for fastening round their 

 bodies the skin of the kangaroo, the only clothing worn by 

 the best dressed of these savages ; for several of them were 

 entirely naked, though exposed to severe cold in the lati- 

 tude of 44° vSouth, and by a very strange kind of whim this 

 vestment served only to cover the shoulders. 



The Phormiiim tenax will succeed perfectly in France, for 

 it is found in New Zealand from lat. 34° to lat. 47° South, 

 and is exposed there to very severe frosts in the most 

 southern part of that very large country. Moist places arc 

 better suited to it than dry, and the same may he said of 

 most of the other lAlaccet. It would thrive wc 11 in many of 

 the marshy districts, which at present are considered as use- 



