October 



167 



papyrus stems from eleven to fourteen feet in 

 height. Such a reedy swamp would have been 

 impenetrable but for a narrow channel winding 

 through it, which enabled Mr. MacGregor to make 

 his way with the Rob Roy canoe until he reached 

 the open waters of Lake Merom. 



After examin- 

 ing some frag- 

 ments of ancient 

 papyri, I felt 

 sure that it 

 would not be 

 impossible to 

 make paper of 

 the same kind 

 from my own 

 specimen, and 

 this was the way 

 in which I suc- 

 ceeded in the 

 manufacture. I 

 cut a stem eight 

 feet long into 

 lengths of about 

 six inches, and 

 with a sharp 



knife sliced off the green rind from its three sides, 

 and cut the remaining white pith into very thin 

 layers. 



Having a hot iron ready at hand, I quickly laid 

 the strips of pith side by side, each a little 

 overlapping the other, on a sheet of white paper, 

 and when it was covered I placed another layer 

 upon it at right angles to the first layer. With a 



FLOWER OF PAPYRUS. 



