72 CANE-BRAKE. 



which find there a safe retreat from man. These 

 brakes are common on the lower sources of the Mis- 

 sissipi and Arkansas, and beside the banks of the 

 Red River. The canes, which are much used for 

 angling rods, rise from fifteen to thirty feet in height, 

 with beautiful green leaves, long, narrow, and dag- 

 ger-shaped, not unlike those of the Egyptian millet ; 

 the stem has equidistant joints, and when growing 

 in large numbers, they form a splendid feature in 

 the Transatlantic landscape. Seen from a distance 

 they appear like a solid body ; for a thousand stems 

 often rise contiguous, so dense, so firm, and so un- 

 yielding, that even the smallest bird would find it 

 difficult to enter, and a strong man could not force 

 his way, to the distance of three miles, in a long 

 summer day. This interesting plant uniformly de- 

 notes a dry and rich soil, and the ground is never 

 better prepared for planting maize, than after it is 

 cut down and burned. The labour is great, but the 

 hope of an abundant harvest cheers the workman 

 at his toil. When the rich mass of vegetation is 

 brought low, and dried in the sun, the next care is 

 to burn it, which affords no small amusement to the 

 settlers. The rarefied air, in the hollow compart- 

 ments of the cane, causes them to burst, with a re- 

 port equal to that of musquetry, and those who 

 heard the strange sound from afar, would think that 

 armies were contending. 



This beautiful plant flourishes for about five 

 years, at the end of which it produces an abundant 

 crop of seed, resembling that of the broom-corn. 

 The seeds are farinaceous, and are often used as an 

 excellent substitute for wheat. When seen at a 



