186 CORDAGE FIBRES 



Several species of Sansevieria, including S. guineen- 

 sis, S. Ehrenbergii, S. cylindrica, S. sulcata, S. Stuckyi 

 and S. Volkensis, grow wild over extensive areas of 

 the East Africa Protectorate, and in 1905 the extrac- 

 tion of fibre, chiefly of S. Ehrenbergii, was under- 

 taken on a commercial scale in the neighbourhood of 

 Voi. An account of this enterprise will be found in 

 the Bulletin of the Imperial Institute (1907, V, 24-31). 

 More recently, however, the preparation of this fibre 

 has declined and attention has been transferred to the 

 cultivation of Sisal hemp (see page 170). 



Sansevieria Ehrenbergii grows over large areas in 

 elevated and moist districts of Somaliland, and during 

 1908-1910 some quantity of the fibre was prepared 

 and exported . The industry has now been abandoned . 

 This fibre has also been extracted in Abyssinia. 



The fibre of S. Ehrenbergii possesses a peculiarity 

 which seems to be a definite characteristic of the pro- 

 duct of this particular species, and consists of a very 

 marked variation in the diameter of the fibrous strands 

 or filaments. The fibre from the interior of the leaf 

 is fine, whilst that from the more external portions is 

 very coarse. The diameter of the finer fibre varies 

 from about 0*001 inch to 0*0055 inch, whilst that of 

 the coarser strands attains to as much as 0*0 1 8 inch. 

 In preparing the fibre for the market, the greater 

 part of the finer fibre is usually combed out and lost. 



S. cylindrica is found in Africa from Zanzibar in 

 the east to Angola in the west. Small quantities of 

 the fibre have been exported from Angola, where it 

 is known as " Ife* " hemp. 



Sansevieria guineensis has a wide distribution, and 

 is found in Central America, the West Indies, West and 

 East Africa and Mauritius. In the Zambesi region, 

 the fibre is known as " Konje " hemp. The fibre is 

 white, fine, of even diameter and of excellent strength. 



This species grows under the shade of trees in a 

 narrow belt along the coast of Sierra Leone. It also 

 flourishes in inland districts, and has been cultivated 

 at Lumley and Mabang. In order to create a profit- 

 able industry in this fibre, it would be necessary to 

 employ machinery for its extraction, but the plants 



