152 THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



buildings. There is scarcely a constructive use that can be 

 imagined to which this convenient material is not applied. 

 In the " Penny Cyclopaedia " (article " Bambusa ") is the 

 following : 



" The purposes to which different species of bamboo are 

 applied, are so numerous that it would be difficult to point 

 out an object in which strength and elasticity are requisite, 

 and for which lightness is no objection, to which the stems 

 are not adapted in the countries where they grow. The 

 young shoots of some species are cut when tender, and 

 eaten like asparagus. The-full grown stems, while green, 

 form elegant cases, exhaling a perpetual moisture, and capable 

 of transporting fresh flowers for hundreds of miles ; when 

 ripe and hard, they are converted into bows, arrows, and 

 quivers, lance-shafts, the masts of vessels, bed-posts, walking- 

 sticks, the poles of palanquins, the floors and supporters 

 of rustic bridges, and a variety of similar purposes. In a 

 growing state the spiny kinds are formed into stockades, 

 which are impenetrable to any but regular infantry aided 

 by artillery. 



" By notching their sides the Malays make wonderfully 

 light scaling-ladders, which can be conveyed with facility 

 where heavier machines could not be transported. Bruised 

 and crushed in water, the leaves and stems form Chinese 

 paper, the finer qualities of which only are improved by a 

 mixture of raw cotton, and by more careful pounding. 



" The leaves of a small species are the material used by the 

 Chinese for the lining of their tea-chests. Cut into lengths 

 and the partitions knocked out, they form durable water- 

 pipes, or by a little contrivance are made into excellent cases 

 for holding rolls of papers ; slit into strips they afford a most 

 durable material for weaving into mats, baskets, window- 

 blinds, and even the sails of boats. Finally, the larger and 

 thicker truncheons are exquisitely carved by the Chinese 

 into beautiful ornaments. It is however more especially 

 for building purposes that the bamboo is important (fig. 15). 

 According to Marsden, in Sumatra the frame- work of the 

 houses of the natives is chiefly composed of this material. 

 In the floorings, whole stems four or five inches in diameter 



