280 THE INDIAN SOLA REED. 



In India we find the pith of another species of water 

 reed largely made use of for the manufacture of sun 

 helmets ; this is the inner portion of the " Sola Reed " 

 (CEschynomene Aspera, Linn.), a reed about the 

 thickness of a heavy walking stick, which grows in 

 pools and swampy places in tropical Bengal and 

 Madras. * The exterior rind is of a dark brown colour, 

 while the inner portions consist of a soft, almost 

 snow-white pith, which is very tenacious, and can be 

 divided up into thin strips, almost like paper, which 

 is cleverly worked up by the native workmen into 

 hats and helmets, entirely impervious to the strongest 

 suns. They are made by adding layers of this pith 

 to each other until a substance about half an inch in 

 thickness is formed, which is light as a feather, 

 and as a protection against the sun comes as near as 

 possible to perfection; but these sola pith articles will 

 not stand rain, and soon go to pieces in wet weather. 

 The best " Shikkar hats, " for shooting in the hot 

 weather, are of this kind, made in two parts, in the 

 form of a large mushroom: the upper portion being 

 separated by the thickness of a finger from the lower, 

 and only attached to it by wads of pith at intervals, 

 so that when there is a wind, it quite blows the hair 

 about, inside the hat. 



These hats may be seen in process of manufacture, 

 in some of the Calcutta bazaars, and also we believe 

 at Madras; beautiful specimens w^ere sold by a poor 

 native workman, who attended the passing of the 

 trains and sold them to passengers, at the station of 

 Badulla, on the railway between Calcutta and Dar- 

 jeeling, not far from Silliguri, where the line enters 



* See Sir J. Hooker's Indian Flora, Vol. ii, p. 152. 



