86 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 



the West Indies, and the Malay name papaya conies 

 from the Spanish ^«j9<2^o. 



At the height of one thousand feet ferns appear 

 in very considerable numbers, and here also the use- 

 ful bamboo groves in abundance, though it is found 

 all the way down to the level of the sea. Practically 

 this is a tree, but botanically it is grass, though it 

 sometimes attains a height of seventy or eighty feet. 

 It is used by the natives for the walls of their huts. 

 For this purj)ose it is split open and pressed out flat, 

 and other perpendicular and horizontal pieces hold 

 it in place. It is also used for masts, spear-handles, 

 baskets, vessels of all kinds, and for so many other 

 necessary articles, that it seems almost indispensable 

 to them. Its outer surface becomes so hard when 

 partially burned, that it will take a sharp, almost 

 cutting edge, and the weapons of the natives were 

 probably all made in this manner previous to the 

 introduction of iron. At the present time sharpened 

 stakes, ranjaus, of this kind are driven into the 

 ground in the tall grass surrounding a Imlang or 

 garden, so that any native with naked feet (except 

 the owner) vdll spear himself in attempting to ap- 

 proach. I saw one man, on the island of Buru, who 

 had received a frightful, ragged wound in this way. 



Above one thousand feet the palms, bananas, and 

 papilionaceous plants become fewer, and are replaced 

 by the lofty iig or waringin, which, with its high 

 top and long branches, rivals the magnificent palms 

 by the sea-shore. The liquidambar also accompa- 

 nies the fig. Orchidaceous plants of the most won- 

 derful forms appear on the forest-trees, and are fas- 



