NEW ZEALAND FLAX. 161 



anders are well skilled in the mode of preparing 1 it; the women 

 separate the silky fibre from the leaf, by means of a shell 

 (said to be of the oyster kind,) and convert it into netting-, 

 clothing, fishing lines, &c. If the cultivation of it in this 

 country could ever be affected, and a sufficient quantity 

 grown to supply us with cordage, it would lead to great 

 national advantages, by making us independent of the Russian 

 trade for this article. 



Has it been yet used for cordage? 

 MRS. F. 



It has been manufactured in New Holland, and used by 

 the colonial whalers for their whale lines; and recent experi- 

 ments prove how eminently it is calculated for that purpose.* 

 It appears that it is the strongest of all vegetable fibre; com- 

 pared with others, it is in the following proportion. The 

 fibre of Agave Americana breaks under a weight of 7; Flax, 

 of 11; Hemp, of 16|; Phormium, of 23 1-11; and Silk, of 24. 

 It possesses also another advantage, which is, that, from its 

 brilliant whiteness and satin-like appearance, it does not 

 require to undergo the process of bleaching, by which the 

 quality of hemp and flax is materially injured. Another plant 

 has been recommended as better suited to our climate than 

 the New Zealand Flax, viz. the Iris tenax, a plant of Cali- 

 fornia, where the native tribes -make a fine cord from the 

 fibres of the leaves, of which they weave their fishing nets; 

 a purpose for which it is admirably suited, on account of its 

 buoyancy, strength and durability. Snares are made of it, 

 for deer and bears, of such strength, that one not thicker 

 than a sixteen-thread line is sufficient to strangle the great 

 stag of California (Cervtis .#/ces), one of the most powerful 

 animals of its tribe.f 



ESTHER. 



Oh! mamma, here is our favorite Linnsea borealis in bloom. 



* Bennett's Wanderings in New South Wales, 

 t Lindley in Botanical Register. 

 14* 



