VEGETATION. 89 



spines it climbs to the tops of the tallest trees, from which, in 

 autumn, depend its enoi'mously long clusters of fruit. It is used for 

 making baskets and tying fences. A stemless date {Phoenix acatilis) 

 of the hottest valleys bears a poor sort of edible fruit; and the 

 leaves of Wallkhia densijlora are a good cattle fodder, and fi'om their 

 midribs are made the coarse hair brooms used by the natives. Caryota 

 urens is a large tree of over 40 feet in height, bearing huge fronds 

 of wedge-shaped leaflets, resembling some of tlie maiden-hair ferns on 

 a gigantic scale. In Ceylou it is tapped for its juice, which yields 

 jaggery, and sago is made from its pith. In Sikhim its juice is not 

 extracted, but the Lepchas cut down the large trees to jirocure the pith, 

 from which a kind of sago is made, and make walking-sticks and knife- 

 handles out of the wood. They do not appear to make any use of the 

 fibre which it yields in abundance, but Gamble says: — " The leaves give 

 the kittul Jibre, wliich is very strong, and is made into ropes, brushes, 

 brooms, baskets, and other articles ; the fibre from the sheathing petiole 

 is made into ropes and fishing lines." And, according to Watt, it is 

 expected that the fibres sewn closely together in bands will be an 

 excellent substitute for whalebone in corset-making. Watt also says 

 of it, quoting Roxburgh : — " This tree is highly valuable to the natives 

 of the countries where it grows in plenty. It j'ields them, during the 

 hot season, an immense quantity of toddy or palm wine. I have been 

 informed that the best trees will yield at the rate of 100 pints in the 

 24 hours. The sap in some cases continues to flow for about a month. 

 When fresh the toddy is a pleasant drink, but it soon ferments, and 

 when distilled becomes arrack, the gin of India. The sugar, called 

 jaggery, is obtained by boiling the toddy. The pith or farinaceous 

 part of old trunks is said to be equal to the best sago ; the natives 

 make it into bread, and boil it into thick gruel ; these form a great 

 part of the diet of those people, and during famine suffer little wliile 

 those trees last. I have reason to believe this substance to be highly 

 nutritious. I have eaten the gruel, and think it fully as joalatable as 

 that made of the sago we get from the Malay countries." As the tree 

 is of most luxuriant growth, at suitable elevations in Sikhim it may yet 

 be found of considerable economic value to the inhabitants. 



Of bamboos there are about twenty species. Those growing at 

 elevations exceeding 5,000 feet have thin stems, but several of the 

 lower level species have stems of great girth and length. Of them 

 Dendrocalamus HamiUonii (Po, Lep.) is the commonest and as useful 

 as any. It is used for building huts, &c., and carrying water, and 

 its leaves are a good horse fodder. Its young shoots when about 

 a foot long are cooked and eaten. Dendrocalamus Sikkimcnsis (Pag- 

 riang, Lep.) has large brown stems which are equally useful, and by 

 many is considered the handsomest of the Sikhim bamboos. Bamhusa 



