AGAVE. 103 



rocks and barren hills in the island of St. Vincent. 

 Specimens of twine made from the fibres of the 

 leaves have been sent to England by Dr. A. Ander- 

 son, with the view of converting this material, if 

 approved, into an article of commerce *. 



The silk-grass plant of the West Indies is likewise 

 a species of aloe (Agave yucc&folid) ; this grows 

 wild in the woods in great abundance. The leaves 

 are indented and prickly, and contain, longitudinally, 

 very strong and fine fibres. To obtain these the leaf 

 is laid upon a flat piece of wood, and scraped on 

 each side with a wooden knife, until the filaments 

 appear in straight threads, extending the whole 

 length. With these the negroes manufacture ham* 

 mocks, ropes, and fishing-nets ; and it is said that 

 this material is capable of being worked up into a 

 much finer merchandize. Stedman says, "This kind 

 of hemp is so very much like white silk that the im- 

 portation is forbidden in many countries to prevent 

 imposition by selling it for the same, and the fraud 

 is more difficult to be detected when it is artfully 

 mixed with silk." We are told by the same author 

 that ropes are made of this material stronger than 

 any in Europe, but it is discovered that they are 

 sooner liable to be damaged by immersion in water 

 than hempen cordage. 



We shall have to speak of some other species of 

 aloes applicable to other purposes in the course of 

 this volume, but we may mention here that Thunberg 

 found aloe-hedges made in Southern Africa, and on 

 a journey into the interior from the Cape of Good 

 Hope discovered a species (Aloe dichotoma), " the 

 stem of which, when of a proper thickness, is 

 hollowed out, and used by the Hottentots as a quiver 

 for their arrows f." 



* Trans, of the Society, &c. 2Gth vol. 

 Travels, vol. ii. 



