CANE AND BAMBOO. 



127 



Bamboo Bambusa arundinacea. 



made of bamboo cane richly gilt and varnished. 

 These bamboos, he says, were each three palms in 

 circumference, and ten fathoms long-, and being cut 

 at the joints, were split into two equal parts, and laid 

 concave and convex to form gutters. The missionaries 

 inform us that not merely the roofs, but entire dwell- 

 ings are constructed of bamboo : this is particularly 

 the case in the southern province of Se-chuen, where 

 nearly every house is built solely of this strong cane. 



