RATTAN CANE SENNEGR^S. 57 



noted for a strong texture and a silky lustre. They are also known as Red 

 Sorelle or Rozelle hemp. The term hemp is really a misnomer in science, 

 but in commerce is found to be convient. Like other people, those who 

 follow commercial industries naturally have a preference for names that 

 are readily appreciated by the buyer or seller of commercial commodities. 

 This commercial christening does not disparage the scientific names 

 adopted by botanists. 



Sack Tree (Antiaris saccidora, Artocarpaceae). A plant of the bread 

 fruit tree family, the trunk of which has a height of 90 to 100 feet. The 

 fibrous inner bark of the tree is used as sacking, matting, and also for 

 paper-making. 



A writer in Spon's Encyclopedia says : " Trees 9 to 12 inches thick are 

 subjected to a severe beating with a stone or club till the parenchyma 

 or outer bark is removed. The fibrous inner bark is then stripped off 

 in sheets, the tree being often cut into sections, yielding ready-made 

 sacks. The sacks are filled with sand and dried in the sun ; they are 

 kept hung in smoke when not in use, and last 10 to 12 years." 



The tree is a native of Malabar, Ceylon, etc. 



Sennegraes (Carex aesicaria, Cyperacese). The term Sennegrses is a 

 name given by Dr. Nansen in his Farthest North to a Sedge he found. 

 It was very useful in his travels. The plant is not British, and its 

 nativity is not very clear. Dr. Nansen found it necessary to wear 

 firm shoes made of the hind legs of the Reindeer buck. He says : 

 " They are warm and strong, are always flexible, and very easy to 

 put on and take off. They require careful management, however, if 

 they are not to be spoiled at the outset, and one must try as well as 

 one can to dry them when asleep at night. If it be sunny and good 

 drying weather outside, the best plan is to hang them upon a couple of 

 snowshoe staffs, or something of the kind, in the wind outside the tent, pre- 

 ferably turned inside out, so that the skin itself can dry quickly. If one 

 does not take this precaution, the hair will soon begin to fall out. In severe 

 cold, such as we had on the first part of the journey, it* was impossible 

 to dry them in this way, and our only resource was then to dry them 

 on the feet at night, after having carefully brushed and scraped them 

 free from snow and moisture. Then the next process is to turn them 

 inside out, fill them with 'sennegrees' or sedge, if one have it, thrust 

 one's feet in, and creep into the sleeping bag with them on. For milder 

 weather later on, we had provided ourselves with leather boots of the 



* Komager ' type, such as the LAPPS use in summer Inside the 



Finn shoes we used at the beginning of our journey this sennegrses (Carex 

 sesicaria), of which we had taken a supply, was most effective in keeping 

 the feet dry and warm, and is used Lapp-wise, i.e., with bare feet; it 



