307 



From the rapidity of the growth of the 

 banana, it is of too porous a nature to merit 

 the name of wood* and the Indians have 

 ever been accustomed to make cordage, and 

 a kind of cloth, -from its fibres. The cele- 

 brated circumnavigator, Dampier, notices 

 the process more than a century ago, as 

 follows : 



" They take the body of the tree, clear it 

 of it's outward bark and leaves, cut it into 

 quarters, put it into the sun, when the mois- 

 ture exhales; they then take hold of the 

 threads at the ends, and draw them out : 

 they are as big as brown thread ; and of this 

 they make cloth in Mindanas, called sag- 

 gen." 



In Jamaica, there have been upwards of 

 200 given by an order of the Assembly, for 

 the best specimens of this hemp. Dr. Stew- 

 art West gained a premium, and his process 

 may be seen in the Hortus Jamaicensis. 



From experiments tried on the hemp 

 made from the plantain-tree fibre, which was 

 manufactured into rope at his Majesty 's dock- 

 yard, Port Royal, in Jamaica, the following 

 results were obtained : 



Cwt. qr. Ib. 

 King's nine-thread inch-rope broke 



by the weight of 6 1 14 



x 2 



