THE SUB-TROPICAL ZONE. 143 



brought into the two towns of Mexico and La 

 Puebla. 



One species of agave, (A. Americana,) com- 

 monly known as the great American aloe, is 

 celebrated as flowering only once in a hundred 

 years ; the fact is, that all the agaves and 

 allied genera produce a flowering spike of large 

 size, but seldom till they have arrived at a con- 

 siderable age ; and it would seem as if in some 

 species the strength of the plant was over- 

 exerted to produce the enormous mass of 

 flowers, for they seem to be then exhausted, 

 and die soon after. The pulque-bearing agaves 

 seldom flower till they are fifteen years old. 

 The fibrous parts of the root are made into 

 cordage, and of these tough ropes the rude 

 suspension bridges of Mexico are constructed. 

 In former times, the agave was extensively 

 employed in making a kind of paper, which 

 was so much used that, in the time of Mon- 

 tezuma, thousands seem to have been engaged 

 in painting hieroglyphics on this material. Thus, 

 as Humboldt says, " It may be used as a sub- 

 stitute for the hemp of Asia, the paper reed of 

 Africa, and the vine of Europe." In the West 

 Indies and the Cape of Good Hope, it is much 

 employed for making hedges, which are most 

 thoroughly impervious. 



A botanist and traveller, Karwinski, gives a 

 striking account of a plant of this kind, (Fur- 

 cr<va longcBva^) which he discovered on the 

 mountains of Oaxaca, in Mexico, at a height 

 of nine or ten thousand feet. This giant of 



