THE BAMBOO. 201 



that they can be recognised at a great distance, 

 almost as far as the surface of the mountain-side can 

 itself be seen. There is one on the side of the 

 Luana mountains above the picturesque estate of 

 Grand Vale, a small one about half way up the 

 acclivity of Bluefields mountain, and a much more 

 extensive one near Haddo, on the road from Savanna- 

 le-Mar to Montego Bay, on the other side of the 

 Island. Some small but interesting clumps are 

 growing in Bluefields pasture, which wave their 

 plumes over the romantic little river that meanders 

 through it. A beautiful contrivance connected with 

 the growth of the Bamboo has been frequently 

 noticed, but I may be excused for mentioning it 

 again, for its interest ; especially as, in my own inde- 

 pendent observations, it had excited my admiration. 

 Any one looking at a dense Bamboo clump, the 

 polished rigid stems standing but a foot, or even 

 less, apart, and each bristling with stiff branches 

 shooting out horizontally in every direction, — would 

 ask, " How is it possible for fresh stems to rear 

 themselves through such a labyrinth of crossed and 

 re- crossed branches ? Surely their side shoots would 

 catch some of these horizontal rods before the stem 

 was well out of the ground, and either be broken off 

 while young and tender, or be irreparably distorted!" 

 Yet we never see such distortion ; each stem bears 

 its whorls of horizontal branches, and each branch 

 finds its place among its fellows, adding to the maze, 

 and apparently to the impenetrability. 



The contrivance, however, which obviates all diffi- 

 culty is most simple. The new stem shoots up from 



