202 BLUEFIELDS. 



the root-stock and attains its lofty stature, before a 

 single lateral branch has budded. In this simple 

 form its sharp top and polished surface find no diffi- 

 culty in threading the crossed branches ; and when 

 once its elevation is gained, the lateral branches find 

 their horizontal course no less unresisted. I have 

 seen in the dense clump at Bluefields, in the middle 

 of July, vigorous shoots of the present year, fully 

 three inches in diameter, and from twenty to thirty 

 feet high, without the least trace of a lateral shoot. 



The appearance of such a growing stem is singularly 

 beautiful. The delicate green hue, set oS by the 

 smoothness and even polish of the surface, the swell- 

 ing joints at regular intervals, the cylindrical inter- 

 nodes, and the uniform thickness of the whole, strike 

 the mind with an emotion of pleasure, the slenderness 

 conveying the idea of elegance without weakness. 

 The basal part of every joint is partly inclosed in dark 

 brown triangular sheaths, having a hairy or downy 

 surface ; and these increase in number, and are closer 

 together towards the summit of the shoot, where the 

 joints are still extending : the contrast of colour and 

 of surface between the woolly brown sheath and the 

 polished vivid green of the reed adds to the beauty of 

 the whole. 



The various uses to which the Bamboo is applied, 

 it would be quite foreign to my purpose to notice ; but 

 I will mention one to which I myself applied it. I 

 found the slender stems, well-ripened, excellent for 

 the handles of insect nets, combining lightness with 

 firmness and elasticity, and affording lengths from 

 twenty feet downwards. 



