THE LONG-JOINTED BAMBOO FOR BLOW-PIPES. a7 
“ PERAK GOVERNMENT MUSEUM, LARUT, 
Fune 14th, 1892. 
“DEAR SIR, 
“1 recently went up a mountain called Gunong Inas, in the north 
of this State, and procured live plants of the bamboo of which the 
Semangs make their blow-pipes, known by the Malay name of dxu/oh 
bersumpitan. 
“If these plants grow, | will send them to you before the cold 
weather sets in. I have sent them up the hills here, where they will 
be at nearly the same elevation as their natural habitat. 
“T was also fortunate enough to find a clump of these bamboos 
in flower, and I send you the specimens. As I expect this is a new 
species, and that you will describe it, I have sent you all the specimens, 
as it is better to have the whole material available to describe from. 
I would ask you, after having kept what you require for your herbarium, 
to kindly send the duplicates to Dr. King, of Calcutta. 
“The plant grows at from 4,500 feet to nearly 6,000 feet elevation, 
generally on the ridges of the hills. The canes are about one inch in 
diameter near the ground, and taper away to one-sixteenth of an inch. 
These long thin ends drop down till they touch the ground. The canes 
are from 40 to 60 feet long. They are furnished with whorls of leaves at 
all the upper joints, and, as can be imagined, the bamboo is about the 
most elegant of its kind’ From what [ saw, I arrived at the conclusion 
that this plant having arrived at maturity, fruits, and then dies. | cannot 
form any idea at what age this happens, but I saw a cane which had been 
partly cut through by a knife, and it was still in vigorous growth, and as 
this hill has not been visited since 1886 this particular cane must be 
at least six years old, and as there would be many successions of canes 
before a plant reaches maturity the age of these bamboos must be very 
considerable. When they fruit, the barren canes die and are replaced 
by canes on which flowers appear at all the upper joints. I saw two 
dead clumps which had fruited. 
‘The joints are often over seven feet in length. The longest joint 
of a cane is generally the third or fourth from the ground. The Semangs 
use the large-size canes for the outer case of their blow-pipes, and the 
small ones for the inner tube. They straighten them over a fire when 
green, and hang them up in the smoke of their cooking-places to dry. 
‘They appear to grow in two places only in Perak. That is, on the 
mountains at the source of the Plus River, and on the mountains at the 
source of the Selama River, from the latter of which localities the speci- 
mens now sent were obtained. 
“ The parcel goes by this mail, and I hope will reach you in safety. 
‘“l-am\, ete, 
“LL, WRAY, JUN. 
‘“W. T. THISELTON DvER, ESQ., C.M.G., ETC., 
ROYAL GARDENS, KEw.” 
