chap, v.] USES OF BAMBOO. 121 



ness and hollowness, the facility and regularity with which 

 they can be split, their many different sizes, the varying 

 length of their joints, the ease with which they can be 

 cut and with which holes can be made through them, 

 their hardness outside, their freedom from any pronounced 

 taste or smell, their great abundance, and the rapidity of 

 their growth and increase, are all qualities which render 

 them useful for a hundred different purposes, to serve 

 which other materials would require much more labour 

 and preparation. The Bamboo is one of the most won- 

 derful and most beautiful productions of the tropics, 

 and one of nature's most valuable gifts to uncivilized 

 man. 



The Dyak houses are all raised on posts, and are often 

 two or three hunched feet long and forty or fifty wide. 

 The floor is always formed of strips split from large 

 Bamboos, so that each may be nearly flat and about three 

 inches wide, and these are firmly tied down with rattan to 

 the joists beneath. When well made, this is a delightful 

 floor to walk upon barefooted, the rounded surfaces of the 

 bamboo being very smooth and agreeable to the feet, while 

 at the same time affording a firm hold. But, what is more 

 important, they form with a mat over them an excellent 

 bed, the elasticity of the Bamboo and its rounded surface 

 being far superior to a more rigid and a flatter floor. 

 Here we at once find a use for Bamboo which cannot be 



