700 



it is one or other of the two species placed above, and the 

 following information is quoted as found under the common 

 names, 



" Abala/' fibre from Northern Nigeria, of fair quality and 

 worth (Nov. 1909) £22-£23 per ton— pale straw-coloured, fairly 

 lustrous, fine fibre, fairly well-cleaned on the whole; length of 

 staple, 3 ft. 3 in. -4 ft. ; average about 3 ft. 9 in. ; corresponding 

 botanical specimen identified at Kew (No, 304:1 0)~Sansevieria sp. 

 from the Forestry Officer at Lokoja (Dunstan, N. Nig. Gaz., 

 May 31st, 1911, p. 101; Col. Rep. Ann. No. 656, 1910, p. 24); 

 fibre from Sierra Leone, sample consisted of 4 lb. well-cleaned 

 -fibre which showed considerable variation in colour texture, 

 length, and general appearance; the colour ranged from white 

 to reddish-brown, and whilst some of the fibre was quite soft 

 other portions w^ere harsh; the length varied from about 1 ft.- 

 -6 ft., most of the fibres being 3 ft,-3 ft. 4 in. long; of good 

 quahty so far as chemical behaviour and composition are 



concerned although they lose more than the ** Napunti [see 

 Honchenya ficifolia, p. 108 of this work] on hydrolysis and are 

 not quite so rich in cellulose (Sierra Leone, Roy. Gaz., Feb. 9th, 

 1907, pp. 64, 65 — also called here " Borfroko ''). 



" Modah " or " Moda," a stemless plant wdth long straight 

 mottled leaves affording a useful fibre, root, and leaf used 

 medicinally (Dalziel, Hausa, Bot. Voc, p. 76); found in native 

 compounds; but though sometimes used as a fibre its chief use 

 is medicinal. Kontagora (Bull. Imp. Inst., 1907, p. 260) ; one 

 of the " bowstring hemps/' thrives well in a natural state in 



shady places, throughout the province of Yola and in the most 

 northerly districts of the Protectorate, many hundred miles from 

 the sea; although its fibre is used the plant is never cultivated 

 (Dalziel, " Notes on the Yola Province," Kew Bull., 1910, p. 139). 



Sansevieria fibre may be obtained from probably all the 

 species — both flat-leaf and round-leaf forms — but East Africa 

 appears to be the only source of the comparatively small trade 

 in the product. It is sometimes classified with " African Sisal," 

 usually under ** African Hemp"; reports have shown ** Sanse- 

 vieria in trifling supply, Kkely to fall out of preparation — value, 

 175.-17^. edf." (Jan. 1912), " no imports— value, 21^.-22.5." 

 (Jan. 1913), ''spot Sansevieria made 23^,, tow, 13^,-155. (July 

 1913), and "Sansevieria offers at 456\" (Mon. Circs. Ide of 

 Christie, 15th Aug. 1919 and above dates), all per cwt. ** Bow- 

 string Hemp " is a name stated to have been proposed by 

 Dr. Roxburgh, because the natives of the Circars (India) make 

 their best bowstrings of the fibres of Sansevieria, and samples 

 of this fibre which have appeared in the London market from 

 frica have been called '* African Bowstring Hemp " (Kew 

 uU., May 1887, p. 1). The plant {S. Ehrenbergii) indigenous 

 to SomalHand is called ** Aloe," a name appHed to Furcraea 

 gigantea in Natal; popularly to Agave americana ("American 

 Aloe"); but properly it is a generic name. The fibres are all 



