214 EAMBLES OF A NATUEAIIST. [Ch. XHI. 



cultivate extensive gardens — more particularly along tlie 

 river's banks, in which fruit-trees are the principal pro- 

 duct. The sugar-cane is, however, frequently one of their 

 contents, inasmuch as it grows luxuriantly with little or no 

 attention, and is at the same time a very favourite article of 

 consumption, no less with the Dyaks than with the Chinese 

 — both of whom chew the raw cane for the sake of the 

 juice. The produce of these gardens, which is disposed of 

 in the Bazaar at Sarawak, is probably sufficient for the 

 maintenance of the Dyaks possessing them, for their wants 

 are few, and scarcely go beyond the means of subsistence ; 

 their chief food is rice, and 4J,. or 51. sterling per annum 

 win supply rice enough for the consumption of a whole 

 family. The cocoa-nuts also, which abound, yield not only 

 plenty of food, but are useful for a hundred different pur- 

 poses. They are to these people what the date-palms are 

 to the inhabitants of the African coast. But perhaps the 

 bamboo (Bambusa arundinacea) exceeds all other trees in 

 economic value — for not only does it afford an article of 

 wholesome food in the young shoots, but a thousand things 

 are made from it — an enumeration of which would take up 

 too much space ; but the traveller meets with it at every 

 turn, and the most ingenious adaptations are constantly 

 arresting his attention, in which the joints, or septa, often 

 play an important part. The cane itself is one of the 

 most ornamental trees of the tropics, and here reaches a 

 height of 60 feet, the strength and elasticity of its wood 

 being unsurpassed. In these uses also the rattan (Cala- 

 mus Eotang) shares in a minor degree. 



Even the stemless Nipas (Nipa fruticans) have important 

 uses. From the leaves — often 20 feet long — are made those 

 useful and readily-applied attaps, which form the roofs for 



