54 MOORVA COMPARED WITH HEMPEN ROPE. 
port, had some of it manufactured into ropes. On a fair trial 
of a three-stranded rope of this material with a similar one of 
Russian hemp, in raising two and a half hundredweight of 
spelter from the hold, the grass faithfully brought it up on three 
successive occasions; whereas, in applying the hempen rope, 
twice out of three times it gave way, and in the third trial lost 
one strand. Both Mr. Tapley and Capt. Biden, the comman.- 
der, highly approved of the article, as did many commanders 
of ships of other nations then frequenting the port of Calcutta, 
“ On the writer’s return to Cuttack he laid waste the whole 
of the aloe plant he could discover, without respect to species; 
and to save time and labour, passed the leaves through a 
pressing mill similar to that used for expressing the juice from 
the sugar-cane. He then caused them to be laid in heaps 
under water for some days, till the fleshy portion of the leaf 
was decomposed, by which means the fibres were more easily 
collected; they were then hackled and baled. In the course 
of a short time afterwards he discovered a short species of 
aloe, growing wildly and profusely in all the moist woods of 
the neighbourhood, which the natives called Moorgubbee. On 
experiment, this plant produced a most beautiful fibre, as soft 
and as fine as human hair, but possessing, notwithstanding, 
extraordinary strength and tenacity. He derived a great 
quantity of flax from this plant, which, when portioned off in 
hanks, bore a strict resemblance to raw silk; indeed, side by 
side, the difference could not be distinguished. It was this 
article that first induced the writer to turn his attention to 
the manufacture of cloth. He engaged two native ‘ Tantees,’ 
or weavers, to construct a narrow loom for this purpose. They 
at first found some difficulty in the undertaking, but in the 
course of four or five days they produced as fine a piece of 
cloth as was ever beheld: one portion of it the writer pre- 
sented to Sir Charles (afterwards Lord) Metcalf.” 
The fibres of the Sanseviera may, from their fineness, com- 
bined with tenacity, be applied to a variety of purposes. Dr. 
Roxburgh at one time supposed, though erroneously, that they 
were identical with China grass, They are usually about two 
feet in length, but may easily be obtained longer, if plants 
are cultivated. The fibres are firm, hair-like, and silky, and 
resemble those of the pine-apple most closely. The tow is ex- 
