56 MOORVA FIBRE TWISTED INTO CORDAGE. 
Europe hemp, made of sewing twine (untarred) . . broke at 212 Ib. 
Harris’s patent colonial bolt rope (tarred)! . . ‘ » 204 ,, 
Manilla hemp (untarred) .  - + tt » 188 , 
Europe bolt rope (tarred) . ‘i . 2 7 ” 168 ,, 
Balasore fibre (untarred), at Calcutta . . . . 7 137 ,, 
Ditto, spun by Capt. Bond (thumb line). : : ” 1354,, 
Europe rope (tarred) : 5 z : ‘i . i 88 ,, 
In a further report, Capt. Bond stated, that forty maunds 
of the fresh plant produced one maund of fibre. The expenses 
of the experiment were high, as the plant had to be brought to 
him from some distance (four miles) to the place where it was 
dressed, and the best methods of separating the fibre had not 
been followed. The natives being averse to a work which 
their forefathers had never-taken in hand. The plants having 
been steeped for eight days, were beaten out on a stone or 
plank, and then taken to another tank of water to be washed, 
and then dried and combed. All these processes necessarily 
increased the expenses. Mr. Bond further ascertained that the 
steeping spoiled the colour cf the fibre, at the same time that 
it diminished its strength. With some fresh specimens of the 
fibre he also sent two pieces of cloth, which had been woven 
from threads spun by fishermen, which were irregular in 
thickness, and so, consequently, was also the cloth. 
From the abundance of this plant in many situations, from 
the ease with which it may be cultivated, and the facility with 
which the fibre may be separated and cleaned, there is no 
doubt that it could be produced as cheaply as any of the other 
fibres ; and it has been shown that it is capable of being used 
for a variety of purposes, as for textile fabrics, and for string 
and cordage, as well as for paper-making. It is abundantly 
diffused, especially along the coasts, and its fibre was sent to 
the Exhibition from Assam and Cuttack, as well as from 
Madras, Coimbatore, and the Malabar coast. 
Besides the foregoing, many other Liliaceous plants might 
be adduced, as yielding useful kinds of fibre, and in quantities 
sufficient to repay the trouble of their extraction. But they 
' Probably made of New Zealand Flax, v. p. 58. 
