VALUE AND USES OF DHUNCHEE FIBRE. 295 
called for in this country. Another gentleman observed, 
that thoughr ather wiry it was strong, and chiefly remarkable 
for its contraction when wetted, so much so, that it would 
even carry away the mainmast of a ship by mere contraction. 
Mr. Deneef, the Belgian farmer, presented samples of the 
Bengal Hemp, called Dhuncha, to the Agri-Horticultural 
Society, in November, 1840, and stated that they had been 
dressed after the Belgian mode. A begah, he says, will yield 
173 lb. of cleaned fibre, and 921b. of seed. A woman can 
dress about 41b. a day. In April, 1851, Captain Thompson 
presented a dressed sample of the fibre of the Dhuncha of Bengal, 
and a piece of rope made of it. This rope, he stated, had been 
used in various ways for nearly two years, and from various 
reports upon it, he thought it likely to come into extensive 
use. Specimens of the fibre and rope were also sent to the 
Exhibition of 1851, and we have already given (at p. 292) 
the result of the trial made with this rope in the Arsenal of 
Fort William, whence it appears that a three and a half inch 
rope of Dhunchee broke with not less than 75 cwt., though the 
Government Proof, required for such rope, was only 49 cwt. 
The price of the Dhunchee, in the interior, has long been 
about R.1 8 per maund. The following are reports upon this 
fibre: 
“The Dhunchee is very suitable for ropes, and if it will take 
in tar, is of considerable value. It would probably fetch from 
£30 to £35 a ton, and after being introduced and known, 
perhaps £5 more.” It was also valued by others at £35 
in 1853. 
These fibres, in fact all the fibres from the East, would be 
much more valuable if properly scutched; and if scutching 
mills were sent out, these fibres could be brought in a greatly 
improved state to market. 
Matsuun, or Matoo CuimBer, Bauhinia racemosa 
(Leguminose). 
Along the forests of the Sewaliks and the hot valleys of the 
Himalayas, from the doons of the North-West to the valley of 
Assam, may be seen a magnificent climber, called Maljhun or 
Maloo, with a two-lobed leaf. Of this, the Author observed, 
