296 MALJHUN, OR MALOO FIBRE. 
in his ‘Himalayan Botany,’ p. 184, that Bauhinia racemosa 
hangs in elegant festoons from the tops of lofty trees, which 
one is at a loss to conceive how, from the distance of its root 
from the stems, it could ever have ascended ; but occasionally 
a half-killed tree displays the mode of its progress, and indi- 
cates the destruction it must have created in the forest. 
With the bark of this plant, which, when stripped off, is of 
a reddish-brown colour, the natives of these mountains make 
ropes. It was one of those to which Dr. Roxburgh tured his 
attention, and which has been frequently noticed by travellers 
in the Himalayas. Capt. Huddleston states that the stems are 
usually cut in July and August; the outer bark being stripped 
off, is thrown away, and the inner is used for ropes, as wanted, 
by being previously soaked in water, and twisted when wet. It 
is also said to be boiled, and beaten with mallets, which ren- 
ders it soft and pliable for being twisted into ropes and strings 
for charpaes. Though the fibre makes very strong ropes, it is 
not over-durable, and rots if kept constantly in water. ‘Though 
not collected for sale, it is very abundant all along the foot of 
the mountains. 
Major Swetenham, formerly of the Bengal Engineers, on 
the llth of November, 1840, despatched to the late Mr. 
Thomason some of the fibres of the Maloo creeper, and a 
specimen of a rope made from it, which he obtained from the 
valley of the Jumna River within the hills. He describes it as 
making strong coarse ropes, which he had found to answer 
well for suspension bridges, though he was unable to say how 
long they would bear exposure to moisture, for “they had 
been in use only for two or three years, and iron suspension 
bridges substituted.” Specimens of the fibre, and rope made 
from it, were sent to the Exhibition of 1851, from Bhagulpore, 
and called Patwa or Mawal fibre. 
BavHINIA SCANDENS, similar in properties and uses to the 
above, is another species of the same genus, of which we find the 
following notice in the ‘Journal of the Agri-Hortic. Society,’ vi, 
p. 185. Specimens of the fibre of Bauhinia scandens, and cloth 
made therefrom, were sent to Major Jenkins by Major Hannay, 
who mentions that the fibre is used by the Nagas. The plant, 
Major Jenkins adds, is not uncommon about Gowhatti. It 
