64 PALM OF WHICH ROPES ARE MADE. [Cuar. V. 
from having less vegetable matter mixed with it, 
and from being almost continually under water. 
The rocks of granite, however, of the same kind 
as those noticed on the barren southern hills, exist 
here also; and although they are generally covered 
with soil and vegetation, they have doubtless been 
at some former time as bleak and barren as their 
southern neighbours. 
All the valleys and hill-sides are under cul- 
tivation; paddy is the principal crop on the 
low grounds, and sweet potatoes on the hills. In 
the spring and early summer months, crops of 
wheat, barley, beans, peas and maize are grown on 
the hilly and rising grounds, the low paddy land 
being too wet for such crops. Cotton is also grown 
on the island, but the quantity is inconsiderable 
it is only for the home use of the small farmers on 
whose land it grows. There is a species of Urtica, 
both wild and cultivated, which grows about 
three or four feet in height, and produces a strong 
fibre in the bark, which is prepared by the natives, 
and sold for the purpose of making ropes and 
cables. Another strong fibre is obtained from the 
bracts of a palm-tree cultivated on the hill-sides of 
Chusan, as well as in similar situations all over 
the province of Chekiang. These articles answer 
the purposes to which they are applied extremely 
well; but the rope made from the Manila hemp is 
of much greater strength and durability. From 
the bracts of this same palm the natives of the 
north make what they call a So-e, or garment of 
