414 
“The palms used as paper are Borassus and the Talipot palm, 
according to Treasury of Botany, but it doesn’t seem to me to fit in 
with descriptions of these. 
o enclose for the Museum, if you think it is of sufficient 
aie; a sample of the palm-strips with writing on it, sent me 
by Mr. Bons d'Anty. "The writing is probably Shan, but Mr. Bons 
doesn’t say. 
“From a packet of plants sent me by Mr. Bons, collected on a 
trip south of the Chinese frontier, into the British Shan States, it 
would seem that the flora changes at once into the Indian type 
the moment the Yunnan plateau is left, i.e., it loses Chinese 
* We are having a wet summer, much more wet than last year, 
and it is very unpleasant. The plague goes on apace. I tried to 
go out yesterday to the mountains, but had to return on account of 
the heavy rains. I stayed some little time at a Lolo village on the 
pae and rested under a magnificent mulberry, the finest I have 
ver seen. It had the enormous spreading-on-the-surface-of-the- 
ground roots which I think is called Table-kind of root. 2 went 
plague, and the Pundit had fled. I hope to secure his services, 
but the Lolos are very shy, or rather, I think, are afraid to lin 
themselves with Europeans, as the Chinese suspect them then of 
ulterior desigus. The Lolos were allied as a rule with the 
ahomedans in the rebellion of no and there is no love lost 
between them and the Chinese 
“The different status of women amongst the Chinese and the 
races allied to them is a curious problem. Ancient Chinese 
poems don’ t show modern Chinese life at all. However, I must 
conclude.” 
* Yours very truly, 
(Signed) AUGUSTINE HENRY.” 
DLXXXVIL—RUBBER AND COFFEE IN LAGOS. 
The following extracts taken from the Annual Report for 1895 
on the Colony of Lagos, West Africa (Colonial Reports, Annual, 
No. 185, 1896), contain interesting information respectin the 
progress of the rubber and coffee Firas lately developed in 
that dependency. 
The rubber industry was discussed in these pages years 
ago (K.B. 1895, pp. 241-247 with plate; and 1896, 76-77) 
while coffee planting in Lagos was the subject of a ‘ies article 
(K.B. 1896, pp. 77-79). 
RUBBER. 
“ By far the most important factor is the extraordinary develop- 
ment of the rubber industry, the Apis of which are almost 
incredible. On the Gold Coast we are told that the export of 
rubber, which in 1882 was nil, had eder in 1893 to the annual 
value of £200,000. Lagos, in 1894, shipped 5,723 lbs. of rubber 
to p Britain, and 144 lbs. to Germany, in all 5,867 lbs., of the 
of £324 6s. In 1895 these figures rose to no less than 
5.069, 516 Ibs., of a total sterling value of £269,893. 
