PIASSAYA. 



165 



natives of the tropics these naturally prepared fibres are in- 

 valuable^ furnishing them with materials for canvas^ cordage^ 

 and a varity of economic purposes; those of the Arenga 

 or Gommuti palm^ supply this material in great abundance 

 to the inhabitants of India^ who however keep most of it 

 for their own use ; very small quantities only reaching this 

 country, where it is not likely to be much used, for, though 

 very strong and not liable to injury from wet, the stiffness 

 of its fibres prevents its being made into neat cordage, and 

 it does not possess much elasticity. 



PiASSAVA, P1A9ABA, Monkey Guass, or Para Grass. 

 Attalea fwmfera. (Nat. Ord. Palmace^e.) (Plate YIII. 

 fig. 40.) 



This fibre is produced in an exactly similar manner to 

 the last, but upon a larger palm. The Attalea is one of 

 the most elegant of its graceful tribe. Its stem {caudex^ 

 botanically) rises from twenty to thirty feet, as straight as 

 an arrow, and tolerably smooth. Prom the top of this rises 

 the tuft of pinnated fronds or leaves, which are of great 

 length, often nearly twenty feet. Before the decay of the 

 petioles, the fibres become detached at the margins of their 

 bases ; these fibres are produced in such quantities, hang- 

 ing down ten or tv»'elve feet in tufts, that they have caused 



