Ball — Identification of the Animals and Plants of India, 7 
have grown to sizes unknown in their native country ; hut as regards 
India, I have in vain sought for evidence of the largest species of 
hamhoo ever exceeding 10 inches in diameter. It is Bamlusa arun- 
dinacea, hut the Dendrocalamus giganteus of Penang is said to attain 
to 12 inches. (See Note added in the Press, p- 9.) 
Acosta is sometimes supposed to he responsihle for renewing a form 
of the story as it was first told hy Herodotus. Paludanus, in his anno- 
tation to Linschoten,^* quotes him as follows : — " Of the tree or reede 
called hamhus, some of the Indians make scutes, or little skives, 
wherein (should he whereon) two men may sitte, which they doe 
not altogether make hollow within, hut leave two knots of parti- 
titions uncarved. In (should he on) these scutes the Indians sit 
naked, at ech end one, crosse-legged, and in ech hand an oare where- 
with they rule the boate, and drive her swiftly against the streame, 
specially in the river called Cranganor ; and they are of this opinion 
that those scutes are never overturned hy the crocodiles, although they 
come about them, as others are — but for these it was never heard of." 
A correct version of Acosta's original passage in " Tractado," p. 296 
(1578), will be found in the Anglo-Indian Glossary, by Colonel Yule 
and Mr. Eurnell. 
The following, which is probably derived from the same source, 
namely, Acosta, and should not, perhaps, be regarded as an original 
observation, occurs in Mandelslo's travels — "These canes are so big 
that the Indians cleave them to make boats, leaving a knot at each 
end, whereon ! they sit to guide it — one before, another behind — and 
use this sort of boat the rather, for that they are persuaded crocodiles 
hear a respect to the mamhu (i. e. bamboo) and never hurt the boats 
made of this cane." 
It seems to be probable that this comparatively modern (16th cen- 
tury) version of the story arose from bamboos being used as buoyant 
cylinders, and for this purpose the partitions at the nodes would not 
be removed. It appears to have been the custom for two natives to 
seat themselves astride on such cylinders, at either end, and some of 
the translators of Acosta seem to have given a complexion to the 
statements made by him which was not intended. A translator or 
annotator striving to make his author intelligible might naturally fall 
into such a mistake with the best possible intentions. 
1* Voyage of Linschoten, HaJduyt Soc, vol. ii., p. 58. See also Pennant's 
View of Hindostan, vol. i., p. 143. 
15 Lib. ii., p. 120. 
