38 IVOSDERS OF THE TROPICAL FORESTS, 
lengtli into very thin pieces, tlte industrious Chinese 
tlieii twist them together into strong ropes, for hauling 
their vessels alon*^ their numerous rivers and canals;. 
The sails of their junks, as well as their cables and 
rigginj^, are made of bamboo ; and in the southern pro- 
vince of Sechuen, not only nearly even,* house is built 
solely of this strong cane, but almost every article of 
furniture which it contains — ^mats, screens, chairs, tables,, 
bedsteads, bedding — is of the same material. From the 
young shoots they also fabricate their fine writing-paper, 
which is so superior to the produce of our own manu- 
factories. Although the bamboo grows ^spontaneously 
and most profusely iu nearly all the southern portion of 
their vast empire, they do not entirely rely on the 
beneficence of Nature, but cultivate it with the greatest 
care. They have treatises devoted solely to this subject, 
laying down rules derived from experience, and showing 
the proper soils, the best kinds of water, and the seasons 
for planting and transplanting the bamboos, whose use 
is scarcely less extensive throughout the whole East 
Indian world. 
At one season of the year the baml>oos are easily 
destroyed by fire ; and as the great stem-joints burst 
from the expansion of the air contiiied within, the report 
almost rivals the roar of cannon. In Sikkim firing the 
jungle is a frequent practice, and Dr. Hooker, who often 
witnessed the spectacle, describes the effect by night as 
exceedingly grand. " Heavy clouds canopy the moun- 
tains above, and, stretching across the valleys, shut out 
tlie sky; the air is a dead calm, as usual in the deep 
gorges ; and the fires, invisible by day, are seen raging 
all around, appearing to an inexperienced eye in all but 
dangerous proximity. The voices of birds and insects 
being hushed, nothing is audible but the harsh roar of 
the rivers, and occasionally rising fur above it, that of 
the forest fires. At niglit we were literally surrounded 
by them j some smouldering like the shale-heaps at a 
