132 
A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH 
CHAPTER 
III. 
June 21. 
Aletris tier - 
vosus. 
Sugar-cane. 
ropes, the Roudy is then called Guday Sarny. Narrow wells, such as 
are commonly dug in Europe, are seldom used in Mysore, except for 
the Yatam, and rarely supply the inhabitants with drink. 
The leaves of the Aletris nervosus, Roxb: are used here for making 
cordage. Before they are beaten to separate the fibres, they are 
steeped in water fifteen days, in order to rot the useless parts. 
On this day’s journey I observed the cultivation of a kind of 
sugar-cane called Maracabo , or stick cane. This kind never grows 
thicker than the finger, and is very hard, and unproductive of juice; 
but it requires less water than the Res tali. It seems to have been 
the original sugar-cane of the Colar district, of which all the country 
on this side of the central chain of hills forms a part. The farmers 
have lately introduced the Puttaputti from the lower Carnatic , and 
are extending its cultivation as fast as they can procure cuttings. 
