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A good deal of a bast similar to that of Terap is impor ted 
into Singapore from Pulau Bungoran and Celebes, and sold at 
15 cents a catty. I doubt its being the bast of A. Kumtlen , as 
that does not occur so far East, as far as I know, but the bast 
is sold as that of Terap. 
Some years ago an attempt was made at the Botanic Gardens, 
Singapore, to clean and prepare the fibre of the Terap tree, to see 
if it could be used commercially, and a strong white fibre was 
prepared, but the staple is short and the fibre much curled and 
irregular, so that the mass looked more like cotton waste than a 
good working fibre. 
A. incisa. — Bread-fruit. This is not very extensively cul- 
tivated here, as it never seems to fruit well, and the fruit is inferior 
and not very popular. I do not know of the bast being utilized 
here as fibre, but it is said to be so used in the Eastern islands. 
A. integrifolia — The Jack also produces a bast fibre, occa- 
sionally used in India but not utilized here, and A. Lacoocha, 
a wild kind of bread fruit not rare in the Peninsula, also is said 
to give a fibre. 
It is probable that all the species or the genus give a more 
or less useful fibre, and that the bast of more than one of the 
native species is sold in the markets as that of the Terap. 
Antiaris toxicaria . — The Upas tree (Ipoh). This gigantic 
tree, allied to the Artocarpir, is better known for its poisonous 
latex than for its fibre. Its bast is used apparently in India to make 
sacks, the bast being removed entire, beaten and soaked in water. 
It is used for native clothing, and rope also in Ceylon. 1 he 
tree is not very common in the forests, and as the Sakais value 
it for its latex used in poisoning their darts, they would naturally 
be unwilling to cut a tree down for its bark while they can 
get the less valued Terap tree. 
Akctr Karas . — This is a pale colored bast obtained in Malacca 
and brought in in half-inch strips. The bast is not very strong, 
and inferior to that of ^erap. The ultimate fibres are very 
short, white and woolly. 1 do not know at present from what 
plant this bast is derived. It has the appearance of a Ficus bast. 
Akar Tabak . — Also from Malacca and of unknown origin is 
a stronger bast, light colored, resembling that of Ficus Benjamina. 
It is in narrow strips, and the fibre is short, white and woolly. 
Kudu . — Many years ago Mr. H. Vaughan Stevens brought 
from Kemaman, a curious woolly light amber brown bast in 
sheets, very soft, with a woolly short and weak fibre. It was one 
of the cloth basts used by the Sakais for clothing but from what 
tree it was procured I do not know. 
All of these have the appearance of being U rticaceous 
Fibres, either Artocarpus, Antiaris , or (the Akars) perhaps Ficus. 
