114 
BAMBOO. 
from twelve to eighteen inches in diameter. With 
this they make their chests, their small boxes* and 
the measures for their rice. They propagate the 
plant by suckers of two or three joints, which they 
place obliquely in the ground. The vessels in the 
upper joints of these shoots are full of a clear water. 
The wood of this species, as well as that of its va- 
rieties, although extremely light, is very strong : 
with the thickest they make their enclosure-walls 
and partitions, while those of a middling size serve 
as levers to carry palanquins and other burthens. 
The Indian wine-dressers, who are employed to col- 
lect the palm-wine, make bridges of bamboo from 
one tree to another, so that they may pass and col- 
lect the juice without descending to the ground. 
The Chinese boil the young shoots to the con- 
sistence of thick milk, and of this preparation they 
make a kind of paper, used by their draftsmen, 
and sometimes to cover their parasols. The same 
people make several very pretty articles of furniture 
with what they call the Bamboo Cho\ they likewise 
use it for basket-making ; and for this purpose they 
split the stems into little straps. The Bamboo 
Teba is another kind, remarkable for the thickness 
of its stem, which is eighteen inches in diameter, 
and set with strong spines. The superior arti- 
culations, which are open, serve the inhabitants 
as measures for their liquors ; whilst the lower 
joints, being plain, solid, and very durable, are 
used for stakes; of which the Macassars form a 
defensive wall, that answers the purpose, of ram- 
