202 
BLUEFJELDS. 
the root-stock and attains its lofty stature, before a 
single lateral branch has budded. In this simple 
form its sharp top and polished surface find no diffi- 
culty in threading the crossed branches ; and when 
once its elevation is gained, the lateral branches find 
their horizontal course no less unresisted. I have 
seen in the dense clump at Bluefields, in the middle 
of July, vigorous shoots of the present year, fully 
three inches in diameter, and from twenty to thirty 
feet high, without the least trace of a lateral shoot. 
The appearance of such a growing stem is singularly 
beautiful. The delicate green hue, set off by the 
smoothness and even polish of the surface, the swell- 
ing joints at regular intervals, the cylindrical inter- 
nodes, and the uniform thickness of the whole, strike 
the mind with an emotion of pleasure, the slenderness 
conveying the idea of elegance without weakness. 
The basal part of every joint is partly inclosed in dark 
brown triangular sheaths, having a hairy or downy 
surface ; and these increase in number, and are closer 
together towards the summit of the shoot, where the 
joints are still extending: the contrast of colour and 
of surface between the woolly brown sheath and the 
polished vivid green of the reed adds to the beauty of 
the whole. 
The various uses to which the Bamboo is applied, 
it would be quite foreign to my purpose to notice ; but 
I will mention one to which I myself applied it. I 
found the slender stems, well-ripened, excellent for 
the handles of insect nets, combining lightness with 
firmness and elasticity, and affording lengths from 
twenty feet downwards. 
