186 
THE LADIES’ MAGAZINE OF GARDENING. 
here either entirely wanting, as the Cacti and Bromeliacem, or appear in 
very diminished numbers. The character which nature wears is of a much 
tamer kind. The species of Palm are more numerous than in St.Catherine ; 
many of them are but inconspicuous; and the slender prostrate Rotang is, 
indeed, the most wonderful of them all. Amongst the Aroidese is the 
Pothos scandens , whose jointed grassy stems and narrow foliage are seen 
creeping up the trunks of trees. 
The graceful Bamboo cane grows abundantly on the banks of brooks, 
where its thickly-clustered stems are often waved by the wind, which 
causes these hollow reeds to emit a great variety of agreeable sounds. 
This plant attains its extreme height in the short course of one rainy 
season; during the following years it becomes woody, and shoots out 
lateral stems, without any increase of size. The young sprouts are eaten 
like asparagus. There are several species described by Loureiro as natives 
of this place, but not having seen their inflorescence, we could not ascer¬ 
tain this point. 
The plain consists alternately of woods and savannahs ; but nothing 
can be poorer than the vegetation of the latter, consisting chiefly of two 
species of grass, which grow about eight feet high, and probably ripen 
their seeds in autumn. There are a very few dwarf plants, mostly of the 
leguminous tribes, and these grow under the shade of an arborescent 
species of Bauhinia, which appears singly at considerable intervals. These 
savannahs are often set on fire, both to prepare them for cultivation, and 
that they may produce younger vegetation for the cattle. 
A particular species of Musa , Banana, or Pisang , of which the fruit 
is not esculent, is cultivated for the sake of its fibrous stem, and considered 
preferable to many others. The fibres extend the whole length of the 
stem, which is generally about eight feet; and they are of various degrees 
of fineness, according to their outer or inner situation. Thus the same 
plant affords the fibres of which are made the excellent anchor cables 
almost exclusively employed by the Spanish vessels here, and that more 
delicate flax which is used in the manufacture of the fine striped cloths, 
of which the cleanly people of these islands make very elegant shirts. 
Another Palm grows here ( Palma de Cabello negro ) ; it yields a strong, 
black, coarse fibre, much esteemed for ropes and cables, and far preferable 
to what is obtained from the Rotang , which, though employed by the 
Chinese, and many of the islanders of the Pacific Ocean, is considered as 
of little value, and not to be depended upon. This Palm tree, on the 
contrary, is much cultivated, and, with the Bamboo and Rotang, consti¬ 
tutes one of the most useful plants of this part of the world. ( Hookers 
Botanical Miscellany.') 
