296 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[June, 
labor, he opened the parcel, and found within a lot 
of red flannel night-caps. He was much disap¬ 
pointed, but thinking he might come across some 
of the people of the country who would give him 
food for night-caps, he took up the bundle and 
started on his journey. At length, becoming tired, 
he laid down under a tree to sleep, first taking a 
night-cap from the parcel and putting it on his 
head. After awhile, when he awoke, and was 
about to resume his journey, what was his surprise 
to find every night-cap gone from his parcel. Look¬ 
ing around, he could see no one, but hearing a 
chattering sound that came from the tree, he 
looked up, and there, sitting in a row upon a 
branch, were a lot of large monkeys, each with a 
night-cap on his head. They presented such a 
droll sight, each solemn little face peeping out 
from under a red night-cap, that in spite of his 
loss, the good-natured sailor was amused. Saying 
to the monkeys, “As you have taken all the rest of 
my night-caps, you may as well have this one,” he 
snatched the cap from his head and threw it to 
them. At once every monkey imitated the sailor, 
each pulling off its cap and throwing it at him. 
He had only to pick up his treasure, which the imi¬ 
tative acts of the monkeys so unexpectedly returned 
to him, and renew his journey. The monkey in 
the picture has found, or obtained somehow, a 
pocket-book. He had seen people take bills out of 
pocket-books, and he must imitate them by also 
removing the bills. But the mischievous fellow is 
actually destroying them. He is throwing the 
money into the fire, where it is being burned 
and wasted. Surely, in doing this, the monkey is 
not exercising his faculty for imitation. Do not 
let us be too sure of that. Many who have money 
use it for purposes which are really wasteful. 
Even worse than this, the money is used to pur¬ 
chase a great many wicked things. Money spent 
in gambling, purchases misery and sorrow. 
Something About Paper. 
A young correspondent, “ H. T. D.,” asks about 
paper; he would like to know how it is made, and 
what people wrote upon before paper was invented. 
Paper, much like that in use at the present time, 
was first made in the 7th century, but before that 
various substitutes were used. In very early times 
records were made on tablets of stone. Clay tab¬ 
lets, written upon while the material was yet soft, 
and then baked, are found in the ruins of some 
of the ancient cities. Metal tablets have been 
used, and dressed skins, the bark of trees, and 
other substances served for making records. At 
present paper is made from vegetable fibre. The 
wasps and hornets were the first to make paper of 
this kind; the materials of which they build their 
nests being made of fibres of wood that has been 
exposed to the weather. But before we talk about 
modern paper, let us describe the earliest kind of 
vegetable paper, in fact, that from which the arti¬ 
cle takes its name—Papyrus. This name is given 
to the material, and to the plant which produces it, 
and was in use very early in Egyptian history. The 
Papyrus plant is now found wild in some parts of 
Africa, and was formerly cultivated largely in the 
River Nile. The plant (Tapijrus antiquorum of the 
botanists), is one of the Sedge family, and we have 
a number of similar plants in this country. It 
grows in the muddy bottoms of rivers, its stems 
being ten feet high. The plant, as shown in the 
engraving, grows in large clumps, each stem having 
at its top a tuft of fine branches, which bear the 
flowers and seeds. Though it naturally grows 
in the water, Papyrus will thrive in ordinary soil, 
if kept moist, and is often seen in green-houses as 
an ornamental plant. The lower part of the stem 
has a number of thin layers, somewhat like layers 
of bark, one within another. These, upon the por¬ 
tion growing under water, are very white, thin, and 
delicate. These layers were peeled off, laid upon a 
stone with their edges overlapping; then another 
series was placed crosswise over the first, and so on 
until the material was thick enough. It was beaten 
with wooden mallets, and pressed by weights, 
which caused the various layers to unite, and form 
a sheet. After it was smoothed by rubbing, the 
papyrus was ready to be written upon, both a black 
and a red ink being used. The sheets were rarely 
more than a foot wide, but by gluing them to¬ 
gether at the edges, they were made as long as de¬ 
sired; some have been found that were 20 feet long. 
They were kept in a roll, and the reader gradually 
unrolled the sheets, and made a new roll as he 
read. In the dry climate of Egypt these rolls of 
papyrus have been preserved in a wonderful man¬ 
ner. Some have been found which were written 
2,000 years before Christ. Papyrus, even in Egypt, 
has now given place to paper, and the plant, being 
no longer cared for, has nearly disappeared from 
the country. At an early date the Chinese had the 
art of making paper from the Paper Mulberry 
tree, but we must leave these and other forms of 
paper for another time. 
-oo- 
Boys, Can You Swim? 
Any boy twelve years of age who can not swim, 
should, if possible, learn to do so this summer. 
We say, “if possible,” not because there is much 
difficulty in learning, but every one may not have 
a suitable place, or cannot have the help of an 
older person. The very first thing to consider in 
learning to swim is safety. If your parents insist 
that you shall not go into the water unless some 
older person is with you—they are right. If there 
is a pond or lake or a still river within easy reach, 
and this gradually deepens, with a clean sandy or 
gravelly bottom, you can readily learn to swim. 
Boys differ in the. readiness with which they learn. 
Wade out until the water is up to your breast, then 
turn your face towards the shore, and try to swim 
towards it. You know that the water between you 
and the shore is not over your depth, as you have 
just waded through it; this will give you confi¬ 
dence to strike out. Confidence is a great help in 
learning. The chief use of the various aids in 
learning, the swimming plank, corks, or the pres¬ 
ence of an older person, is to give the learner con¬ 
fidence. A plank a few feet long, on which the 
beginner can place one or both hands, is some¬ 
times of use. Corks or life preservers of any kind, 
that are fastened to the body, we do not think 
much of. One needs but very little aid—in fact no 
aid—in order to keep his head above water, if he 
only has confidence. If an older brother or other 
friend will hold his hand in such a manner that you 
can rest your chin upon it, you can soon learn the 
proper movement of the arms and legs. Another 
method is to have a strap or band of webbing or 
other material around the chest, just under the 
arms. A few feet of stout cord has one end at¬ 
tached to the band, and the other end fastened to 
alight stout pole. In this manner a strong per¬ 
son can help the learner while standingon the land. 
The chief use of this contrivance is to give the 
beginner confidence. Those who undertake to aid 
a boy in learning to swim, should resist all tempta¬ 
tion to play tricks. No matter how slight a duck¬ 
ing may be given, it startles the learner, and he is 
thereafter fearful that it may be repeated. 
Making a Flag.— Miss “ W. M. S.” wishes to 
know “about making a flag.” All flags, whether 
large or small, are made in the same proportions, 
fixed in part by Congress, and in part by the “Array 
Regulations.” The general material for flags is 
bunting. The flag consists of the “field,” the 
portion containing the stripes, and the “ union,” 
in the ripper corner, next the staff, in which are 
the stars. The width of the flag is in proportion 
to its length, is as 5 to 9. There are thirteen 
stripes, seven red and six-white, a rep stripe being 
at top and bottom. The union is blue, four-tenths 
the length of the field, and seven stripes wide. 
The stars white, and one for each State, are placed 
in horizontal lines, equally distant from each other, 
A GROUP OF PAPYRUS PLANTS. 
Engraved for the American Agriculturist . 
