•aromatìcus, Nardus, Cojius, Xylocinnamomum, Afpalathos, and
Se/ama, or the oil extrafled from its feed.
C a s s i a . B a s t a r d cinnamon, the Cajffia o f the ihops, and haunts
Caffia, Burman. Zeyl. 63, tab. 28, grows here in great plenty,
and the bark is a great article o f commerce in India : fome
little is fent to Europe, but the confumption is very fmall, as we
prefer the true fpecies : the bark is more red, and has a lefs
flavor. It is faid, that the forefts o f Malabar produce annually
two hundred thoufand pounds weight.
It is endlefs to enumerate the plants or trees -of India ; the
knowledge of its vegetable kingdom can only be learned from the
number of books expreflly written on the fubjeét ; yet, in the
courfe of this topography, I lhali incidentally give a brief account
of the moft lingular, or the moft ufeful. In this place I ihall detain
the reader a little longer than ufual, to mention the ufeful
B a m b o o R e e d . Bamboo, a reed which is found frequent in the country. It is
the retreat of tigers, panthers, bears, and other beafts of prey ;
and the haunt of infinite numbers and varieties of the monkey
tribe.' Botanifts ftyle it Arundo Bambos, and Arundo arbor ; it
is an evergreen. The item is o f a vivid green, but as it grows
older, becomes of a duller color. I refer to the Syftema Planta-
rum for the fynonymS, Rumpbius, iv. 8, defcribes, but does not
give its figure. In the Hortus Malabaricus, i. tab. 16, it is
found under the title o f Ily. Bamboo is not the Indian name,
but one impofed on it by the Portuguefe, from the Violent ex-
plofion the hollows give on being fet on fire, occafioned by the
confined air, little inferior to that o f a piece o f artillery. This
plant grows to a prodigious height, fo as to over-top all trees of
+ the
the foreft; and its circumference fo great, as to occafion hyperbolical
exaggeration. Pliny fays, that the joints o f thofe which
grew about theAceJines, are fo large, that a fingle one is fuf-
ficent to make a boat. “ Navigiorum etiam vieem praeftant (fi
“ credimus) fingula internodia.” Pliny feems to credit the relation
; and Acofta, (Aromatum liber) an author o f credit, informs
us, that he had frequently feen them in ufe on the river,
near Cranganor, on this coaft, and that they were: capable of
carrying, two Indians; one fate on each, end-, with their knees.
joined, and each carried a fliort oar, or paddle, with which they
rowed with vaft rapidity, and even againft the ftream. The
honorable Edward Monkton, who had been at Goa, has allured i
me, that the above muft have been a miftake. The largeft
joint he ever faw (which always grows at the bottom of the
plant) was not two feet in length, and about the thicknefs of a
flout man’s leg.
T h e bamboo is fubfervient to other ufes fimilarj but far more
important. T he reed, formed into a frame, and covered with
ikin, becomes a boat o f the fame fort with the Britijh coracles,.
or rather, the vitilia inavigia, in which the Britons even crofled
our narrow feas * ., Ayder Alii had great numbers, which he carried
with him in his campaigns :■ thofe.frames were carried by
two men, and the ikins by two more ; and in a quarter o f ant
hour they were ready for u f e ; one o f thefe veflels was capable
o f containing twenty-five men, or a piece o f cannon, with
which they crofled any rivers they found in their march +, As
to the horfes,,they fw-im by the fide o f the coracle, held by the
horfeman (who is* in the boat) b y the bridle, in the fame -
* Toor ¡11 Wales, i, 234., Hift, of Ayder Alii, i. 116.
manner.-