certainly have caused his death, yet he recovered in a
very short time.
Poets and moralists, judging from our English trees and
fruits, have thought that small fruits always grew on lofty
trees, so that, their fall should he harmless to man, while
the large ones trailed on the ground. Two of the largest
and heaviest fruits known, however, the Brazil-nut fruit
(Bertholletia) and Durian, grow on lofty forest trees, from
which they fall as soon as they are ripe, and often wound
or kill the native inhabitants. Erom this we may learn
two things: first, not to draw general conclusions from a
very partial view of nature; and secondly, that trees and
fruits, no less than the varied productions of the animal
kingdom, do not appear to be organized with exclusive
reference to the use and convenience of man.
During my many journeys in Borneo, and especially
during my various residences among the Dyaks, I first
came to appreciate the admirable qualities of the Bamboo.
In those parts of South America which I had previously
visited, these gigantic grasses were comparatively scarce;
and where found but little used, their place being taken as
to one class of uses by the great variety of Palms, and as
to another by calabashes and gourds. Almost all tropical
countries produce Bamboos, and wherever they are found
in abundance the natives apply them to a variety of uses.
Their strength lightness smoothness straightness roundness
and hollowness, the facility and regularity with which
they can be split, their many different sizes, the varying
length of their joints, the ease with which they can be
cut and with which holes can be made through them,
their hardness outside, their freedom from any pronounced
taste or smell, their great abundance, and the rapidity of
their growth and increase, are all qualities which render
them useful for a hundred different purposes, to serve
which other materials would require much more labour
and preparation. The Bamboo is one of the most wonderful
and most beautiful productions of the tropics,
and one of nature’s most valuable gifts to uncivilized
man.
The Dyak houses are all raised on posts, and are often
two or three hundred feet long and forty or fifty wide.
The floor is always formed of strips split from large
Bamboos, so that each may be nearly flat and about three
inches wide, and these are firmly tied down with rattan to
the joists beneath. When well made, this is a delightful
floor to walk upon barefooted, the rounded surfaces of the
bamboo being very smooth and agreeable to the feet, while
at the same time affording a firm hold. But, what is more
important, they form with a mat over them an excellent
bed, the elasticity of the Bamboo and its rounded surface
being far superior to a more rigid and a flatter floor.
Here we at once find a use for Bamboo which cannot be