V e g e ta b le s a b
s ta n c e s u s e d f(
s e a t s ;
—for paper;
— f o r d y in g .
Forests.
in preparing them» In the Manilla Islands-, cables, are made from thesë fibres;
and in the first volume óf the Batavian- Transactions a modè.iis .described' of
preparing, from them a substance resembling cotton.- The leaves of the
’nemas, or pine-apple, contain also abundance of useful. fibrés;; which are
easily separated in a- bundle,- after- scraping off the coriaceous substance.
I t is very fine, and the separate fibres are employed bythe nativesrin .sewing,
without any preparation; but it may also be spun, and is. made into a- hind
©f stuff rësembMngsitk, gauze; &c.
4 Mats are made frontsseveral spéeifes of pandanus, from a1 kind!oft grass
1 called méntfong, and from tie leaves of various palms, particularly the
geMng-. -; The- lattep affords the most common kinds, cparser and' less
durable than thé others, as well as bag® (straw'sacks): resembling very coarse
mats. ■ • ■ - - ■ • ,,! - ■ " ' ' '
The paper in eorttmbm use with the Javans is manufactured; from the
gtug&, (knoruspapyrifera^ ; f
' - A variety- of vegetable substances-are used in dying: theipripcipal of
which,- however, are--the tom, or indigo, which; is extensfrely' cultivated
throughout the island/; and the worig-kudu, which affords a lasting scarlet;
A blackrriye is-obtained fronrthe bark oficseverabexotic trees,-united-with
the rind erf the mangmtin fruit. . Ayellöw dye is alio- obtained from? an exotic
wood, heightened by the addition' of the barkiof the; ndngkktxeè? and a
variety o f the mango.
Extensive fbrests- of the jd ti, o f teak of India,* are found imabnastlall
the eastern provinces ; but the most,; valuable and important are in' the
. central
* I t is remarkable that the teak tree, which, as far as our information yet extends, is not to
be- found on the peninsula of Malacca,, or on Sumatra or the adjacent islands, should grow in
abundance on Java and several.of the islands which he east.of it ; as on Madura, and
its dependent islands, Bah, Sumbawa, and others. Sumbawa produces- a considerable quantity.
The whole of the bills on the north-east part of that island under Ttfma are covered with
it; but from the constant demand for the timber, the trees are seldom allowed to grow to
- more than a foot in diameter, except in the forests exclusively appropriated to the use of the
sovereign. In Dompo,- which occupies the central division of the same island, the teak cannot
be used by any but the sovereign, and the trees are in consequence allowed to attain then- full
size . The timber is here uncommonly line, and by the natives considered superior .to that of
j ava- but the forests being, surrounded by steep- hills, and the population but scanty, it
cannot be transported to the sea coast without great labour and expence. On Celebes the
teak tree is only known in a few spots. The principal forest is in. the district of Mario; ÈS&
central districts, inland between .iSem&<mg «fld Siddyu, and particularly
in the districts of .B/ora, Jzprag, and Paddngjai^
’ species known, -.the fectama grandi-s of leak
LihhalUs/' the -fekka''JPf»; 'V'-an R/heede, and the gains -df Rhumphius. Its
natur^'hiStory &h&S been already fully detailed, add all sthe^kinds-generally
enumerated -afe ''merely Varieties. These-ate usually distinguished among
the’ ba-Mvesierf J a v a f r o m th4i^raa]|ty aQi;Gploar'of;-fihe-weodi
The prinei^criarfeitHe^ jdM ■kapur.; . the rdiallly-'Jbeai; land -a kind varying in c®-
MfiPTitand Qn-aeooilftit.ofi-i^TBXBdLlstic&itersaed/flfersjia^^^notf the true teak.
The ’fdrfn&r is 'the most common :* its woodf'is of a whitish hue, and rit
sbifieriifi'es bqntaiins calcareous -ebnorettons in nodules ©r-streaks. This- sort
isibhS’efiyiertl|ili^ed,(for-eomm^n' domestic purposes, and -though inferior in
quality to- toany others, from its abundance an# comparative (Cheapness;
is perhaps the mostlgbnerally'frsefiul. The jd ti *s$ngjgu -is harder, closer;
and m'of e l'?pOn'dfef©uS, and particularly selected for shipbuilding. The
(itteilr'fr’of ^t'feedWoa# us of different -shades, from ligM&lfto' intense brown,
ivfth£ a1-cast'' e f ’tMbleb verging »sometimes lu r e d or black. I f the stem is •
covered'vifth ^pin’es, b la th e r pointed scales,- i ’t'ns-'called jd ti ddri, 'but in
Its ^ texture'*'a!nd -quality-it-agrees with'-ill e jd ti sttWg^gii, *®esidfes these-the
nafrvbS distinguish, • as* jd ti gefrfb'ob thefe© excrescences -or protuberances
which are pThtfueed from a variefrjlbbf the jd ti, -furnishing materials for
haMstfibe cabinet-work.'
; The ^ealf^ffe^OT UaVa grd>ws at a moderate elevation-above the level ofrthe
ti®ean.' If®!? generally conceited; that- the timber afforded by -forests grow-
ing on a soil of which the basis is limestone, and the surface uneven, gravelly;
or rocky, is the hardest; the fre'6'st from chalky-Goncr-etions, and in-dll respects
tfe b e s t; -but' in laying out- a teak plantation, a 'soil- consisting in- a gredt
proportion of Black’ vegetable mould,;j is always -se'ledted* for the pufp’oSe bf
obMhffig' a Ik'pi'd growth; The teak'freB is «Milder'ahH'erects- - It- shoots
up with considerable vigour ‘arid rapidity, -but its expansion is ''slow! Like
all iuthbr trees-s!ffording useful timber of a close grain, ift-is- many years in&
arriving at'maturity. Under "favourable circumstances, a growth -of from
twenty to twenty-five years affords a tree having about twelve inches dia-
meteg at the liase. It requires at'least a century to attain its perfection,
but
this does not appear- to be indigenous, .as the natives assert that the seed from which the
forest has grown, was brought from Java about eighty years ago by one of. the sovereigns of
Tanet$.