The Ambonese Herbal, Vol. 3

AMBOINESE HERBAL Book VI. Chapter IV.

The reeds that are thicker than the others can be used for the posts and beams of houses, as well as for enclosures and fences. They are also suitable for rafters, as they are durable provided they are not touched by rain. However, all such houses and walls constructed from these reeds emit violent sounds like muskets and hand-cannons when they are burned in a fire; this happens because of the trapped air, which, when thinned by the heat, forcefully opens the tubes and nodes and causes them to burst apart. In short, the Bulu Java Latin: Arundo arbor; likely Bambusa vulgaris or a similar large species is valuable and can be applied to all types of buildings, and therefore its many uses cannot easily be recounted.

In medical matters, the fresh reeds—whether Bulu Java or Bulu swangi Malay: "Ghost Bamboo" or "Sorcerer's Bamboo"—also have their use. If their rough outer bark or sheath is stripped away, and the remaining green inner bark is scraped very thinly and finely down to the hard wood, this scraping can be boiled in water. If this is given to someone who carries clotted blood in their body from a blow or a fall, they will feel the greatest relief from it; for it thins the thickened and clotted blood and expels it from the body, either through the urine or other pathways. Some people add to this the scrapings of the wood called Sappan Caesalpinia sappan, used for its red dye and medicinal properties and half a Limon Swangi A type of lime used in local medicine and rituals. In my time, this experiment was conducted on a certain man who had been wounded in the side by a ferocious ox, so that a tumor-like swelling protruded from the site.

The Robong Malay: rebung; young edible bamboo shoots, or the first shoot of this species, sprouts around the new moon to the thickness of an arm. It is rough, hairy, and thorny, and within the span of a month, it grows to a height of twelve feet. Among all species of reeds, it is the best and most commonly used for various types of food—specifically its uppermost part, about a foot in length, which is soft and tender. It is soaked in water and boiled slightly, then cut into thick rounds or rings which are preserved in brine and dried in the sun; afterward, they are preserved in salted vinegar to make atsjar Malay: acar; spicy pickled vegetables, which is a most delicate preserve Latin: salgama, the best of which is brought for sale from Siam. This same Robong, when cut into thinner slices and boiled in a fatty meat broth, provides an excellent vegetable dish similar to cabbage. The sheaths adhering to the stalks, if removed and scraped thin like paper, are excellent for making tobacco rolls Latin: volvulos Tabacarios; early forms of cigars or cigarette wrappers; from the whole sheaths, however, lids for jars can be fashioned.

In the high Lonthoir mountains of Banda, many forests of these reeds occur—specifically of the Bulu Java species—but they are unsuitable for use because they are always filled with a sweet and transparent liquid Latin: lympha; refers to the sap or water trapped in the segments, and they are also wrinkled and shrivel when dried. In those mountains, the air is exceedingly cold and windy, which is why these trees do not grow very high there and are covered with thick moss.

Tabaxir Also known as Tabasheer; a siliceous concretion found in the joints of certain bamboos, highly valued in ancient and medieval medicine, as has been said, is a white and dry substance like starch flour, or like fine white sugar, which is found in some provinces of Old India, such as Bisnagar Vijayanagara, Batecala Bhatkal, and Malabar. It is very rarely found in the tubes of this reed, where it is called Saccar Mambu Persian/Malay: "Bamboo Sugar". Although it is clear from Avicenna Persian physician Ibn Sina, 980–1037 AD (Book 2, Chapter 109) that it is prepared from the burnt roots of Indian reeds, it is not, as far as I know, discovered in any reed tubes in these Eastern islands. Thus, I cannot comment on it more extensively, but I will refer those who wish to know its history further to Garcia’s History of Aromatics Garcia de Orta, a pioneer of tropical medicine (Book 1, Chapter 12), as well as to the Arabic critical commentaries on that chapter found in the works of Carolus Clusius. I should only add that while I was staying on the coast of Hitu, my boys once brought me a white and dry substance like starch flour which they had discovered on that coast—as far as I remember—in the tubes of Bulu feru Likely Bulu seru. It was hard, dry, and entirely tasteless; it was unknown to all the locals Latin: Aethiopibus; here referring to the dark-skinned indigenous people of the Moluccas to whom I showed it, and its whiteness gradually faded into a grayish color.

Cho, or as we pronounce it Tsjo, described in the Chinese Atlas Referencing the Novus Atlas Sinensis by Martino Martini in the Provinces of Peking and Chekiang (page 116), is without doubt the same as Tsja tick or Bulu Java, about which Father Martinius tells many wonders. Among other things, he describes how the Chinese know how to cut it into fine strips, from which they weave various and most polished types of furniture, and how their Robong serves them as food.

In the Hortus Malabaricus A 17th-century botanical treatise on the plants of the Malabar Coast (Volume 1, page 25), the Indian reed is described under a single form in figure 16, and in the Malabar tongue...

The reeds now, which are somewhat thicker than ordinary, are used for posts and pillars in houses, for fences, for fortifications, and as rafters in roofs, where they are durable as long as the rain does not touch them. But all such tubes and walls made entirely of reed give off violent bangs like muskets and pistols when they catch fire, because the enclosed air, made thin by the fire, causes the pipes and nodes to burst with violence. Thus, for all kinds of construction work, the Bulu Java is necessary and fit, and therefore it is not well possible to recount all its uses.

In medicine, it also has some utility, for if one takes the fresh reeds, whether of Bulu Java or Bulu swangi, throws away the outer rough husk or sheath, and then scrapes the green bark finely down to the hard wood, boils that same scraping in water, and gives it to someone to drink who has some clotted blood in their body from falling or blows, they shall feel great benefit from it; for it thins the clotted blood and drives it out through the urine or elsewhere. Some add to it the scrapings of Sappan-wood and half a Swangi-lime. In my time, it was tested on a person who had been gored in his side by a wild ox, so that a large swelling rose up at that place.

The Robong, or first shoot of this kind, which comes out around the new moon in the thickness of an arm—rough, hairy, thorny, and shooting up to the height of twelve feet within a month—is the best and most useful among all Bamboo species for many kinds of food. Namely, the uppermost piece, a foot long, where it is still soft and tender; for it is soaked in water and boiled a little, thereafter cut into thick slices or rings, salted, and then dried in the sun and laid in pickled vinegar, which makes a precious Atsjar or Salgama, the best of which comes for sale from Siam. This same Robong, cut into thinner slices or ribs and boiled with a fatty broth, gives a tasty mash like cabbage. The sheaths still sitting on the stem, when taken off, are scraped as thin as paper, from which one makes the Boncassen tobacco wrappers to smoke tobacco. The unscraped ones are also fit for cutting pot lids from them.

On the highest part of the Lonthoir mountains in Banda, one finds many Bamboo forests of the Bulu Java kind, but those are unfit for any use because they are always full of sweet and clear water, and they shrink when they become dry; for it is very cold and windy on those same mountains, wherefore the trees there do not grow high and are covered with a thick moss.

Tabaxir is (as said) a white and dry substance, like starch, flour, or white powdered sugar, which one finds in some Provinces of old India, like Bisnagar, Batecala, and Malabar, though very seldom in the pipes of this reed, and is called there Saccar Mambu; although one can note from Avicenna (Book 2, Chapter 109) that it was made from the burnt roots of the Indian reed. However, since the same, to my knowledge, was never found in all kinds of Bamboos of these Eastern Islands, I cannot write more broadly of it. But I point those who desire to know more of it to Garcia’s History of Aromatics (Book 1, Chapter 12) and the Arabic Critique made upon it, to be seen in the Works of Carolus Clusius. I must only say this: while I was staying on the coast of Hitu, there was once brought to me a white dry substance, like small cakes of starch, flour, or wafers, found by my boys on the same coast, according to my memory in the pipes of Bulu feru. It was hard, dry, and entirely tasteless, also unknown to all the Moors local Muslims to whom I showed it, and its whiteness changed with time into gray.

Cho, or as we write Tsjo, described in the Chinese Atlas in the Provinces of Peking and Chekiang (page 116), is without doubt the same as Tsja tick, or Bulu Java, of which Father Martinius cites many particulars—among all, how the Chinese know how to cut it into fine strips and weave much subtle furniture from it, and how they use its Robong for food.

In Hortus Malabaricus (Volume 1, page 16), the Indian reed is described under one appearance, and there named in...