AMBOINA HERBAL Book VI. Chapter VII.

which, however, is not in use in these islands, where the people are not so idle or fond of comfort.

The second or wild species is used like the Bulu sammet original: "Velvet Bamboo" for the "wings" The outriggers or lateral supports of the vessel. of smaller vessels or Kora-kora, and furthermore, all three species are used indiscriminately for masts, rudders, and other ship instruments. They are also in such great use for various kinds of furniture and household goods that they cannot all be enumerated. Indeed, those regions are considered unfortunate and deprived in which one or another of these species of reed does not grow. Even Amboina and the Moluccas would be destitute in many things if they lacked this reed, though they have sufficient other material from which gardens, houses, fences, and other things can be built, such as the Sagu Sago palm branches, which were discussed more extensively above in Book One, and which all the Western regions must instead make out of reeds.

I know of no medical use for it, except for that which was mentioned above in Chapter 4 regarding the Bulu Java, for which purpose this species is considered superior.

Because of the manifold benefits of these reeds, the heathens of these regions in ancient times, and even now in secret, have pursued the Bulu swangi original: "Sorcerer’s Bamboo" with divine honor. This is well enough known in Amboina; for in former times, near the summit of the hill called Soja feri Mahu, where an elegant bamboo thicket once stood—specifically of the yellow species, though now mostly perished—located alongside a huge coastal Bintangor A type of hardwood tree, Calophyllum inophyllum. and a Waringin The sacred Banyan tree, Ficus benjamina., an ancient water pot was placed. In this pot they would stir a stick when they wished to summon rain, and they would sacrifice a white hen to that bamboo. They tell a fable that this bamboo arose from a staff held in the hands of their first Patty A local title for a chief or leader. when he fell from the heavens. They believed that a certain God of Rain inhabited those mountains because those two aforementioned coastal trees grew there, and because most of the rivers of the Leytimor region have their origin at or around the foot of this mountain. All the wooden nails with which walls and fences made of Gabba-gabba The dried midribs of sago palm leaves. are fastened together are formed from this split reed, as they can penetrate all soft woods.

To this Chapter, I must subjoin four exotic species for which I can find no better place, and which seem to be somewhat related to the Bulu swangi. The first is the Guada, described by Eusebius Nierenberg in Book 14, Chapter 194, which grows in the West Indies to the thickness of a leg, and is so strong and hard that the houses of the country folk are built from it.

Secondly, the Arundarbor nigra original: "Black Tree-Reed", called Outik by the Chinese, has the thickness of a small child's arm or less. Its sections are about half a foot long, elegantly blackened and smooth on the outside, and almost entirely woody on the inside. Its entire stalk barely reaches the height of a man. As far as I can see, it matches the Spanish reed growing in the Canary Islands, which was formerly used for walking sticks, except that the latter is white and the former is black. This Chinese reed is so solid that heavy loads can be carried on thin poles made from it; it also serves for walking sticks, floorboards, and the lattices of chests and cabinets. It occurs in China and Japan.

Thirdly, the Cha or Tsjatick agrees with the aforementioned Bulu gading original: "Ivory Bamboo", for it is elegantly variegated with yellow and green stripes, though the yellow is always more abundant. It is not often found in China except in remote mountains, from which Chinese physicians have it brought for the sake of its leaves, which they use for medicine. A decoction of them is beneficial to those who suffer from burning fevers and heat, or who labor under a "Cephalæa" A chronic or severe headache.. To this end, the Chinese living in Amboina sometimes seek out the leaves of our Bulu gading. It is therefore of contrary virtues to what was said in the preceding chapter regarding the thorny reed of Ceylon. In China, another variety of this reed is found, which is called Bulu Tsjatjar, that is, "Pock-marked Bamboo," because it is distinguished and variegated with white spots amidst the green, like people who have retained scars from smallpox.

Fourthly, the Arundo Japanica original: "Japanese Reed", depicted in the appendix of Dodonæus under the name of "Stuffed Indian Reed," and commonly, though erroneously, called the "Japanese Rattan." These are the elegant, knotted stalks or canes that we carry in our hands, usually covered at the top and bottom with silver. They are by no means what they seem, nor what their name implies, for there is no

[This section is unused as the Dutch column is a translation of the Latin above]