One of the most striking uses to which bamboo is applied by the natives, is to assist them in climbing lofty trees. One day I shot a small animal, which caught in a fork of a tree and remained fixed. As I was very anxious to get it, I tried to persuade two young men who were with me to cut down the tree, which was tall, perfectly straight, and smooth-barked, and without a branch for fifty or sixty feet.

To my surprise they said they would prefer climbing it, although it would be a good deal of trouble; but after a little talking together, they said they would try. They first went to a clump of bamboos that stood near, and cut down one of the largest stems. From this they chopped off a short piece, and splitting it, made a couple of stout pegs, about a foot long, and sharp at one end.

Then cutting a thick piece of wood for a mallet, they drove one of the pegs into the tree and hung their weight upon it. It held, and this seemed to satisfy them, for they immediately began making a quantity of pegs of the same kind, while I looked

on with great interest, wondering how they could possibly ascend such a lofty tree by merely driving pegs in it, the failure of any one of which at a good height would certainly cause their death.

When about two dozen pegs had been made, one of them began cutting some very long and slender bamboo from another clump, and also prepared some cord from the bark of a small tree. They now drove in a peg very firmly at about three feet from the ground, and, bringing one of the long bamboos, stood it upright, close to the tree, and bound it firmly to the first two pegs, by means of the bark cord, and small notches near the head of each peg.

One of the men now stood on the first peg, and drove in a third, about level with his face, to which he tied the bamboo in the same way, and then mounted another step, standing on one foot, and holding by the bamboo at the peg immediately above him, while he drove in the next one. In this manner he ascended about twenty feet, when the upright bamboo becoming thin, another was handed up by his companion, and this was joined on by tying both bamboos to three or four of the pegs.

When this was also nearly ended, a third was added, and shortly after, the lowest branches of the tree were reached, along which the young native scrambled, and soon sent the little animal tumbling headlong down.

I was exceedingly struck by the ingenuity of this mode of climbing, and the admirable manner in which the peculiar properties of the bamboo were made available. The ladder itself was perfectly safe,

since if any one peg were loose or faulty, and gave way, the strain would be thrown on several others above and below it. I now understood the use of the line of bamboo pegs sticking in trees, which I had often seen, and wondered for what purpose they could have been put there.

This method of climbing is constantly used in order to obtain wax, which is one of the most valuable products of the country. The honey-bee of Borneo very generally hangs its combs under the branches of the tappan, a tree which towers above all others in the forest, and whose smooth, cylindrical trunk often rises a hundred feet without a branch. The natives climb these lofty trees at night, building up their bamboo ladder as they go, and bringing down gigantic honey-combs.

These furnish them with a delicious feast of honey and young bees, besides the wax, which they sell to traders, and with the proceeds buy the much coveted brass wire, ear-rings, and gold-edged handkerchiefs with which they love to decorate themselves. In ascending durian and other fruit trees, which branch at from thirty to fifty feet from the ground, I have seen them use the bamboo pegs only, without the upright bamboo which renders them so much more secure.

The outer rind of the bamboo, split and shaved thin, is the strongest material for baskets; hencoops, bird-cages, and conical fish-traps are very quickly made from a single joint, by splitting off the skin in narrow strips left attached to one end, while rings of the same material, or rattan, are twisted in at regular distances.

Water is brought to the house by little aque

ducts formed of large bamboos split in half and supported on crossed sticks of various heights to give it a regular fall. Thin long-jointed bamboos form their only water vessels, and a dozen of them stand in the corner of every house. They are clean, light, and easily carried, and are in many ways superior to earthen vessels for the same purpose.

They also make excellent cooking utensils; vegetables and rice can be boiled in them to perfection, and they are often used by travelers. Salted fruit or fish, sugar, vinegar, and honey are preserved in them instead of in jars or bottles. In a small bamboo case, prettily carved and ornamented, the native carries his materials for betel chewing, and his little long-bladed knife has a bamboo sheath.

His favorite pipe is a large hubble-bubble, which he will construct in a few minutes, by inserting a small piece of bamboo for a bowl obliquely into a large cylinder about six inches from the bottom, containing water, through which the smoke passes to a long, slender bamboo tube.

There are many other small matters for which bamboo is daily used, but enough has now been mentioned to show its value. In other parts of the archipelago I have myself seen it applied to many new uses, and it is probable that my limited means of observation did not make me acquainted with one-half the ways in which it is serviceable to the natives.

A. R. WALLACE.

Biography.- Alfred Russell Wallace is an eminent traveler and scientist. He is known as the author of several works on natural history, and as a contributor to a number of prominent periodicals. Our knowledge of the Eastern Archipelago and of South America has been greatly enlarged through his travels.

ǎz'ūrè (ăzh ́ur), a fine blue color. ex ŭlt, be glad; rejoice.

I build my nest on the mountain's crest,
Where the wild winds rock my eaglets to rest,
Where the lightnings flash and the thunders crash,
And the roaring torrents foam and dash;
For my spirit free henceforth shall be

A type of the sons of Liberty.

Aloft I fly from my aerie high,

Through the vaulted dome of the azure sky;

On a sunbeam bright take my airy flight,

And float in a flood of liquid light;

For I love to play in the noontide ray,
And bask in a blaze from the throne of day.

Away I spring with a tireless wing,

On a feathery cloud I poise and swing;

I dart down the steep where the lightnings leap,
And the clear, blue canopy swiftly sweep;
For dear to me is the revelry

Of a free and fearless Liberty.

I love the land where the mountains stand
Like the watch-towers high of a patriot band;
For I may not bide in my glory and pride,
Though the land be never so fair and wide,