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 supplied so well by another