The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-12-21

in the Philippines. The heat was
intepse, the luneliness no less SO, f'r
/ was the only white woman IN that
mart. and the insects we're atioclous.
There were even worse enemies than
chose in the form Of snakes, and every
day when vert for my sea bath !
had to send little native into the
water before me to see if there were
any sharks about. On the other hand.
che vegetation was superb. One
almost forgaye the heat for the sake
Of the beautiful flowers and foliage it
produced.
The native is indoleut in the ex-
sreme; never tired Of squatting down
and gazing at nothing in particular
: He works SO many days to find him
self in rice, then takes rest for so
many more days. He can obtain
almost all his requirements direct
from the hands of nature, and procure
for himself, with triAing amount OF
labor, q large amount OF comfort,
The cocoa plant supplies him With
food and drink, and with material
necessary for the construction OF his
hut and the manufacture Of various
~ $50 L
articles he uses, and also with OIL
The hipa palm also aourishes in bracs-
s ish water, and its leaves are reextremels
usefuli for roof thatchipg. Sugar,
brandy and vinegar are made from the
sap. Tie leaves Of the Pandanus
nee are employed for making mas
and baskets. Bamboos, with their
lnxuriant leafy tops, grow plen'ifully.
Nature has endowed these splendid
plsnts, which surpass all others in
beauty, with many useful qualities,
and SO ready for imme date use that a
few sharp cuts suffice to convert them
into all kinds Of articles Of domestic
value. The bamboo possesses, in
proportion to It's ligbtness, an extra
ordinary strength, the parallel posi-
zion and toughness Of its 6bers render
it easy to split, and when split its
pieces are wonderfully pliable and
n
elastic. On account Of its unsurpass-
ed floating power, tits pre-eminently
fitted for locomotion IN country poor
in roads, but rich in water courses.
OF all the countries in the world:
Che Philippines have the greatest
claim 10 be considered a lotus.eating
Il; Utopia. A native frequently may be
seen floating downtbe stream asleep
on q heap Of cocoanuts. When the
nuts run ashore the sleeper rouses
I himself sufficiently to push himself
OFF with long BAN boo, and content
J. .sdly relapses into slumber, as his &C.
centric raft regair the current OF ne
river. The way the raft is formed is
by placing the loose nuts in the cen
Ter and by binding them round with
some of the husks which have been
previously detached.
Rice fields abound. They yearly
receive fresh layer Of fertile soil,
washed dowIfrom the mountains aud
spread over their surface by the over
flowing Of the rivers. Sugar, coffee,
maize, chocolate and tobacco are
greatly grown: also the famous hemp
from which is made cordage, and the
finer kinds into material for dress pur-
poses. Pima, the most beautiful fab
rio there is, is made from the leaf Of
the pineapple. To prepare the fiber
for weaving, a woman places a board
on the ground, and upon it piueap-
pie leaf, with the hollow side upwards,
and, sitting at one end of the board,
she holds the leaf firmly with her toes
and scrapes its outer surface with
shell and reduces the leaf to rags. In
this mauner stratum Of course longi-
tudinal fiber is disclosed, which the
operator lifts ND most carefully in a
compact strip; then, turning it round,
she scrapes it again down to the layer
Of fiber, which she draws to its full
length. Next it is washed and dried
in the SUP, and afterwards combed.
The betel nut, too, is largely cult
vated, as it's leaf, when coated with
lime made from oyster shells, and
folded up, is used to coil round the
areca nut, the whole forming the buyo
{betel) which the natives chew. A
native can go for hours without food
if he has his betel; and after many
years devoted to chewing the habit
becomes almost necessity, as is the
case with opium. 1t is a displeasing
sight to see lewer, for his lips and
teeth appear to be smeared with blood.
The cotton grown is used for pill
lows; it is useless for spinning as the