Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1919-03-20

Prospectors In the bush of Queensland
encounter a plant known as the lawyer
vine. which. paradoxically. is at once an
obstacle and a help. says the Youths
Companion. Its manner of growth is
peculiar. At the start 1t Is of a bushy
formation and grows rapidly, throwing
out long, wiry tendrils, like spray from a
fountain. These tendrlls are thickly
barbed. and wind about and cling with
the tenacity of the arms of an octopus to
anything they touch. The leaves resem-
BILE those of ferns or palms. The vine
climbs the highest tree, winds about the
branches, then descends, and runs along
the gisvld and up and down other trees.
1t is impossible sometimes to find where
one of these vines starts and where it
stops. The %toughness Of tie wiry ten
drills is marvellous. Often q tree after
being cut hangs suspended from its fell
lows by these tenacious vines.
When the prospector, or pathfinder,
starts into untracked territory he goes
supplied with a long machete, or scrub
knife. with which he laboriously cuts
his way. At the slightest touch the
lower or bushy part of the lawyer vine
becomes animated. the long, why ten
drills begin waving. and appear to the
lonely traveller like the tentacles of some
giant octopus eager to ipfold its prey.
The plant has even been known to in
snare and hold captive large animals.
On the Jordan Creek gold digglngs of
northern Queens and an old prospector
had a horse that he used for packing
purposes when on the trail. While the
miner worked at his claim the horse
roamed about and foraged for his own
fodder. lie always returned to he
-,t.a,t, ,-,, NJ ptult rAngartaptl
when he failed to appear one evening.
the miner started out the next morning
In search of him. After hunting all day
unsuccessfully, the old digger enlisted
the services of several miners and a ma
tive tracker. The black man soon picked
up the tracks, and then it was merely n
matter Of following him as he traced the
trail in Its many ramiications. They
finally found the horse completely en-
meshed in a clump of giant lawyer vines.
In his struggles the barbed tentacles had
wound round and round him, gradually
tightening their grip. until he was utter
ly incapable Of moving n muscle. Left to
himself. the horse would have starved.
and the vine would have become his
shroud.
But the lawyer vine has 1t virtues as
we'll as its vices. 1t yields a small berry
or a most DELICIOUS IdNor, ana the young
and ender shoots provide the native
blacks with food. The leaves, or fronds,
form the chief material for their huts.
or humpies The white men of the bush
also depend upon these leaves for thatch-
ing their dwellings,. A roof constructed
of them Is impervtous to rain. When a
miner wishes to dam n small stream he
first fells a tree that will reach from
bank to bank; then he gathers a goodly
quantity of lawyer leaves and drops
them into the stream above the fallen
tree. Those quickly collect the mud and
silt, and in a very short time the stream
Is effectually damned. The leaves also
serve as a filling for mattresses.
The vine itself is a ~rattan-like and can
be used wherever a strong rope or cable
is needed. The smaller vines frequently
take the place of n ridgepole for the
miner's tent. Cut into small lengths.
thoy serve as rifles In the sluice boxes
and wear like iron. The nature of the
grain makes 1t an easy matter to tear
the vine into strips of any desired thick
ness. In that condition the blacks use it
in Mace of Irvine for wrapping their
spearheads and for many other uses.
They also weave 1t into baskets and
receptacles that are remarkably strong
and almost indestructioie'