ge 868.)

WATER-LILIES, ETC.

The bunga tarati or seruja (Nymphaea nelumbo) as well as several other
beautiful kinds of aquatic plants are found upon the inland waters of
this country. Daun gundi or tabung bru (Nepenthes destillatoria) can
scarcely be termed a flower, but is a very extraordinary climbing plant.
From the extremity of the leaf a prolongation of the mid-rib, resembling
the tendril of a vine, terminates in a membrane formed like a tankard
with the lid or valve half opened; and growing always nearly erect, it is
commonly half full of pure water from the rain or dews. This monkey-cup
(as the Malayan name implies) is about four or five inches long and an
inch in diameter. Giring landak (Crotalaria retusa) is a papilionaceous
flower resembling the lupin, yellow, and tinged at the extremities with
red. From the rattling of its seed in the pod it obtains its name, which
signifies porcupine-bells, alluding to the small bells worn about the
ankles of children. The daup (bauhinia) is a small, white, semiflosculous
flower, with a faint smell. The leaves alone attract notice, being
double, as if united by a hinge, and this peculiarity suggested the
Linnean name, which was given in compliment to two brothers of the name
of Bauhin, celebrated botanists, who always worked conjointly.

To the foregoing list, in every respect imperfect, many interesting
plants might be added by an attentive and qualified observer. The natives
themselves have a degree of botanical knowledge that surprises Europeans.
They are in general, and at a very early age, acquainted not only with
the names, but the properties of every shrub and herb amongst that
exuberant variety with which the island is clothed. They distinguish the
sexes of many plants and trees, and divide several of the genera into as
many species as our professors. Of the paku or fern I have had specimens
brought to me of twelve sorts, which they told me were not the whole, and
to each they gave a distinct name.

MEDICINAL HERBS.

Some of the shrubs and herbs employed medicinally are as follows.
Scarcely any of them are cultivated, being culled from the woods or
plains as they happen to be wanted.

Lagundi (Vitex trifolia, L.) The botanic characters of this shrub are
well known. The leaves, which are bitter and pungent rather than
aromatic, are considered as a powerful antiseptic, and are employed in
fevers in the place of Peruvian bark. They are also put into granaries
an