issue of a species of aloe, named Conge, and some also from
the root of a wild date, and, lastly, of a plant named Buaze, the fibres
of which, though useless for the manufacture of paper, are probably
a suitable substitute for flax. I submitted a small quantity of these
fibres to Messrs. Pye, Brothers, of London, who have invented a superior
mode for the preparation of such tissues for the manufacturer. They most
politely undertook the examination, and have given a favorable opinion
of the Buaze, as may be seen in the note below.*

*
80 Lombard Street, 20th March, 1857.

Dear Sir,--We have the pleasure to return you the specimens of
fibrous plants from the Zambesi River, on which you were
desirous to see the effects of our treatment; we therefore
inclose to you,

No. 1. Buaze, in the state received from you.
1 A. Do. as prepared by us.
1 B. The tow which has come from it in hackling.
No. 2. Conge, as received from you.
2 A. Do. as prepared by us.

With regard to both these fibres, we must state that the VERY
MINUTE QUANTITY of each specimen has prevented our subjecting
them to any thing like the full treatment of our process, and
we can therefore only give you an APPROXIMATE idea of their
value.

The Buaze evidently possesses a very strong and fine fibre,
assimilating to flax in its character, but we believe, when
treated IN QUANTITY by our process, it would show both a
stronger and finer fibre than flax; but being unable to apply
the rolling or pressing processes with any efficiency to so
very small a quantity, the gums are not yet so perfectly
extracted as they would be, nor the fibre opened out to so
fine a quality as it would then exhibit.

This is even yet more the case with the Conge, which, being
naturally a harsh fibre, full of gums, wants exactly that
powerful treatment which our process is calculated to give it,
but which can not be applied to such miniature specimens. We
do not therefore consider this as more than half treated, its
fibre consequently remaining yet harsh, and coarse, and stiff,
as compared with what it would be if treated IN QUANTITY.

Judging that it would be satisfactory to you to be in
possession of the best practical opinion to be obtained on
such a subject, we took the liberty of forwarding your little
specimens to Messrs. Marshall, of Leeds, who have kindly