Of the bambusa, the _pring-ápus_, the stem of which may be considered arborescent, furnishes the cheapest ropes. These are made with great expedition, being split into thin strips, which are twisted on the spot into cords fit for all common purposes, although they are serviceable only for a few days. They are uniformly used, in travelling, for securing baggage, &c. Among shrubs principally employed for these purposes are the _werúng_, _urís-urísan_, _dalúmpang_, _che-plákan_ and _glúgo_; among plants, the _widúri_ and _rámi_; the fibres of the latter afford very strong and durable cords, which are chiefly employed for nets or lines, and used in fishing: they greatly resemble the sunn of western India, and would probably be found to answer the same purpose, as well in furnishing the bags called in India gunny-bags, for the transportation of goods, as for the manufacture of paper in Europe. This remark applies also to the _lúlub_ of several of the other shrubs mentioned. Several species of _písang_ or plantain yield the materials for ropes and cords of various fineness, according to the methods employed in preparing them. In the Manilla Islands, cables are made from these fibres; and in the first volume of the Batavian Transactions a mode is described of preparing from them a substance resembling cotton. The leaves of the '_nanas_, or pine-apple, contain also abundance of useful fibres, which are easily separated in a bundle, after scraping off the coriaceous substance. It is very fine, and the separate fibres are employed by the natives in sewing without any preparation; but it may also be spun, and is made into a kind of stuff resembling silk, gauze, &c.
Mats are made from several species of pandanus, from a kind of grass called _méndong_, and from the leaves of various palms, particularly the _gebáng_. The latter affords the most common kinds, coarser and less durable than the others, as well as bags (straw sacks) resembling very coarse mats.
The paper in common use with the Javans is manufactured from the _glúgo_, (morus papyrifera.)
A variety of vegetable substances are used in dyeing: the principal of which, however, are the _tom_, or indigo, which is extensively cultivated throughout the island; and the _wong-kúdu_, which affords a lasting scarlet. A black dye is obtained from the bark of several exotic trees, united with the rind of the _mangústin_ fruit. A yellow dye is also obtained from an exotic wood, heightened by the addition of the bark of the _nángka_ tree, and a variety of the mango.