Varieties.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 428, 21 July 1904, Page 2

Varieties.

ANTIQUITIES FROM PERSIA. M<W C <s) BOUDOUX, a, painte?, who SlxlPra accompanied the French ecieaJHffißkfc *ifi c expendition to Persia,, has returned to Paris with a remarkable collection of antiquities, dating abont one thousand years before Christ, and throwing fresh light on the dawn of Aryan art. WHEBE WOMEN ARE SUPREME. Interesting data concerning the Acoraaa, a pecular tribe of Indians found in the south-western pari of New Mexico, is in the possession of the Usited States bureau of ethnology. This sribe is regarded as the lineal descendants of the ancient ' cliff dwellerß,' and although to-day they are almost as civilised, to all practical purposes, as the white race, yet very little is known in regard to tbeir ancient myths fend legends, and there iB an air of mystery about them which is bewilderingly fascinating to the stranger. The pusblo of Acomas is the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in America* It was first seen by the Spaniards in 1510, and it is that the village existed centuries before that time. Amoßg the Acomas woman is supreme. They have a Bystena of clans and the descent is through the mother, each child belonging to the mother's clan, and not to that of her father. The wife builds and owns the house and household effects, and even though the husband helps to erect the home or does it wholly, yet it belongs to his wife. In stature the men are very small, none of them being over 6 feet 4 inches is height, while the women are diminutive. THE BANANA PLANT. The banana, one of the most interesting plants yielding a food-product, is one of the curiosities of the vegetable kingdom. It is not a tree, a palm, a bush, a shrub, a vegetable, nor a herb; it is simply a herbaceous plant with the stature of a tree, and is perennial, Some of the illustrations of the banana convey the idea that the plant is a kind of palm; but these have evidently been drawn from rough sketches by artists who had not seen the banana. Although the ban&na sometimes attains a height of from 20 to 30 feet, there is no w.ody fibre in any part of its structure. The soft, succulent stalk rises like an immense stalk of rhubarb, and out of this shoot gigantic leaves, often 10 feet or more in length, for the b&nana-plant has no branches. The dwarf banana, which grows scarcely higher than an average mas, yields still heavier bunches than the larger varieties—heavier, in fact, than the stalk which supports them. It is often a surprise to travellers in the tropics to see how small is the extent of ground required to support a numerous family in those regions. Still more extraordinary is the rapidity with which this plant comes into bearing. In less than six months after the suckers are planted the fruit begins to form, and iB ready to be cut in from nine to twelve months from the dat„ of planting.

It is stated that some vsrietiee yieli tkab 'trait in bo short a time as six months* I Booh-extraordinary precocity and fertility are scarcely or edible to the European who hu never lived in the tropics, especially when it is added that each plant is capable* of bearing three or four oropß a year*,; for in th«s« lands of eternal rammer fruitbearing occurs without intermission, and the fruit ia n«ver out of season.—-' Chambers's Journal.'

INDIANS MASSACRED. The Argentine Press rings with denunciations of the unprovoked and revolting massacre of peaceful and harmless Indians by Lieutenant Avalos, of the ofch Cavalry. Begiment. It appears that the officer, who was at the head of twentyfive men on patrol duty, met at Victoria some 100 Indians, men, women and children, returning from a season's work in the sugar-cane fields of Ledesma (Provinoe of Salta), They were laden with clothing and victuals, which they had purchased with their wages. Lieutenant Avalos accused them of being cattle-stealers, and, in spite of their protests and the assurances of the inhabitants of Victoria that they were innocent, had them bound together in couples—a man and a woman —and butchered by his soldiers with swords and lances. The children were saved, but carried oft by the murderous soldiery, who also took possession of the murdered Indians' property.

WATBR POWBB,

Jn the North of Italy, on the southern Blcpes of the Alps, they have grsat power stations worked by the limitless waterpower and electric tramways running far across the plains, enabling the cultivators of the soil to brine their fruits to market with the greatest; ease. But the most wonderful thing is the way in which this power from the mountains is spread far asd wide for all sorts of industrial purposes. Not only does it supply factories such as those at Milan; it also enables cottage industries to be cariied on in villages . far from the towns. It is the land of the silkworm, and the spinning and weaviisg of beautiful lustrous fabrics can be carried on amid the quiet, the clear air, asd the sunshine of remote rural hamlets. It is industry as it should be j not crowded into llama and carried on amid the roar of wheels asd the soot of smoke-belching engines, but amid the inspiring scenes of the country, where fresh air and good fresh food are abundant, ~