I have in my possession some very fine specimens of what is usually called Bark Cloth, which, in its manufacture, approximates more nearly to that of modern paper than any other substance with which I am acquainted. It is formed from the bark of a small tree, or shrub, called the Paper Mulberry (_morus papyrifera_), which grows wild in the southern provinces of China, in Ava, in the Burmese country, and in India, as well as in all the Asiatic and Polynesian islands from Japan to Otaheite. If a strip of this bark, which is remarkable for the fineness of its texture, after being soaked in water, be laid on a smooth stone, and then carefully beaten with a bat or mallet, the surface of which is cut into fine ribs, the fibres will become separated more or less from one another, and if the beating be carefully conducted, the bark will ultimately assume the appearance of a web of fine linen, two pieces of bark being made to incorporate with one another simply by laying them so as to overlap a little, and then beating again. In this simple way the material is formed; and by a short exposure to the sunshine when wet, becomes perfectly white. To render it fit for writing, it is afterwards polished in a manner similar to the papyrus, by rubbing it with a shell or other hard substance until it has very much the appearance of parchment; and that it bears ink perfectly well, may be seen by an inspection of some Javanese Works, which are contained in the library of the Hon. East India Company. The bat or mallet employed by the natives in preparing this material is usually about 15 inches in length, and from two and a half to three inches square, one side being grooved very coarsely, another somewhat finer, a third exceedingly fine, and the fourth generally cut in chequers or small squares. The bark is first beaten with the coarsest side of the instrument, and then, in turn, with those parts which are finer, the resinous matter contained in it being usually found sufficiently adhesive.