FAUNA AND FLORA O F MANGROVE SWAMPS
233
Hosokawa (1957) gives a list of thirty-one species of plant occurring
in the mangals of Micronesia. Of these all but one occur on Palau, the
majority of the others occur in several islands of the Caroline group but
only four extend to the more remote Marshall Islands; these arc
Bruguiera conjugata, Sonneratia caseolaris, Lumnitzern littorea and
Clerodendron inerme.
VIII. USES MADE BY MAN OF THE MANGAL AND ITS PRODUCTS
A. Uses of the timber
I have already suggested that mangrove timber may have been of
importance t o early boat builders.
Sea-going craft have been invented by mankind in several differcnt
forms and in several different parts of the world. Chinese junks, Saxon
and Viking long boats, Polynesian out-riggered canoes and the ships of
Telmun are, or were, all prototypes. Chinese junks explored the coasts
of South East Asia, Saxon and Viking long boats explored the coasts
of the North Atlantic, Polynesian out-riggered canoes explored the
western Pacific and reached as far as Madagascar. All these were
invented by peoples who lived in areas with abundant timber. The
ships of Telmun, like their descendants the Arab dhows, were developed
by people who lived on shores where timber, apart from mangroves, was
not easily available.
When one looks at the illustrations of early boats depicted on the
walls and artifacts of Egyptian tombs one realizes that the first river
boats were made of bundles of reeds-such boats are still in use in the
delta of the Tigris and Euphrates, on Lake Titicaca and probably
elsewhere. These were replaced by boats built of wood. But the wood
available was only in short lengths, presumably from the trees of one
or other of the acacias which grow on the banks of the Nile. Such boats
could easily " break their backs ", and so a rope ran from stem t o stern
over two short masts in order to help prevent this. Such boats, however
worthy on quiet river waters, would be useless a t sea.
Before a boat or ship could go to sea, a keel and a stem had t o be
invented. These should be heavy, straight and long. Who invented
them " we just do not know and are very unlikely t o find out " (Villiers,
1952). The shores of the Gulf of Oman, and of the Persian Gulf are
potentially able to support growth of mangrove trees, and 110 doubt in
these early historic or prehistoric times did so. One is tempted t o
suggest that it was from the tall trees of these mangrove forests that the
first keels and the first stems of sea-going ships were laid down by the
coastal tribes who later undertook the trade of the ancient city of Ur.
These men of Telmun, the modern Bahrein, were already sailing the
233
Hosokawa (1957) gives a list of thirty-one species of plant occurring
in the mangals of Micronesia. Of these all but one occur on Palau, the
majority of the others occur in several islands of the Caroline group but
only four extend to the more remote Marshall Islands; these arc
Bruguiera conjugata, Sonneratia caseolaris, Lumnitzern littorea and
Clerodendron inerme.
VIII. USES MADE BY MAN OF THE MANGAL AND ITS PRODUCTS
A. Uses of the timber
I have already suggested that mangrove timber may have been of
importance t o early boat builders.
Sea-going craft have been invented by mankind in several differcnt
forms and in several different parts of the world. Chinese junks, Saxon
and Viking long boats, Polynesian out-riggered canoes and the ships of
Telmun are, or were, all prototypes. Chinese junks explored the coasts
of South East Asia, Saxon and Viking long boats explored the coasts
of the North Atlantic, Polynesian out-riggered canoes explored the
western Pacific and reached as far as Madagascar. All these were
invented by peoples who lived in areas with abundant timber. The
ships of Telmun, like their descendants the Arab dhows, were developed
by people who lived on shores where timber, apart from mangroves, was
not easily available.
When one looks at the illustrations of early boats depicted on the
walls and artifacts of Egyptian tombs one realizes that the first river
boats were made of bundles of reeds-such boats are still in use in the
delta of the Tigris and Euphrates, on Lake Titicaca and probably
elsewhere. These were replaced by boats built of wood. But the wood
available was only in short lengths, presumably from the trees of one
or other of the acacias which grow on the banks of the Nile. Such boats
could easily " break their backs ", and so a rope ran from stem t o stern
over two short masts in order to help prevent this. Such boats, however
worthy on quiet river waters, would be useless a t sea.
Before a boat or ship could go to sea, a keel and a stem had t o be
invented. These should be heavy, straight and long. Who invented
them " we just do not know and are very unlikely t o find out " (Villiers,
1952). The shores of the Gulf of Oman, and of the Persian Gulf are
potentially able to support growth of mangrove trees, and 110 doubt in
these early historic or prehistoric times did so. One is tempted t o
suggest that it was from the tall trees of these mangrove forests that the
first keels and the first stems of sea-going ships were laid down by the
coastal tribes who later undertook the trade of the ancient city of Ur.
These men of Telmun, the modern Bahrein, were already sailing the