INDIANOLA INDIAN SHOT 245 "the bottomless pit." Near the S. E. coast of Africa the depth varies from 1,300 to 1,900 fathoms. The northern part of the Indian ocean is the theatre of an immense navigation, nearly the whole commerce of Europe and America with China and India and the great Malay archipelago passing over its waters; while between Arabia and Persia on the west and India on the east an extensive trade is carried on in native vessels, the origin of which dates from the remotest antiquity. The great Pacific railroad, opened in 1869, has deprived the Indian ocean of some of its navigation ; but the Suez canal, which was opened a few months later, is expected to increase it. The European- Indian commercial navigation amounted in 1872 to nearly 12,000,000 tons. The southern part of this ocean is comparatively little frequent- ed, being almost destitute of islands. It is traversed chiefly by vessels going to Australia and New Zealand by way of the cape of Good Hope. The chief ports of the Indian ocean and its tributary gulfs and rivers are Mozambique and Zanzibar in Africa, Aden and Mocha in Arabia, Bassorah in Turkey, Bushire in Persia, Bombay, Surat, Madras, and Calcutta in India, and Trincomalee and Pointe de Galle in Ceylon. INDIANOLA, a town and the capital of Cal- houn co., Texas, port of entry of the district of Saluria, on the W. shore of Matagorda bay, 140 m. S. by E. of Austin, and 120 m. S. W. of Galveston; pop. in 1870, 2,106, of whom 492 were colored. It is the terminus of the Gulf, Western Texas, and Pacific railroad (com- pleted in 1873 to Cuero, De Witt co., 66 m.), which is to connect it with Austin and San Antonio. Steamers run regularly to Galves- ton and Corpus Christi. The commerce is im- portant. For the year ending Aug. 31, 1872, there were entered in the coasting trade 242 vessels of 188,453 tons, of which 149 of 174,- 270 tons were steamers; cleared, 250 vessels of 194,896 tons, of which 146 of 170,052 tons were steamers. The receipts were 5,808,000 feet of lumber and 2,750,000 shingles; ship- ments, 27,461 head of animals, 11,549 bales of cotton, 330,875 hides, and 3,234 bags of wool. The value of imports from foreign ports was $82,463 ; of exports to foreign countries, $58,- 658. A weekly newspaper is published. INDIAN POKE. See HELLEBORE. INDIANS. See AMERICAN INDIANS. INDIAN SHOT, a popular name for species of canna, especially C. Indiea, which was for a long time the only one generally cultivated. Canna (from the Celtic cann, a cane) was for- merly placed in the same family with the ginger and the banana, but botanists now make an order, the cannacea, which includes this, the arrowroot, and some other less known plants. The cannas have large, fleshy root stocks, tall stems, clothed with large showy leaves, and bearing at the summit a spike of often hand- some flowers of various shades of yellow, scar- let, and crimson ; the flowers are irregular in structure; they have three outer colored di- visions or calyx, within which are three parts corresponding to a corolla with a single sta- men which has a petal-like filament and bears an anther on its margin ; pistil with a petal- like style and a three-celled ovary, which in ripening becomes a several-seeded very rough pod ; the seeds are round, hard, and black, and sufficiently shot-like in appearance to war- rant the common name. One species, C. flac- cida, is found in swamps along the coast from South Carolina southward ; it grows 4 ft. high and has yellow flowers 3 or 4 in. long. The tubers of some species are edible and used as a table vegetable, while others have slight me- dicinal properties ; the kind of arrowroot called tons les mois, chiefly used by the French, is made in the island of St. Christopher from the rhizomes of a canna, supposed to be C. edulis. The great interest possessed by the cannas is due to their effectiveness as decorative plants. Since beauty of form and stateliness of habit Indian Shot (Canna Indiea). have come to bo properly appreciated in gar- dening, great improvement has been made in cannas, and cultivators, especially those in the south of France, have by hybridizing and cross- ing obtained splendid results. In the now val- ued kinds the original species is lost, and they are known by garden rather than botanical names. There are now varieties from 2 ft. to 8 and 12 ft. high, with a remarkable diversity of foliage ; in some the leaves are narrow, stiff, and erect, in others broad, very long, and grace- ful, while their shades of color vary from light glaucous green to blackish purple. While some are valued for their fine foliage only, others produce an abundance of handsome flowers, which have also been improved, and there can be nothing more effective than a well arranged group of the finer varieties of canna. The choice varieties are multiplied by division, and plants are readily raised from seed, which may or may not be like the parent ; the seeds should
