a tree of moderate size. Each individual fruit bears a resemblance
to the famous Li-tchi of China, being a pulpy substance
of a delicate subacid taste, comprehended within a
thin crustaceous coyering. Pine apples are produced in such
abundance that they are sent into the city, like turnips to
Covent Garden, piled up in carts. As a fruit they are not
much esteemed, except for preserving in sugar. Their acid
juices are employed for removing rust from sword blades,
knives, and other articles of polished iron. Most of the fruits
of Europe have been transplanted hi,ther, but, as might be
expected, they dwindle and degenerate in an equinoctial
climate.
Among the trees that are remarkable for singularity or
beauty may be noticed the Casuarina Equisetifolia, so named
from the general resemblance of its small pendent branches
to the hair of the casuary and the plant Equisetum or Horsetail
; the Mitchelia Tchampaca, one variety bearing white,
and the other yellow, flowers of exquisite fragrance, yielding
by distillation a spirit more powerful, but not less delicate,
than the perfume which is extracted from roses; the Termi-
nalia Catappa, a grand and beautiful tree, which bears a nut
usually known by the name of the Indian almond ; and which,
with the Bombax and the Erythrina Corallodendrum, are perhaps
the only instances in this country of trees whose leaves
are deciduous. The Bombax -bears a long pod, which contains
a silky substance like the pod of the Asclepias; but its
short staple renders it unfit for other purposes than the stuffing
of cushions or mattresses. Thousands of variegated loories
b b 2