263 
chalybea, or Cape Humming- Bird, joins the animated groupe, 
and, perching on the border of the chalice, darts its tubular 
tongue into the bottom of the flower, or snaps at the insects 
as they buzz around. : i 
* The Colony owes some gratitude to the person who intro- 
duced the Pine to an acquaintance with the Protea argentea. 
The contrast is not stronger between a black man and a 
white, than between these trees; yet, like them, they possess 
several striking points of resemblance. The seeds in both, 
for instance, are contained in cones; when once cut down, 
neither of them revives in shoots from the trunk; the annual 
branches in both spring out in a circle round the stem; and 
in both, the branches, as well as the minute twigs, are covered 
with leaves. But the leaves of the Pine are mere lines with- 
out breadth, smooth, rigid, and of a dark green colour; 
Whereas, those of the Protea are lance-shaped, soft, and 
clothed with a white shag, more delicate than silk, which, 
blending its colour with the white parenchyma of the leaf, 
gives it the appearance of sky-blue satin. The effect of a 
strong wind on the mingled foliage of these trees is peculiarly 
pleasing. ; 
* The Proteg argentea is dicecious. The fertile flowers are 
Separated by the scale of the cone. The corolla is 4-petalous, 
tubular at the base, coherent at the throat, and the border, 
covered externally with long white hairs, spreads over the : 
edge of the scale. After the germ has been fecundated, the 
scales begin to grow, and at length overtop the petals, 
gathering them in a bunch entirely concealed from view. 
When the fruit is become ripe, the sun begins ww 
the scales; they curl out at the top, and contract at the base, 
gradually squeezing out the nut, until it arrives at the top - 
the aperture, —an operation facilitated by the claws of the 
Petals, which had expanded during the process of maturition 
mto a thin pellicle, covering the nut, and enabling it to ed 
Smoothly through the narrow interstices of the scales, W. ^ 
the nut is in the act of emerging, the border of —— 
again spreads out, and the down stands erect, giving 1t a 
appearance, resembling the seed-down of a syngen- 
