Mr D. Don on the Mitdard Tree. S07 



make mention of a tree observed by them in the vicinity 

 of the Dead Sea, which they were led, from certain cir- 

 cumstances, to suppose might be identical with the mustard 

 plant of the Sacred Scriptures. As the passage is instructive, 

 and the work itself in but few hands, I shall here, for the 

 sake of illustration, insert the whole of it. They remark, 

 {Letter v. p. 354«, 355.) on leaving the shores of the Dead Sea, 

 " We now entered into a very prettily wooded country, with 

 high rushes * and marshes ; leaving these, the variety of bushes 

 and wild plants became very great ; some of the latter were 

 rare, and of remarkable appearance.'" And, again, " There 

 was one curious tree, which we observed in great plenty, and 

 which bore a fruit in bunches resembling, in appearance, the 

 currant, with the colour of the plum. It has a pleasant, though 

 strong aromatic taste, exactly resembling mustard ; and, if taken 

 in any quantity, produces a similar irritability in the nose and 

 eyes, to that which is caused by taking mustard. The leaves of 

 this tree have the same pungent flavour as the fruit, though not 

 so strong. We think it probable that this is the tree our Sa- 

 viour alluded to in the parable of the mustard seed, and not the 

 mustard plant which we have in the north ; for, although in our 

 journey from Byson to Adjeloun, mentioned in the Jerusalem 

 Letter, we met with the mustard plant -j- growing wild, as high as 

 our horses' heads, still, being an annual, it did not deserve the 

 appellation of a tree; whereas the other is really such, and birds 

 might easily, and actually do, take shelter under its shadow."" 

 On reading this passage, both Mr Lambert and myself felt inte- 

 rested in ascertaining what the tree might be, and, at first, we 

 were inclined to suppose it was a species of Phytolacca ; with 

 which genus the habit of the plant, as far as could be learnt from 

 the above description, pretty well accords ; but the examination 

 of an authentic sample, in the possession of Mr Bankes, has 

 proved the supposition was unfounded, and that the tree is the 

 Salvadora persica of Linnaeus, the Embelia Grossularia of Ret- 

 zius, and the Cissus arborea of Forskahl. 



• Scirpus lacustris L, which is abundant in the marshes on the shores of the 

 Dead Sea. 



•j* Probably Sinapis nigra, which in Spain grows to the height of from ten 

 to fifteen feet, as I am informed by my learned friend Don Mariano LagasCa. 



