THE PLANT WORLD 123 



World, in India, Australia, Mauritius, Socotra, and various parts of 

 Africa, Some of these are arborescent (for example Dracaena cmnahari 

 of Socotra, wliicli, like D. Draco yields a red gum), but none equal in 

 development tlie Canary Island dragon, and preeminent among the 

 large and old examples of this species was the giant of Orotava. Six 

 thousand years is, indeed, a conservative estimate of its age. The 

 great Humboldt, who visited the vallej^ of Orotava in 1799 to pronounce 

 it the finest piece of natural scenery in the world, made careful exami- 

 nation of the famous tree, and recorded the opinion that it had stood 

 at least ten thousand years, and several other scientists have endorsed 

 his view. Be it six or ten thousand, the existence of organisms of such 

 tremendous duration is not without bearing beyond the veneration 

 which this vast antiquity inspires. Expressed in terms of generations 

 of Dracaena, even geologic periods shrink to seemingly manageable 

 quantities. Although a hundred successive individuals might require a 

 million years, the dragon-tree may after all be no older as a species or 

 a genus than other " vegetables " which stand botanically as relatives. 



About five hundred years ago when the Spaniards conquered Ten- 

 erife, the venerable tree, an object of deepest reverence and possibly a 

 temj)le to the aborigines, was standing in the midst of a forest of laurel, 

 palm and arbutus. Its beautiful comrades were ruthlessly destroyed, 

 but even the deadened senses of the exterminators were impressed by 

 the hoary giant. He was not only left in undisturbed possession of the 

 soil, but by order of the commander, de Lugo, the great central cavity 

 of the trunk was converted into a chapel, though it can scarcely be 

 hoped that any masses were there said in tardy recognition of the sin 

 of tree-murder. 



The fascination of this particular individual is more evident when 

 we remember that its brethren were the object of the conquerors' cu- 

 pidity, inasmuch as they afford a resinous gum of a deep red color 

 highly valued in mediaeval times under the name of "dragon's blood." 

 This is at first of gummy consistency, but soon dries and then can be 

 easily reduced to j)owder. Because of its resinous properties, the 

 Guanches used it in the preservation of mummies and in the dressing 

 of skins, in which they excelled. It was an important article of com- 

 merce with mediaeval Europe, being employed in the manufacture of 

 medicines and charms. Warriors furnished themselves in times of dan- 

 ger with a magic powder made of the gum. It was also the foundation 

 of a very fine red varnish. One chronicler relates how his compatriots 

 landed in Grand Canary and exchanged old knives, fish hooks and 

 pieces of iron worth altogether two fi'ancs, for dragon's blood of a value 

 of two hundred ducats. This greed for gain probably exi)lains the 

 present scarcity of the trees. The old were destroyed, and the young 



