68 ROMANCE OF LOW LIFE AMONGST PLANTS. 



these lichens in the neighbourhood, not even the 

 shepherds, who often pasture their flocks on the 

 crags, and in almost inaccessible places ; and Dr. 

 Heinig, who has been on Mount Ararat (which is 

 close to Byazid), and who appears to have a taste 

 for rambling over mountains, says he has never met 

 with any. What seems to confirm the assertion that 

 these products were not known previous to their 

 unaccountable appearance is, that last year the 

 crops were greatly injured by locusts, and a famine 

 threatened ; and had the substance been known 

 to exist anywhere in the vicinity, it would most 

 assuredly have been eagerly sought after, and col- 

 lected last autumn, when the price of wheat had 

 risen to more than double its usual value. A similar 

 phenomenon is said to have occurred at Byazid some 

 years ago, when it is probable that the edible quality 

 of these lichens became known to the natives ; unless 

 showers took place previous to that period, which 

 I have not been able to ascertain. 



"No proof has been adduced of any one having seen 

 the substance fall, but as the first intelligence was 

 brought by villagers who, early one morning, had 

 observed the lichens strewed over a tract of ground 

 where they had not observed any on the evening 

 before, it is probable that the showers must have 

 taken place during the night. In some localities, 

 the one or the other kind of lichen alone was found, 

 in others the two species mixed. On the 19th of 

 June another quantity of lichen was discovered, and 

 as the spot was a well-frequented one, it seems likely 

 that the fall had occurred only a few days previously. 



