Chap. 71.] THE ELDEE. 411 



as the viminal or purple willow, 61 another as the nitelina, 63 

 from its resemblance to the colour of the nitela, thinner in 

 the trunk than the preceding one, and the third as the 

 Gallic 63 kind, being the thinnest of them all. 



CHAP. 70. BUSHES : CANDLE-BUSHES : RUSHES FOE THATCHING. 



The rush, 64 so frail in form, and growing in marshy spots, 

 cannot be reckoned as belonging to the shrubs, nor jet t;o the 

 brambles or the stalk plants ; nor, indeed, in strict justice, to 

 any of the classes of plants except one that is peculiarly its 

 own. It is extensively used for making thatch and matting, 

 and, with the outer coat taken off, for making candles and 

 funeral torches. In some places, however, the rush is more 

 hard and firm : thus, for instance, it is employed not only by 

 the sailors on the Padus for making the sails of boats, but for 

 the purposes of sea-fishing as well, by the fishermen of Africa, 

 who, in a most preposterous manner, hang the sails made of it 

 behind the masts. 65 The people, too, of Mauritania thatch 

 their cottages 66 with rushes ; indeed, if we look somewhat 

 closely into the matter, it will appear that the rush is held in 

 pretty nearly the same degree of estimation there as the pa- 

 pyrus is in the inner regions of the world. 67 



CHAP. 71. — THE ELDEE ! THE BBAHBA.E. 



Of a peculiar nature, too, though to be reckoned among the 

 waters-plants, is the bramble, a shrub-like plant, and the 

 elder, which is of a spongy nature, though not resembling giant 

 fennel, from having upon it a greater quantity of wood. It is 

 a belief among the shepherds that if they cut a horn or trumpet 

 from the wood of this tree, it will give all the louder sound 

 if cut in a spot where the shrub has been out of hearing of the 

 crowing of the cock. The bramble bears mulberries, 69 and 



61 Belonging to the Salix purpurea of Linnaeus. 



62 Field-mouse or squirrel colour. See B. viii. c. 82. The same, pro- 

 bably, as the Salix vitellina of Linnasus. 



63 ' A variety, Fee thinks, of the Salix rubens. 



64 The Scirpus lacustris of Linnaeus. 



55 And not in front of them. 66 Mapalia. 



67 Egypt, namely. 



68 The bramble is sometimes found on the banks of watery spots and in 

 marshy localities, but more frequently in mountainous and arid spots. 



39 Known to us as blackberries. 'This tree is the Rubus fruticosus of 



