Zbc TRcian ot tbe Ifmmortals 205 



In Ceylon was a wonderful tree worshiped as a 

 srod, and called the Bo tree. It obtained from the 

 natives divine honors because of its remarkable size, 

 long life, and the fact that no other tree of its kind 

 grew upon the island. This leads us to consider 

 that the seed from which it sprung must have been 

 bird-carried to Ceylon. Trees are thus found solitary, 

 far from their kind, and owe their planting usually 

 to birds, though sometimes on the coast their seeds 

 were carried by the waters. The Bo tree was sup- 

 posed to have been of full size and an object of 

 worship for two thousand years. A great storm in 

 October, 1887, overthrew it. The Ceylonese natives 

 gathered up the fragments, cremated them, and 

 buried the ashes with the pomp usually given to the 

 remains of kings. 



In Africa there is a tree so tenacious of vitality that 

 nothing can kill it but fire. Livingston gives an in- 

 teresting account of it. Even the severed leaves take 

 root after they have fallen upon the ground ; stakes 

 cut and trimmed will sprout and grow into trees if 

 set in the ground. This tree is also known on the 

 Island of Jamaica, and wherever it grows has a name 

 of similar significance — the " Life Tree." 



The redwoods, or sequoia, of California, are the 

 stateliest immortals of the Western tree-world. They 

 are cone-bearing trees, related to the pines, and 



