2 74 pf*ant "bore, Iscgef^ti/, cmi. "bijric/. 



making images of the gods, and that the effigies of the ancestors 

 of Latinus were carved out of an old Cedar, He also informs 



us that Cedar-wood was used for fragrant torches. Sesostris, 



King of Egypt, is reported to have built a ship of Cedar timber, 

 which, according to Evelyn, was " of 280 cubits, all gilded without 



and within." Gerarde says that the Egyptians used Cedar for 



the coffins of their dead, and Cedar-pitch in the process of em- 

 balming the bodies. The books of Numa, recovered in Rome 



after a lapse of 535 years, are stated to have been perfumed with 



Cedar. The Chinese have a legend which tells how a husband and 



wife were transformed into two Cedars, in order that their mutual 

 love might be perpetuated. A certain King Kang, in the time 

 of the Soungs, had as secretary one Hanpang, whose young 

 and beautiful wife Ho the King unfortunately coveted. Both 

 husband and wife were tenderly attached to one another, so the 

 King threw Hanpang into prison, where he shortly died of grief. 

 His wife, to escape the odious attentions of the King, threw her- 

 self from the summit of a high terrace. After her death, a letter 

 was discovered in her bosom, addressed to the King, in which she 

 asked, as a last favour, to be buried beside her dear husband. 

 The King, however, terribly angered, would not accede to poor Ho's 

 request, but ordered her to be interred separately. The will of 

 heaven was not long being revealed. That same night two Cedars 

 sprang from the two graves, and in ten days had become so tall 

 and vigorous in their growth, that they were able to interlace 

 their branches and roots, although separated from one another. 

 The people henceforth called these Cedars " The trees of faithful 



love." Tchihatcheff, a Russian traveller, speaks of vast Cedar 



forests on Mount Taurus in Asia Minor : the tree was not intro- 

 duced into England till about Evelyn's time, nor into France till 

 1737, when Bernard de Jussieu brought over from the Holy Land 

 a little seedling of the plant from the forests of Mount Lebanon. A 

 romantic account is given of the difficulty this naturalist experienced 

 in conveying it to France, owing to the tempestuous weather and 

 contrary winds he experienced, which drove his vessel out of its 

 course, and so prolonged the voyage, that the water began to fail. 

 All on board were consequently put on short allowance ; the crew 

 having to work, being allowed one glass of water a day, the pas- 

 senger only half that quantity. Jussieu, from his attachment to 

 botany, was reduced to abridge even this small daily allowance, by 

 sharing it with his cherished plant, and by this act of self-sacrifice 

 succeeded in keeping it alive till they reached Marseilles. Here, 

 however, all his pains seemed likely to be thrown away, for as he 

 had been driven, by want of a flower-pot, to plant his seedling in 

 his hat, he excited on landing the suspicions of the Custom-house 

 officers, who at first insisted on emptying the strange pot, to see 

 whether any contraband goods were concealed therein. With much 

 difficulty he prevailed upon them to spare his treasure, and sue- 



