THE-CEDAR OF LEBANON. 12] 
a Cedar in Lebanon, with fair branches and with a 
shadowing shroud, and of an high stature, and his 
top was among the thick boughs: his height was 
exalted above all the 
trees of the field, and his 
boughs were multiplied 
and his branches became 
long, because of the mul- 
titude of waters when he 
shot forth. The Cedars 
in the garden of God 
could not hide him: the 
Fir trees were not like 
his boughs, and the 
Chestnut trees were not like his branches; nor any 
tree in the garden of God was like unto him in 
his beauty.” In this beautiful description, two of 
the principal characteristics of the Cedar of Lebanon 
are marked; viz., the length and number of its 
branches, and the wide expanse and density of its 
shade. Few trees spread themselves so thickly upon 
every side. This is in consequence of the horizontal 
growth of the branches, which shoot out in great 
numbers from the parent stem, forming a deep and 
quite impenetrable shade. These branches sometimes 
droop so as almost to reach the ground. 
It is supposed that some of the trees still standing 
on Mount Lebanon are the remains of the forests 
from which Solomon obtained the wood for the 
building of the Temple. These are protected with 
great care, and are accounted sacred by the inhabi- 
11 
Cedar of Lebanon. 
