102 FOOTNOTES FROM 



tains, when my stock of provisions was exhausted, and a 

 renewal was not to be expected, the nearest shepherd's 

 sheiling being perhaps many miles distant, I have been 

 compelled to satisfy my cravings by eating small por- 

 tions of the tripe de roche, which I found blackening the 

 dreary rocks around. In such situations, I have felt deeply 

 how weak and helpless is man, when thrown forth from 

 the social scenes and comforts of civilized life, left to 

 his own unaided resources, and exposed to the merciless 

 energies of physical nature, and how, without some 

 ultimate trust in the Almighty source of his being, that 

 being is but as a straw upon a whirlpool. 



There are several other species of lichens, which have 

 now and then, on rare occasions, been employed as articles 

 of food. There is a greyish shaggy lichen abundant on 

 pine-trees in the British woods, called Evernia, which is 

 said in ancient times to have rivalled even the Iceland 

 moss for its nutritious qualities. Forskoel says in refer- 

 ence to it in his Flora Arabica, " I have heard a great 

 deal about a Schoebean plant unknown to me, without a 

 portion of which, mixed with its contents, no kind of 

 bread is manufactured. Shiploads of it are regularly 

 conveyed to Alexandria from the Grecian Archipelago. 

 A handful of the lichen is inserted in water for two 

 hours, which, when added to the dough, imparts to the 

 bread a peculiar flavour, esteemed delicious by the Turks." 

 It is possessed of a mawkish insipid taste, especially if 

 produced on oaks, somewhat astringent, but not destitute 

 of nutritious qualities. 



There is a curious lichen found in some eastern coun- 

 tries called Lecanora esculenta, regarding which several 



