THE rm. 233 



prepared like flax, may be spun into a very fine fabric. 

 Having become naturalized in many parts of Asia and 

 Europe, numerous varieties have originated, some of which 

 bear very tolerable fruit, but none, perhaps, are equal to 

 the black in this respect. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



THE FIG. 



SOFT prelude to the mighty swell of crinoline, im- 

 mortal Pig-leaf ! eldest-born of Fashion's countless pro- 

 geny, and first page of Le Foiled s now innumerable 

 tomes ! In the tree that bears thee fruit is, indeed, a 

 merit of supererogation, for would not such foliage have 

 sufficed to secure it undying renown, even had nought 

 else ever graced its branches ? Yet, had verdure alone 

 adorned it since leafage, however glorious, delights 

 not our palate we could not have invited its presence 

 in pages dedicated inalienably to Pomona ; and it is, 

 therefore, to the luscious dainties which lurk amid those 

 leaves, albeit less honoured in the record of history, that 

 we must look to find its title to admission here. Sole 

 plant which is known to have flourished in Paradise, the 

 fig-tree is the first vegetable production specifically men- 

 tioned in the records of creation ; for the " Tree of Know- 

 ledge" and the "Tree of Life" were existences of too super- 

 natural an order to be reckoned as within the scope of bo- 

 tanical disquisition, or to be submitted to the identification 

 of a Linnaeus or a Jussieu. Of the estimation in which it 

 was held by the descendants of Abraham we may judge 

 by the fact that it being " no place of figs " was one com- 

 plaint of the Israelites concerning the desert where Moses 

 led them ; that " the fig-tree shall not blossom " indicated 



