UNCLE IN ENGLAND. 231 



North America." It is not a late publication, 

 but very interesting to me, as I like to compare 

 the productions of North and South America. 



Among all the beautiful trees of our Southern 

 regions, I do not recollect having seen or heard 

 of the deciduous cypress, the majestic grandeur 

 of which, he says, is surprising. It generally 

 grows in low flat grounds, that are covered, part 

 of the year, with water. The lower part of the 

 stem, which is frequently under water, enlarges 

 into prodigious buttresses ; and they project 

 on every side to such a distance, that several 

 men might hide in the recesses between them. 

 The stem is generally hollow as high as the but- 

 tresses reach, where it forms, as it were, another 

 beginning, and rises, in a straight uninterrupted 

 column, to the height of 80 or 90 feet. There 

 it throws out its noble branches like an umbrella ; 

 eagles securely build their nests in them ; they 

 are the abode of hundreds of parroquets, who 

 delight in shelling the seeds ; and even the hol- 

 low stem is not untenanted, as it affords spacious 

 apartments for the wild bees. 



The trunks supply excellent timber; and, when 

 hollowed out, make large and durable canoes. 

 When the planters fell these mighty trees, they 

 erect a high stage round them, so as to reach 

 above the buttresses ; and on these stages eight 

 or ten men can work together, with their axes. 



Another curious fact which I found in this 



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