310 PARRICIDE TREES. 



in its character of " parricide" ; that is to say, where 

 a seed of the Peepul has lodged in the fork of another 

 tree, has there germinated, and cast down long air- 

 roots which run down the parent trunk; reaching the 

 ground they take root, and the Peepul is then seen in 

 the process of squeezing the parent tree to death, as 

 a boa constrictor is said to strangle an animal enfolded 

 in its coils. When this has been effected, we have 

 seen several cases where the Peepul remains standing 

 aloft a magnificent tree, with a hollow cylinder in its 

 heart marking the form of the original tree, which 

 once occupied that situation, but whose dead trunk 

 has long since turned to dust, upon which the more 

 vigorous parricidal growth has fed and nourished. 



Elsewhere we have described the seeds of this remark- 

 able tree as effecting the destruction of buildings and 

 other works of man. The visitor will see many ex- 

 amples of its power in this respect, throughout the 

 Bush Region, among the ruins of any of the ancient 

 cities of India, as well as in the equatorial zone, where 

 the action of this tree has been already discussed in 

 that capacity. 



Passing however from the region of the larger ar- 

 borescent growths, we must turn our attention to the 

 smaller growths of the dry bush-covered plains, which 

 adjoin our next division, the Desert Zone. The class 

 of trees and plants here found existing are mainly 

 formed by Nature to be essentially drought-resisting. 

 There are many wide areas of country, which are 

 fertile and well-watered during portions of the year, 

 but completely waterless at other seasons. The great 

 Kalahari Desert in South Africa is a notable instance 

 in point. This enormous territory contains a large area 



