72 THE WONDERS OF VEGETATION. 



cient temples. In the evening, when penetrating 

 under the sombre vaults of these palms, I could not 

 resist a feeling of awe ; for these palms, majestic and 

 immovable at the bottom of their crater of sand were 

 a fit emblem of African civilization, unchanging amid 

 the ever-changing outside world. 



The family of palms is very numerous, and the 

 different species which belong to it (450 have been 

 counted) are of remarkable interest, both on account 

 of their strange beauty and of the valuable services 

 which they render to man. As the limits of this 

 work do not permit us to examine all these treasures, 

 we must content ourselves with a few that are most 

 worthy of the interest and curiosity of our readers. 



THE COCOA-NUT TREE. 



Like the date-palm-tree, rises to a height of 90 feet, 

 with a straight and smooth stem crowned with a cap- 

 ital of leaves in the shape of a plume each leaf be- 

 ing about 18 feet long. It is met with throughout 

 the whole Torrid Zone, but abounds chiefly near the 

 sea-coast. All the wants of man, in his primitive con- 

 dition, are supplied by a cocoa-nut palm by its fruit, 

 its seeds, its leaves, and the other parts of the plant. 

 The following narrative, by M. Boniface Guizot, will 

 give an excellent idea of the importance and the na- 

 ture of its usefulness to man. 



A traveller was journeying through those coun- 

 tries lying under a burning sun, where the freshness 

 of shade is rare and the habitations of man are found 

 only at considerable distances from each other. Sink- 



