THE WONDERS OF VEGETATION. 167 



forty-six feet in circumference ; but having been re- 

 peatedly strucfe by lightning, it has been stunted in its 

 growth ; the girth of its branches nevertheless gives 

 it a venerable aspect, and each summer crowds of 

 visitors come to see the famous tree and to rest under 

 its shade. 



At Prilly, near Lausanne, there is a linden-tree 

 under which 500 years ago justice was administer- 

 ed. The municipality of Lausanne watches over its 

 preservation, dear as it is to the whole canton, 

 and a little fountain serves to keep its roots moist. 

 Nor must we forget the baths of Evian, where, a little 

 below the road grow two rose-trees of the same form 

 and almost equal in height and width. These are 

 not gigantic monuments, like the colossal trees of 

 which we have spoken, but they no less surprise trav- 

 ellers by their size. For these marvellous rose-trees are 

 certainly of respectable size for flowers their trunks 

 measure more than ten inches in circumference. 



THE CHESTNUT ON MOUNT ETNA. 



The chestnut of JSTeuve-Gelle cannot compare with 

 this rival, under whose shade a hundred horses have 

 found shelter. It is said that the Queen Joan, of Ara- 

 gon, ascended Mount Etna during her voyage from 

 Spain to Naples, and that all the nobility of Catania ac- 

 companied her in her excursion. A tempest broke out, 

 but the queen and her whole suite found easily shelter 

 under the foliage of this immense tree. 



" This famous tree of so vast a diameter," says 

 Jean Houel, the first traveller who gave a description 



