THE WONDERS OF VEGETATION. 173 



THE PLANE-TREE OF GODFREY OF BOUILLON. 



What is called the plane-tree of Godfrey of Bouil- 

 lon, is rather a system of nine trees forming three 

 very close groups. Martins, who has seen and de- 

 scribed it, regards it as the most colossal plant in ex- 

 istence ; and Mr. Gautier calls it " not a tree, but a 

 forest." " Commencing from the east," says the first 

 of these writers, " we first perceive two trunks joined 

 together, which, at a height of three feet above ground, 

 measure 35 feet in circumference. A space of 15 feet 

 has been hollowed out by fire. Then comes a single 

 trunk 17 feet in circumference. The last group con- 

 sists of six trunks, forming, so to speak, one tree, over 

 70 feet in circumference. This enormous trunk also 

 has been hollowed by fire, for Turkish barbarism ad- 

 mires nothing, and respects nothing. A horse put up 

 in this cavity, was perfectly comfortable in his new 

 stable." Martins estimates the height of this vege- 

 table mass to be over 180 feet. The space cover- 

 ed by the foliage is 340 feet in circumference. 

 From the tents under the shelter of the tree, one can 

 see Bujugdere, a village on the Bosphorus, not far 

 from which is the famous plateau of Godfrey of Bou- 

 illon. 



THE YEW OF LA MOTTE-FEUILLY. 



This yew-tree is at once the monument of nature 

 and of history. A monument of nature, for it bears 

 traces of an age that must be counted by centuries, 

 >* trunk being not less than 24 feet in circumfer- 



