186 THE WON DEES OF VEGETATION. 



in fact, when even the history of Greece and of Italy 

 was but just beginning. The sterility of these plants 

 is one cause of their longevity. 



By the side of the dragon-trees, which in spite of 

 their enormous dimensions belong, strictly speaking, 

 to the same class as our asparagus, may be placed the 

 Adansonias or baobabs, which are certainly among the 

 largest and oldest inhabitants of our planet. The 

 earliest description of these trees is dated 1454, and 

 was written by a Venetian, Louis Cadamosto. He 

 found at the mouth of the Senegal a number of these 

 trees, the circumference of which was about 100 feet. 

 Perrotet says he saw baobabs over 30 feet in diam- 

 eter. 



Among the regions remarkable for their vegetable 

 products we must, in passing, mention the Island of 

 Tahiti the Queen of Oceanica. 



Without fully adopting the opinion of Bougain- 

 ville as to the magnificence of this island, and with- 

 out painting the inhabitants in the glowing colors 

 used by Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, we must repeat 

 what has been so often stated, that for wonderful veg- 

 etation the South Seas are the most astonishing. The 

 natural productions seen in the islands of this region 

 make it the most famous in the world. 



In Tahiti especially, the vegetable kingdom shows 

 the greatest perfection. " All along the coast," says 

 Prat, "grow in abundance the Artocarpus incisa, 

 Forester's Pine, the banana, the cocoa-nut, the Spon- 

 dius Cytherea, the Pa/ndcmus adoratissimus, the 

 paper-mulberry and others. In the interior of the 



