CAPER. WATER-LILY. 1 53 



mountain of that name, near the sea, the whole of 

 which is planted with tea for the Emperor's use, 

 and surrounded with a wide ditch for its protection. 



Tea was first brought to Europe from China, by 

 some Dutch merchants, about the year 1641. 



The Caper-bush, Cap'paris spino'sa, Polyandria 

 Monogynia, grows wild in the Levant. It is as 

 common there as the bramble is with us, growing 

 out of old walls, the chinks of rocks, and amongst 

 rubbish ; and is cultivated in the south of Europe, 

 for the sake of the young flower-buds, which are 

 pickled and exported in great quantities, and used 

 at table in England. It is a very beautiful shrub 

 ( But I must return to our native plants, some of 

 which, of this class, are too remarkable to be passed 

 over; particularly the Water-lily, which is equal 

 in beauty to almost any foreign flower. 



EDWARD. 



I have seen a white Water-lily growing in our 

 ponds. What is its botanical name ? 



MOTHER. 



Nymphae'a al'ba, of a genus in the order Mono > 

 gynia. You must watch it in the evening when 

 the flowers close and lie down upon the water : at 

 night they sink below the surface ; and in the mid- 

 dle of the day, when the weather is bright and 

 hot, they rise some inches above it, and expand 



