THE BAOBAB TREE. 75 



cone, covered with a rind which resembles dark green velvet. 

 It is divided into 8 or 10 cells, each of which is filled with a 

 buff-colored, farinaceous, pulpy substance, of an acid and 

 agreeable taste. In some places, it forms a principal article 

 of food, and the juice expressed from it is used as a cooling 

 drink in fevers. The fruit is consequently an article of com- 

 merce, and is conveyed as far as Morocco and Egypt. 



MRS. C. 



Is the wood of the Baobab of any usel 



MRS. F. 



Of none. It is fibrous and soft, and is even unfit for burn- 

 ing. The middle is filled with a large proportion of pith, 

 the decay of which occasions the great caverns so frequently 

 found in these trees. Within these hollow trunks are sus- 

 pended the bodies of those who are refused the rites of burial, 

 and, in them, they become mummies, perfectly dry and well 

 preserved, without any artificial preparation. The Baobabs 

 grow in sandy soils; and their lateral roots, though often 

 100 feet in length, would of themselves be insufficient to 

 enable the tree to withstand the violence of the wind, had 

 not Providence given them also a pivot root, formed by a 

 prolongation of the trunk in a vertical direction. Thus ad- 

 mirably defended, the Baobab resists the fury of the African 

 tornadoes, and, undisturbed by the war of elements, remains 

 fixed in its position, the oldest organic monument of our 

 planet. 



MRS. C. 



I think I have understood that it is not a very lofty tree! 



MRS. F. 



No; its elevation is by no means proportionate to its 

 breadth. Adanson says they are from 10 to 12 feet high, 

 and 77 in circumference; their roots 110 feet long. Hum- 

 boldt states them to be 12 feet high and 30 feet in diameter; 

 and other travellers have assigned them even greater dimen- 

 sions. The largest, I believe, on record is that in the valley 

 of the two Gagnacks. 



