176 FIRST STEPS IN GENERAL KNOWLEDGE. 



tained from foreign plants of this tribe," said her 

 father ; " such as gums Arabic and Senegal, the 

 drug senna, the valuable indigo, &c. ; while in the 

 South American forests there are pod-bearing 

 trees of enormous size and extreme age. They 

 are called locust-trees, and almost incredible 

 stories are told concerning them. Fifteen Indians, 

 it is said, with outstretched arms, can scarcely 

 embrace one of the trunks ; and when the con- 

 centric rings of one of these giants were counted, 

 they led to the conclusion that the tree was more 

 than two thousand years old ; that is, that it dates 

 earlier than the time of our Saviour." 



" What wonderful trees !" said Henry. " We 

 can scarcely fancy such giants to be related to our 

 peas and beans." 



" Leguminous plants are found in almost every 

 part of the habitable globe ; except in two small 

 islands, which I will show you on the map." 



Henry quickly brought a map of the globe ; 

 and his father pointed out St. Helena, and Tristan 

 d'Acunha, both in the South Atlantic Ocean. 



" Then poor Napoleon could not have had any 

 fruit or vegetables of that kind!" said Henry. 

 " I dare say peas and beans would not have grown 



