252 



AUSTRALIA AND HOMEWARD. 



Foggia, which makes that part of the journey very 

 much more interesting than if it were entirely inland. 

 We passed through many miles of olive groves. 

 The tenacity of life of an olive tree is most remarkable. 

 In many instances the entire body of the tree had 

 decayed with age, and only a shell bore up the living 



THE APPIAN WAY. 



and fruitful branches. Though thousands of those 

 we saw must have been of great age, we saw none 

 dead. I noticed particularly that the tree flourished 

 in thin and rocky soil, where almost all other fruit- 

 producing trees would certainly fail. What the wheat 



