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THE FRUIT OF THE LOTUS-TREE 

 OF THE ANCIENTS 



Has been made so interesting to us, by the inimitable 

 verses of Homer and Ovid, as well as by the mention 

 made of it by Herodotus, Strabo, Pliny, and other 

 authors of antiquity, that we are induced to give their 

 accounts of this celebrated fruit ; although it is now either 

 entirely lost, or so much degenerated, as not to be known 

 by their descriptions. 



Some authors suppose it to have been a fabulous fruit, 

 and only to be found in the poet's imagination. This 

 idea is absurd. Ovid has described it as particularly as 

 any other fruit mentioned in his Metamorphoses. 



The Lotus-tree was evidently a native of Africa ; and, 

 in all probability, was improved by being cultivated on 

 the sands of the coast, where, not being indigenous, it 

 has been lost from the neglect of the inhabitants, during 

 the revolutions which that part of the world has under- 

 gone. If this fruit has not already been discovered under 

 some other appellation, we may still expect that our .re- 

 searches in the interior of Africa will restore the lost 

 treasure. It is now about two thousand seven hundred 

 years since Homer related the enchanting effects this fruit 

 had on the followers of Ulysses : 



Nine days our fleet th' uncertain tempest bore, 

 Far in wide ocean, and from sight of shore ; 

 The tenth we touch'd, by various errors tost, 

 The land of Lotus and the flowery coast, 



2 A 



