THE EQUATOEIAL ZONE. 313 



As we wander on we now for the first time gaze with 

 wonder at some monster trees, which can be no other than 

 the mighty Baobabs (Adansonia digitata), commonly called 

 Monkey-bread-trees, which are supposed by some to be as 

 old as the world itself, and whose trunks are said to be the 

 largest in the world in circumference ; the measurements 

 given by different writers range between seventy-seven and 

 one hundred and four feet, the height being not more than 

 thirty, which disproportion must give them a very uncom- 

 mon appearance; the branches extend in every direction, 

 and are covered with thick foliage. The Baobab belongs to 

 a family called Sterculiacea, but they are relations of the 

 Mallows. The blossoms, which are bright white, and im- 

 mensely large, are extremely beautiful ; as soon as day dawns 

 they open their petals, and close them again when night 

 comes on. The fruit, which is about nine inches in length, 

 is protected by a greenish kind of shell or husk ; withinside 

 there is a quantity of yellowish-white cakey powder, of a 

 sweet acid taste, attached by fibres to the seeds, which are 

 imbedded in pulp like the seeds of a Cucumber. The fruit 

 however is not so cylindrical as a Cucumber ; but bulges a 

 good deal on one side, and ends almost in a point. The 

 leaves of this tree are a beautiful cinquefoil. But the root 



