BOOK XIII. Li. 141-142 



and colour of violets ; the bcrries resemble olives, and 

 these also have an agrecable scent ; they form in the 

 autmiin and fall off in spring, whereas the lcaves are 

 never shed. The smaller of these trecs are entirely 

 covered by the tidc, but the tops of the largcst stand 

 out and ships are moorcd to thcm, as wcU as to their 

 roots whcn the tidc goes out. We have been in- 

 formed from the same sources that other trees also 

 have becn obscrvcd in the same sea which always 

 kcep their leaves and have a fruit resembhng a lupine. 

 Juba rclatcs that in the neighbourhood of the 

 Cave-dwellcrs' Islands a bush grows at the bottom 

 of the sea called ' hair of Isis,' which has no lcaves 

 and resembles coral, and that whcn it is lopped it 

 changes its colour to black and turns hard, and when 

 it falls it breaks ; and so docs another marine bush 

 the Greek name for which means * the Graces' 

 cycUd,' which is a potcnt love-charm ; he says 

 womcn make bracclets and necklaces of it. He 

 declares that when being takcn thc bush is aware of 

 it and turns as hard as horn, blunting the cdge of the 

 knife, but that if it is cut before it is awarc of the 

 dangcr that threatens it, it turns into stone. 



183 



