210 FROM NORTH POLE TO EQUATOR. 



will be able to form some idea of the impression it makes on the 

 beholder. Of all the trees of the primeval forests in this region, 

 the baobab is the first to lose its leaves, and it remains longest in its 

 winter repose; during this season all its branches and twigs stretch 

 out leafless into the air, while from most of them there hang, by 

 long flexible stalks, fruits about the size of a melon, containing 

 a mealy, slightly sour pulp between the seeds the whole a 

 sight which stamps itself ineffaceably on the memory. But, 

 after the first rains of spring, great, five-lobed leaves unfold, 

 enhancing the charm of this wondrous tree, and when, between 

 the leaves, the long-stalked buds disclose white flowers as large as 

 roses, this incomparable giant is transformed, as if by magic, 

 into an enormous rose-bush of indescribable beauty, the sight of 

 which stirs the heart of even the most matter-of-fact of men with 

 admiration. 



No other tree in the forest can be compared with the baobab; 

 even the duleb-palm, which raises its head above all the surrounding 

 trees, cannot bear comparison with it in charm and impressiveness. 

 Yet the duleb-palm is one of the most splendid trees found in the 

 interior of Africa, and one of the finest palms in the world; its trunk 

 is a pillar which no artist could have surpassed; its crown a capital 

 worthy of such a pillar. The upright trunk thickens just above 

 the ground, and thins in a remarkable manner to about half its 

 height, then begins to bulge out, then again diminishes, and swells 

 out once more just under the crown. This consists of broad, fan-like 

 leaves, hardly less than a square yard in extent, whose stalks stand 

 out straight on all sides round a middle point, thus giving the tree 

 a most impressive individuality. The fruits attain to about the size 

 of a child's head, and the clusters hanging among the leaves greatly 

 enhance the beauty of the crown, which is, indeed, an ornament to 

 the whole forest. 



The legendary always clings about the gigantic ; it lives on it, 

 and takes form and meaning from it. This thought occurs to one 

 when one sees, as frequently happens, the baobab overgrown with 

 the tendrils of one of the climbing plants which beautify these 

 forests in rich abundance. Climbing plants have always seemed to 



