A VEGETABLE COLOSSUS. 



409 



But it is time we took our leave of India, and allowed " observa- 

 tion with extensive view '' to survey the far-spreading African forests. 

 There, in the first place, we are called upon to salute the patriarch of 

 the tropical Flora, the Baobab (Adansonia digitata), a gigantic genus 

 of the family Bombacece. 



This colossus of the vegetable world was discovered in Senegal by 



2. Klaeis Guinensis, or Guinea Pa 



3. Acacia verek. 



the French botanist Adanson, in 1749. He measured the trunks of 

 several individuals, and found them from Go to 78 feet in circum- 

 ference, with mighty branches, each of which was equal to a great oak 

 or magnificent chestnut. One baobab he computed at 90 feet in 

 girth, and its rounded crest extended over an area of upwards of 170 

 yards in circuit. A root which was exposed to view, through the 



