height, and form a compact and rounded 

 summit. The open, coriaceous foliage is of a 

 pale, impoverished verdure, and the general 

 appearance of the tree is not unlike that of a 

 common Willow which has been lopped, and 

 which has acquired a new summit of three 

 or four years' growth. 



Indeed the Olive possesses neither the ma- 

 jesty of forest- trees, nor the gracefulness of 

 shrubbery. It clothes the hills without adorn- 

 ing them, and, considered as an accident of 

 the landscape, it does not charge the picture 

 sufficiently to contribute greatly to its beauty. 

 The rich culture for which the southern pro- 

 vinces of France are celebrated, is less con- 

 ducive to rural beauty than some of the 

 humbler species of husbandry. The richest 

 country is not always the most lovely : a 

 country -of mines, for example, is usually un- 

 gracious to the eye ; and the Olive is called by 

 an Italian writer, a mine upon the surface of 

 the earth. 



This tree is remarkable for its longevity : 

 the ancients limited its existence to two hun- 

 dred years ; but modern authors assert that, 

 in climates suited to its constitution, it sur- 



