10 THE OL1VE-BKANCH. [CHAP. i. 



We have here quoted the very earliest record of the 

 Dove. The species mentioned is without doubt the blue 

 Rock Dove, one of our common Dovehouse Pigeons*. 

 The olive-branch, say Biblical notes, probably from some 

 obscure rumour of this event, has generally been the 

 emblem of peace ; but, what is curious, we hear that in 

 countries where scarcely the remotest tradition can have 

 penetrated, a like token is similarly recognised. The 

 sparse foliage of many Australian shrubs bears a faint 

 resemblance to that peculiar to the olive, both in its 

 sombre hue, and the little shade it affords. And Cap- 

 tain Sturt, when exploring the course of the Murray 

 River, found that tribes of natives, who, if they had 

 heard of white men, had evidently never before seen 

 any, traditionally, or perhaps instinctively, compre- 

 hended the spirit of peace denoted by the offered 

 branch. 



In ancient Egypt, on the cessation of war, the troops 

 were required to attend during the performance of pre- 

 scribed religious ceremonies, when each soldier carried 

 in his hand a twig of some tree, probably olive, with 

 the arms of his peculiar corps. " A judicious remark 

 has been made by Mr. Bankes respecting the choice of 

 the olive as the emblem of peace. After the devasta- 

 tion of a country by hostile invasion, and the consequent 

 neglect of its culture, no plantation requires a longer 

 period to restore its previously flourishing condition 

 than the olive grove ; and this tree may therefore have 

 been appropriately selected as the representative of 



* In the " flierozoici" of Bochart, lib. i. cap. vi., is a laborious 

 essay, " De Columba Noachi, et de Columbse specie quae in Baptismo 

 Christi apparuit." 



