CHAP. I.] 



SAND FORMATION. 



tard-tree of Scripture 1 , which here attains a height of 

 forty feet), Ixoras, and the numerous family of Cassias. 



Lastly, after a sufficiency of earth has been formed by 

 the decay of frequent successions of their less important 

 predecessors, the ground becomes covered by trees of 

 ampler magnitude, most of which are found upon the 

 adjacent shores of the mainland the Margosa 2 , from 

 whose seed the natives express a valuable oil; the 

 Timbiri 3 , wifti the glutinous nuts with which the fisher- 

 men " bark " their nets ; the Cashu-nut 4 ; the Palu 5 , one 

 of the most valuable timber trees of the Northern Pro- 

 vinces ; and the Wood-apple 6 , whose fruit is regarded 

 by the Singhalese as a specific for dysentery. 



But the most important fact connected with these 

 recently formed portions of land, is their extraordinary 

 suitability for the growth of the coco-nut, which re- 

 quires the sea-air (and in Ceylon at least appears never 

 to attain its frih 1 luxuriance when removed to- any con- 

 siderable distance from it) 7 , and which, at the same time, 



1 The identification of this tree 

 with the mustard-tree alluded to by 

 our Saviour is an interesting fact. 

 The Greek term vivainG, which occurs 

 Matt. xiii. 31, and elsewhere, is the 

 name given to mustard; for which 

 the Arabic equivalent is chardul or 

 khardal, and the Syriac khardalo. 

 The same name is applied at the 

 present day to a tree which grows 

 freely in the neighbovirhood of Jeru- 

 salem, and generally throughout 

 Palestine ; the seeds of which have 

 an aromatic pungency, which enables 

 them to be used instead of the ordi- 

 nary mustard (Sinapis niyra) ; be- 

 sides which, its structure presents all 

 the essentials to sustain the illus- 

 tration sought to be established in 

 the parable, some of which are want- 

 ing or dubious in the common plant. 

 It has a very small seed ; it may be 

 sown in a garden : it grows into an 

 " herb," and eventually " becometh 

 a tree ; so that the birds of the air 

 come and lodge in the branches there- 

 " e " With every allowance for the 



of. 



extremest development attainable by 

 culture, it must be felt that the di- 

 mensions of the domestic sinajiis 

 scarcely justify the last illustration ; 

 besides which it is an annual, and 

 cannot possibly be classed as a " tree." 

 The khardal grows abundantly in 

 Syria : it was found in Egypt by Sir 

 Gardner Wilkinson ; in Arabia by 

 Bove"; on the Indus by Sir Alex- 

 ander Burnes ; and throughout the 

 north-west of India it bears the 

 name of kharjal. Combining all 

 these facts, Dr. Royle, in an erudite 

 paper, has shown demonstrative 

 reasons for believing that the Sal- 

 vador a Persica, the "kharjal " of Hin- 

 dustan, is the " khardal of Arabia, 

 the " chardul " of the Talmud, and 

 the " mustard-tree " of the parable. 



2 Azadirachta Indica. 



3 Diospyros glutinosa. 



4 Anacardium occidentale. 



5 Mimnsops hexandra. 

 yEgle marmelos. 



7 Coco-nuts are cultivated at mo- 

 derate elevations in the mountain 



E 2 



