CHAP. XXVIII.] DATE-PALM. 139 



Anastatic, opposite St. Augustine, in Florida, he 

 saw one still taller, probably brought there by the 

 Spaniards, who have introduced them into the south 

 of Spain from Africa. The tree is seventy or eighty 

 years old, for Pere Antoine, a Roman Catholic priest, 

 who died about twenty years ago, at the age of 

 eighty, told Mr. Bringier that he planted it himself, 

 when he was young. In his will he provided, that 

 they who succeeded to this lot of ground should 

 forfeit it if they cut down the palm. Wishing to 

 know something of Pere Antoine s history, I asked 

 a Catholic Creole, who had a great veneration for 

 him, when he died. He said it could never be 

 ascertained, because, after he became very emaciated, 

 he walked the streets like a mummy, and gradually 

 dried up, ceasing at last to move ; but his flesh 

 never decayed, or emitted any disagreeable odour. 



If the people here wish to adorn their metropolis 

 with a striking ornament, such as the northern cities 

 can never emulate, let them plant in one of their 

 public squares an avenue of these date-palms. 



