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pondence between the general and myself. The bird died in 

 the following winter. I had drawn its portrait in India; a recol- 

 lection of its affectionate attachment induces me to offer it among 

 those selected for engraving; for which, and the prolixity of the 

 anecdote, I trust I shall be excused by every heart of sensibility. 



A number of curious trees, shrubs, and aromatic plants, adorn 

 the wilds of Turcaseer; among them are extensive forests of the 

 baubul tree, the acacia, or Egyptian thorn, much esteemed in 

 the materia-medica of the ancients for its gum, which it 

 produces in great abundance, with every property of gum- 

 arabic. The leaves, like all of the mimosa tribe, are pinnated, 

 the branches covered with sharp white thorns, adorned with clus- 

 ters of fragrant globular blossoms, in great profusion; pink, yel- 

 low, or white ; the most beautiful is an oblong flower, the lower 

 part nearest the stalk of a delicate rose-colour, the other half a 

 bright yellow: the gum oozes from the bark on the trunk, and 

 larger branches. The flowers are not converted to any purpose 

 that I have known in India, but it is said the Chinese extract from 

 them a valuable yellow dye. 



The baubul tree afforded a curious specimen of insect sagacity 

 in the caterpillars' nests, suspended by thousands to the branches. 

 This little animal, conscious of its approaching change, and the 

 necessity of security in its helpless state as a chrysalis, instinctively 

 provides itself a strong mansion during that metamorphosis. As a 

 caterpillar it is furnished with very strong teeth; with them it saws 

 off a number of thorns, the shortest about an inch long, and glues 

 them together in a conical form, the points all tending to one direc- 

 tion, the extremity terminating with the longest and sharpest. This 



