92 THE TRAVELLER'S TREE. 



eighty or ninety feet. The trunk is from twelve to eighteen 

 inches in diameter ; but it is of a soft spongy texture, and 

 not of much service as timber. It grows at all heights from 

 the sea-level to an elevation of about 2000 feet, but is never 

 found in the higher plateaux of the island. 



While travelling through the Taimoro country I noticed 

 that the fruit is seen on almost every tree, forming three or 

 four clusters of sheaths, about a dozen in each, much resem- 

 bling in shape and size the horns of a short-horned ox. These 

 project from between the leaf-stalks, two in full bloom and 

 the other two generally dying off, or shedding the seeds, or 

 rather the seed-pods. These are oval in shape, about two 

 inches long, and yellow in colour, something like very large 

 dates, but with a hard woody fibrous covering. When ripe 

 they open and show each pod dividing into three parts, each 

 of which is double, thus containing six rows of seeds about 

 the size of a small bean. Each seed is wrapped in a covering 

 looking exactly like a small piece of light-blue silk with 

 scalloped edges. 



In proceeding along the coast we had an opportunity of 

 testing the accuracy of the accounts given of the water pro- 

 curable from the traveller's tree, about which I had always 

 felt rather sceptical, as somewhat of a " traveller's tale." In 

 fact, I had never before seen the tree where plenty of good 

 water was not procurable ; but here there was none for several 

 miles except the stagnant water of the lagoons. We found 

 that on piercing with a spear or pointed stick the lower part 

 of one of the leaf-stalks, where they all clasp one over the 

 other, a small stream of water spurted out, from which one 

 could drink to the full of good cool sweet water. If one of 

 the leaf-stalks was forcibly drawn down, a quantity of water 

 gushed out, so that we afterwards readily filled a large cup 

 with as much as we needed. On examining a section of one 

 of the stalks, a hollow channel about a quarter of an inch in 

 diameter is seen running all down the inner side of the stalk 

 from the base of the leaf. This appears to collect the water 

 condensed from the atmosphere by the large cool surface of 

 the leaf, and conducts it downwards. The leaf-stalks are all 

 full of cells like those of the banana. After three hours' 



