OF ACCOMPANYING ANIMALS AND PLANTS. 115 



The accompanying tusks in the hands of the same delegates, from the large size clearly belong 

 to the African elephant, E. Africanus : procured therefore by the way of Hindustan and the Persian 

 Gulf through intercourse by sea with Equatorial Africa. 



A set of delegates, with difficulty identified with the White Race, come from the Southern extreme 

 of Arabia ; shown by their resemblance to many among the existing population, and by the checkered 

 receptacle in which they are carrying a living exotic tree : 



Gen. ignot. of Tropical Arabia. This very painting — may prove the origin of the tradition that 

 the "persSa" tree was planted by Perseus in Egypt; a tradition credited by Alexander (Plin. xv. 

 13) : the "pe'rsea" was held sacred by the Egyptian priests (Plut. is. and osir. p. 548) ; is called 

 in Egyptian " tshve' " (Kirch.) or " tshouS " (ms. Par.) ; is described by Theophrastus iv. 2 as a 

 large handsome tree growing in Egypt, in habit and foliage resembling the pear, but the leaves ever- 

 green, fruit greenish and having a smaller nucleus than the plum, and the wood solid and valuable ; 

 is mentioned also by Nicander, Diodorus, and Dioscorides ; by Artemidorus (Strab. xvi. 4. 4) as 

 wild in the country West of the entrance of the Red Sea; and is identified with the "lebakh" of 

 Abu Hanifa, Firuzabadi, Avicenna, Abd-allatif, Ebn Baitar, Makrizi, and Soyouti, by the Copts, 

 Arabs, and De Sacy. The " la^bach " wa£ seen by Forskal p. 196 at Melhan among the mountains 

 of Yemen, a tree having leaves twice as long as the petiole, otherwise closely resembling those of the 

 " sar '' (described as lanceolate, entire, and smooth), but neither fruit nor flower were met with. 



A third set of delegates are clad in the cincture of Tropical climates, yet seem to have come 

 from either Palestine or Cyprus, for the vases in their hands manifest a taste for the fine arts sugges- 

 tive of Greek nationality. 



Crocus sativus of the East Mediterranean countries. Called in English gardens saffron, in 

 Spain " azafran," in Arabic " al zahafaran " (Prior), in Germany " safran," in Italy " zafferano " (Lenz), 

 in Greece "krokos" (Fraas), in Egyptian "mSthaio" (Edw.) ; and the single large flowers project- 

 ing above the soil in these vases — may be compared : " krokos " of Cilicia continued celebrated in 

 the days of Dioscorides, and that of Cyrene is mentioned by him, and Theophrastus vi. 6; the 

 "sahaferan" or "zafran" is mentioned by Arab writers; and the "fragrant" crocus was observed by 

 Rauwolf in Syria. Farther North, the " krokos " is mentioned by Homer, Aeschylus ag. 230, Euri- 

 pides, Aristophanes, the Hippocratic writings, and the "krokos Suosmos '' by Theophrastus ix. 7: 

 C. sativus was observed by Sibthorp, and Fraas, on the mountains and rocky plains of Attica, and in 

 fallow ground in other parts of Greece. Westward, Sicilian " krokos " is mentioned by Dioscorides ; 

 cultivating "crocus" in Italy is mentioned by Varro, Columella, and Pliny xxi. 17; Roman saloons 

 and theatres were strewed with its " costly perfume," and " vinous tinctures retaining the scent were 

 made" (Sen. ep. go, Lucan ix. 808, Spartian., Lamprid., and Royle in Kitt. bibl. cycl.) : C. sativus 

 is described by Bauhin hist. ii. p. 637, and Tournefort inst. 350; was observed by Lenz seemingly 

 wild in Italy ; continues a favourite garden flower throughout middle Europe, escaping and springing 

 up spontaneously for successive seasons as far even as England (Engl. bot. pi. 343, and Wats.) ; 

 but according to A. Decandolle, its cultivation for commercial purposes is becoming rare. Eastward 

 from Greece, is known to be cultivated in Asia Minor, Persia, and extensively in Cashmere ; the 

 product according to Royle exported and sold at a high price in Hindustan for colouring and flavour- 

 ing dishes, and as a stimulant medicine. The dried stigmas according to Pereira, and Lindley, "are 

 the saffron of the shops," among Europeans "little used except as a colouring ingredient," and "an 

 agreeable stimulant in many culinary preparations and liqueurs:" the "singular substance called 

 polychroite is obtained " from it. 



In the same tribute-procession, the two men leading a camelopard, from the features and com- 

 plexion examined by myself in the original painting at Thebes, seem (as suggested by Gliddon) to 

 belong to the Abyssinian Race of man. 



The same year (in or about the "four hundred and ninety-fifth ann. Abr. and seventh year of 

 Marathius king of Sicyon," Euseb. . . . ), the city of Corinth founded. 



December (= 1551 ■• 239ft — "4° years" of ten lunations, Gen. xxvi. 34), marriage of Esau 

 with Judith and Bashemath. 



Balsa?nodendron opobalsanmm of the African side of the entrance to the Red Sea. The balsam 

 tree is called in Yemen " abu scham," and its imported product seems connected with the name of 

 Bashemath ; — " bshm " is enumerated by Moses (ex. xxx. 23 to xxxv. 28) among ingredients for the 

 anointing oil, and to the days of Ezekiel xxvii. 22 continued to be imported by "merchants of Sheba 

 and Raamah : " the living tree (according to Josephus) was brought by the queen of Sheba to Pales- 

 tine • and seems mentioned in gardens there in Cant. iv. 16 to vi. 2 ; the " valsamon thfinthron " con- 

 tinued under cultivation in Palestine in the days of Theophrastus ix. 6, Diodorus, Dioscorides, Pliny, 

 Tacitus, Justin, Galen, Pausanias, Nicolaus of Laodicea, Beda loc. sanct., and Willebald, after whose 

 visit it disappeared from the country : two centuries later, trees were seen in Egypt by Ebn Samhun 

 in a garden at Ain-Schems near Cairo, and continued flourishing when visited by Abd-allatif, Maun- 



