100 FIRST FORMS OF VEGETATION. 
“Tree of Ten Thousand Images,” found by them 
near the town of Koumboum in Thibet. For the 
sake of those who may not have access to the 
original work, I shall quote the description entire. 
“At the foot of the mountain on which the 
Lamasery stands, and not far from the principal 
Buddhist temple, is a great square enclosure, 
formed by brick walls. Upon entering this, we 
were able to examine at leisure this marvellous 
tree, some of the branches of which had already 
manifested themselves above the wall. Our eyes 
were first directed with earnest curiosity to the 
leaves, and we were filled with an absolute .con- 
sternation of astonishment at finding that in point 
of fact, there were upon each of the leaves well 
formed Thibetian characters, all of a green colour, 
some darker, some lighter than the tree itself. 
Our first impression was a suspicion of fraud on the 
part of the Lamas; but after a minute examina- 
tion of every detail, we could not discover the 
least deception. The characters all appeared to 
us portions of the leaf itself, equally with its veins 
and nerves; the position was not the same in 
all; in one leaf they would be at the top, in 
another in the middle, in a third at the base or 
at the side; the younger leaves represented the 
characters only in a partial state of formation. The 
bark of the tree, and its branches—which resemble 
