PLANE. 1 1 7 



of those noble trees about it, the plague has 

 not come nigh their dwellings." The Turks 

 in Constantinople seem to enjoy no greater 

 luxury than that of reclining under the um- 

 brageous boughs of these majestic trees, and 

 smoking their tobacco in a state of perfect in- 

 difference to all sublunary things. 



From accounts which we have lately receiv- 

 ed from the Sublime Porte, we conclude that 

 no part of Europe can boast of such gigantic 

 trees as the planes which are to be found in 

 that neighbourhood. Lady Craven also speaks 

 of some which she saw in the Turkish domi- 

 nions, of such magnitude, that the largest 

 trees we have in England, placed near them, 

 would appear only like broomsticks. 



It is to be regretted that no just calculation 

 can be formed as to the age of these cele- 

 brated trees, which are only second in dignity 

 and durability to the cedars of Lebanon. The 

 Turks, who lop off heads with as much indif- 

 ference as our gardeners cut their cabbages, 

 preserve these trees with a religious tender- 

 ness. 



Pausanias, a celebrated historian, who flou- 

 rished about the middle of the second cen- 

 tury, tells us of a plane-tree of extraordinary 

 size and beauty in Arcadia, supposed to have 

 been planted by Menelaus, the husband of 



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