No. 11.— 1858-9.] SCRIPTURE BOTANY OF CEYLON. 323 



cut down a coconut or palniirah tree, and he will say (except when 

 in want, or to oblige a great person) ' What ! destroy that which 

 gives me food ? from which I have thatch for my house to defend 

 me from the sun and the rain ; which gives me oil for my lamp, 

 a ladle for my kitchen, and charcoal for my fire ; from which I 

 have sugar for my board, baskets for my fruits, a bucket for my 

 well, a mat for my bed, a pouch for my betel leaf, leaves for my 

 books, a fence for my yard and a broom for my house ? Destroy such 

 a tree ! Go to some needy wretch who has pledged his last jewel, 

 and who is anxious to eat his last meal?'' 



I can imagine how refreshing it must have been for the 

 children of Israel to have found so many Palm trees at Elim 

 and elsewhere in their wanderings, and appreciate the various 

 allusions to this useful tree in a country, many parts of which 

 have a most barren aspect ; but for my own part, I confess 

 that the Date trees I saw growing in Egypt did not convey 

 to mind any great idea of elegance or beauty. 



Passing from Cairo to Suez, and down the Red Sea, in 

 sight of Arabia and Africa, the scenes of the wanderings of 

 the Israelites, there is scarcely any vegetation to be seen ; 

 and the few specimens I picked up in the Desert of Sahara 

 were leafless wiry looking plants. 



Camphire. 



©tfe^aS Maritondi (Tamil and Sin.) (Lawsonia cdba.L&m.) 

 Camphire (Kopher or Copher) occurs twice in the Bible, — 



u My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the 

 vineyards of Engecli." (Song of Sol. iv. 14.) 



" Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant 

 fruits, camphire with spikenard." (Ibid. iv. 13.) 



Most writers agree that this refers to the henna plant so 

 common in our gardens here. There is no Sinhalese name 

 for the plant, but they have adopted the Tamil one, mari- 

 tondi \ by some it is called " the Country Mignonette." It 



