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JOURNAL E. A. S. (CEYLON). 



[Vol. III. 



has been compared with the common Privet, and those who 

 recollect the privet fences so common in England, will see 

 the resemblance. I never saw it growing out of the gardens 

 in this part of the Island, but I am aware it is indigenous 

 to the Northern end, Avhere I have seen it grow in rich 

 profusion for miles along the shores of the salt lake called 

 Kajlaveli in the Peninsula of Jaffna, and for my own part 

 I consider it one of the most pleasantly fragrant plants we 

 possess. 



It has been proved that the nails of the Mummies, which 

 may have lain for thousands of years, were stained of an iron 

 rust colour from a dye made from the leaves of the henna, 

 and the same practice prevails in Ceylon, and other Oriental 

 countries to this day. The plant is found commonly from 

 Morocco, through Palestine, Egypt, Arabia, Persia, and India, 

 on to the Malay Peninsula, and the Islands of the Indian 

 Archipelago, and is used as a dye by the people of all these 

 countries, in one form or another. 



It is most likely that in Egypt the parctice of dyeing the 

 eye-brows, nails of the hands, and the soles of the feet, with 

 a preparation of henna, has been very generally practised for 

 the last two or three thousand years. The Persians and 

 Arabs dye the manes and tails of their horses with it, and 

 here we may see several of the Malays and Moormen whose 

 nails and eye-brows have similarly dyed. 



Fig. 



This is the first tree specially named in the Bible, where 

 our parents are described as sewing fig leaves together, to 

 make themselves aprons. (Gen. iii. 7.) The Fig tree is enu- 

 merated (Deut. viii. 8,) as one of the valuable products of 

 Palestine, a land of Wheat and Barley, and Vines, and Fig 

 trees, and Pomegranates. The spies who were sent from the 

 Wilderness of Paran brought back from the brook of Eschol 

 clusters of Grapes, Pomegranates, and Figs. The Fig tree is 



