THE STRAWBERRY-TREE. 



193 



found of so large a size, or in such rich luxu- 

 riance, as at Killarney. The extreme western 

 position, the mild and humid atmosphere (for 

 in Ireland there is fact as well as fancy in the 

 poet's image — 



Thy suns with doubtful gleam 

 Weep while they rise "), 



and the rarity of frosts, contribute to its propa- 

 gation, and nurture it to an enormous growth, 

 far surpassing that which it attains in any part 

 of Great Britain ; although, even at Killarney, 

 it is never of so great a size as it is found 

 clothing the sides of Mount Athos. In Dinis 

 Island there is a tree, the stem of which is seven 

 feet in circumference, and its height is in pro- 

 portion, being equal to that of an Ash-tree of 

 the same girth which stands near it. There are 

 several others nearly as large, and we believe 

 one or two still larger. Alone, its character is 

 not picturesque: the branches are bare, long, 

 gnarled and crooked, presenting in its wild state 

 a remarkable contrast to its trim-formed and 

 bush-like figure in our cultivated gardens. Min- 

 gled with other trees, however, it is exceedingly 

 beautiful ; its bright green leaves happily mixing 

 with the light or dark drapery of its neighbours 

 — the Elm and the Ash, or the Holly and the 

 Yew, with which it is almost invariably inter- 

 mixed. It strikes its roots apparently into the 

 very rocks — thus j&Uing up spaces that would 

 otherwise be barren spots in the scenery. Its 

 beautiful berries, when arrived at maturity, are 

 no doubt conveyed by the birds who feed upon 

 them to the heights of inaccessible mountains, 

 II. o 



