260 



THE WILLOW. 



is the genuine appearance of Egypt whilst it 

 is overflown. Therefore the Egyptian plants, 

 which consist chiefly of evergreen trees, are in no 

 want of water.""* 



In Babylonia Willows were so abundant that 

 Bochart says of the channels of the Euphrates, 



The banks were so thickly lined with Willows, 

 that Babylonia was called from them ^ the Valley 

 of Willows.'" Burckhardt also mentions a foun- 

 tain in Syria, called Ain Saffaf, or, the Willow 

 Fountain. 



The trees on which the captives of Israel hung 

 their harps belonged, there can be little doubt, 

 to the species which botanists have named Salix 

 Babylonica, or Weeping Willow, which grows on 

 the banks of the Euphrates, and in other parts of 

 Asia, and also in the North of Africa. In China 

 it is a very favourite tree, as appears from its 

 frequent occurrence in drawings of Chinese orna- 

 mental scenery. Throughout the same country, 

 as well as Turkey and Algiers, it is said by Lou- 

 don to be commonly planted in cemeteries, sug- 

 gesting, with its drooping branches, the idea of 

 grief for the departed. 



Gilpin considers the Weeping Willow to be a 

 very picturesque tree. It is a perfect contrast 

 to the Lombardy poplar. The light airy spray of 

 the poplar rises perpendicularly ; that of the 

 Weeping Willow is pendent : the shape of its 

 leaf is conformable to the pensile character of 

 the tree, and its spray, which is still lighter than 

 that of the poplar, is more easily put into motion 

 by a breath of air. The Weeping Willow, how- 

 ever, is not adapted to sublime subjects. We 



* Hasselquist, " Letters from the Levant," p. 453. 



