416 



THE CEDAR OF LEBANON. 



ance ill corresponds with the character given 

 of them in Scripture. There was not one of 

 them at all remarkable for its dimensions or 

 beauty; the largest among them is formed by 

 the junction of four or five trunks into one 

 tree. Numerous names carved on the trunk 

 of the larger trees^ some with dates as far back 

 as 1640, record the visits of individuals to this 

 interesting spot, which is nearly surrounded by 

 the barren chain of Lebanon, in the form of an 

 amphitheatre of about thirty miles circuit, the 

 opening being towards the sea.""* 



" These trees are the most renowned natural 

 monuments in the universe ; religion, poetry, and 

 history, have all equally celebrated them. The 

 Arabs of all sects entertain a traditional venera- 

 tion for these trees. They attribute to them, 

 not only a vegetative power, which enables them 

 to live eternally, but also an intelligence, which 

 causes them to manifest signs of wisdom and 

 foresight, similar to those of instinct and reason 

 in man. They are said to understand the changes 

 of seasons ; they stir their vast branches as if they 

 were limbs; they spread out or contract their 

 boughs, inclining them towards heaven or towards 

 earth, according as the snow prepares to fall or 

 melt. These trees diminish in every succeeding 

 age. Travellers formerly counted thirty or forty ; 

 more recently, seventeen ; more recently still, 

 only twelve. There are now but seven.f These, 

 however, from their size and general appearance, 

 may be fairly presumed to have existed in biblical 



* Irby and Mangles. 



t Warburton maintains that there are still twelve of the very largest 

 trees, and about a thousand of all ages. 



