ARBUTUS. 



17 



Franklin, in liis Joumey to the Shores of the Polar 

 Sea, speaks of the Ai'butus alpma, of which, he says, 

 the fruit was ripe and plenty ; the natives gave it the 

 name of magpie-berry ; and the traveller and his com- 

 panions made a supper of it*. 



Barthelemv speaks of the height of these trees in 

 ascending Momit Ida: — Nous etions irapp6s de la 

 grosseur des c^-pres, de la hautem^ des Arbousiers et des 

 Andrachnes-h.'' 



" We were struck with the size of the cypress, and 

 the height of the Arbutus and Andi^achne trees." 



Mrs. Barbauld speaks of tliis tree as an inhabitant of 

 Corsica : 



Thy swelling mountains,, brown with solemn shade 



Of various trees, that wave their giant arms 



O'er the rough sons of freedom j lofty pines. 



And hardy fir, and ilex ever green. 



And spreading chestnut, with each humbler plant 



And shrub of fragrant leaf, that clothes their sides 



With living verdure ; whence the clustering bee 



Extracts her golden dews : the shining box. 



And sweet-leaved myrtle, aromatic thyme, 



The prickly juniper, and the green leaf 



Which feeds the spinning- worm ; while glowing bright 



Beneath the various foliage, wildly spreads 



The arbutus, and rears his scarlet fruit 



Luxuriant, mantling o'er the craggy steeps : 



And thy own native laurel crowns the scene." 



Mrs. Barbauld's Corsica, "\rritten in 1769. 



According to Barthelemv, verv extraordinary powers 



* Pages 380—394. 



t Travels of Anacharsis the Younger, vol. \i. p. 298. 



c 



