154 
LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS. 
cocoa-nut is exclusively confined to the coast, hut the 
palmyra is frequently found in districts at a long 
distance from the sea. 
This palm is sometimes embraced by an extraordi- 
nary creeper which encloses it like a coat of mail. 
“ I observed/’ says Lieutenant P. W. H. Hardy, in 
his Travels in the interior of Mexico, “ a curious 
creeper entwining itself round the stems of the palm 
trees. In some instances its folds have a striking resem- 
blance to a print I have seen in f Paradise Lost,’ where 
the serpent is made to enfold the tree of the forbidden 
fruit. Round some also it appears to have been arti- 
ficially plaited ; in others again the stem of the palm 
is completely hidden, its head inclined downwards, 
while the creeper itself seems to assume the solidity 
of a tree. If there be sympathy in plants, surely it is 
seen in these : — the palm tree in its youth supported 
the infant creeper ; whilst the latter in its maturity, as 
if in gratitude for former benefits, maintains within its 
embrace the declining powers of the palm, and pro- 
tects its decaying trunk from the effects of age and 
the violence of the storm.” These palms are among 
the most beautiful vegetable productions of the East. 
