ORDEAL TREE, 
463 
excess of modesty, she veils her chief beauties from the vulgar gaze, 
and reveals them to those true lovers alone who are strictly wedded to 
her service and her study. Perhaps a higher tribute to their beauty 
was never paid than that which springs from the detail Mungo Park 
has given of the consolation and encouragement he received, in a period 
of great difficulty and danger, from the contemplation of the inimitable 
structure of one of those lowly mosses. As an illustration of the whole¬ 
some effect of the study of the works of nature on a well-regulated 
mind, the passage, though often quoted, cannot be deemed unworthy of 
repetition. This enterprising traveller, during one of his journeys into 
the interior of Africa, was cruelly stripped and robbed of all that he 
possessed by banditti. f In this forlorn and all but hopeless condition,’ 
he says, when the robbers had left him, f I sat for some time looking 
round me with amazement and terror. Whichever way I turned, 
nothing appeared but danger and difficulty. I found myself in the 
midst of a vast wilderness, in the depth of the rainy season, naked and 
alone, surrounded by savage animals, and men still more savage. I was 
live hundred miles from any European settlement. All these circum¬ 
stances crowded at once upon my recollection, and I confess my spirits 
began to fail me. I considered my fate as certain, and that I had no 
alternative but to lie down and perish. The influence of religion, how¬ 
ever, supported me, I reflected that no human prudence or foresight 
could possibly have averted my present sufferings. I was indeed a 
stranger in a strange land, yet I was still under the protecting eye of 
that Providence who has condescended to call himself the stranger’s 
friend. At this moment, painful as my reflections were, the extra¬ 
ordinary beauty of a small moss irresistibly caught my eye, (I mention 
this to show from what trifling circumstances the mind will sometimes 
derive consolation,) and, although the plant was not larger than the top 
of one of my fingers, I could not contemplate the delicate conformation 
of its roots, leaves, and fruit, without admiration. Can that Being 
(thought I) who planted, watered, and brought to perfection, in this 
obscure part of the vmrld, a thing which appears of so small import¬ 
ance, look with unconcern upon the situation and sufferings of creatures 
formed after his own image ? Surely not. Reflections like these would 
not allow me to despair. I started up, and, disregarding both hunger 
and fatigue, travelled forwards, being assured relief was at hand, and 
was not disappointed.’ Bur . Bot. 
Ordeal Tree _-This is an African tree, and in its habit and mode 
of flowering is allied to the Mimosas. It was first known to botanists 
as the Afzelia grandis , but it is now the Erytlirophleum quincensis of 
