ACACIA. 
151 
ACACIA. 
FRIENDSHIP. 
The Acacia is a Native of Nortli America, 
from Canada to Carolina, and it has been con¬ 
secrated by the Indians to the genius of chaste 
love. Their hows are made of the incorruptible 
wood of this tree, and their arrows are pointed 
with its thorns. Those wild sons of the desert 
are susceptible of an attachment fraught with 
delicacy: they may perhaps be unable to give 
utterance to it in words, hut they find means to 
express it in a branch of Acacia when in blossom. 
The Indian girl, like the city coquette, under¬ 
stands this flattering language, and receives, 
with a blush, the homage of him who has won 
her heart by his respect and love. 
It is not much more than a century since 
this ornamental tree was introduced into the 
gardens of France from American seeds by 
Robin, the botanist, after whom this family was 
named Robinia. It is a large, handsome tree, of 
