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them decayed and shattered from age, are all that are 
now left of the boasted forests that formerly crowned that 
ancient mountain. These poor remains, however, had so 
much sanctitude attached to them, that a festival, called 
the Feast of Cedars, was celebrated annually on tbe 
day of Transfiguration beneath their shade. But of late 
years this veneration appears to have yielded to the love 
of lucre, as Carne states, in 1825, that these poor rem¬ 
nants had “in a great measure disappeared, to make way 
for innumerable plantations of vines:” thus now most 
truly 
“ Lebanon bis ruined honour mourns.” 
A s there is but one other true species of this genus 
(Pinus deodara), we must not pass it altogether without 
notice; the more so, because it is very closely allied, 
both in appearance and in general properties, to its 
more celebrated rival. In durability it is said even to 
excel it; its timber is exceedingly compact, and abounds 
in aromatic resin, which fits it for the very great elevation 
at which it is found to grow; it can, indeed, bear greater 
variation of temperature than either the spruces oi 
pines, for it is seen both higher and lower on the Hima¬ 
laya than they. Its numerous beneficial and ornamental 
qualities give it the same sacred character, in the eyes of 
o 8 
