Curiosities and wonders of the vegetable kingdom

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Page 21 - In the corrupted currents of this world Offence's gilded hand may shove by justice, And oft 'tis seen the wicked prize itself Buys out the law...
Page 138 - The fig-tree, not that kind for fruit renown'd, But such as, at this day, to Indians known; In Malabar or Decan spreads her arms, Branching so broad and long, that in the ground The bended twigs take root, and daughters grow About the mother tree, a pillar'd shade, High overarch'd, and echoing walks between : There oft the Indian herdsman, shunning heat, Shelters in cool, and tends his pasturing herds At loop-holes cut through thickest shade...
Page 94 - With transport touches all the springs of life. Nature, attend ! join every living soul Beneath the spacious temple of the sky, In adoration join ; and ardent raise One general song! To Him, ye vocal gales, Breathe soft, whose spirit in your freshness breathes. Oh, talk of Him in solitary glooms, Where o'er the rock the scarcely waving pine Fills the brown shade with a religious awe.
Page 61 - Banjoowangee for cultivation, it is with much difficulty the inhabitants can be made to approach the tree, as they dread the cutaneous eruption which it is known to produce when newly cut down. But except when the tree is largely wounded, or when it is felled, by which a large portion of the juice is disengaged, the effluvia of which mixing with the atmosphere, affects the persons exposed to it with the symptoms just mentioned, the tree may be approached and ascended like the other common trees in...
Page 54 - O'er ten square leagues his far-diverging heads; Or in one trunk entwists his tangled form, Looks o'er the clouds, and hisses in the storm. Steep'd in fell poison, as his sharp teeth part, A thousand tongues in quick vibration dart; Snatch the proud Eagle towering o'er the heath, Or pounce the Lion, as he stalks beneath; Or strew...
Page 64 - ... are likewise added. These he commonly has in store, for when he kills a snake he generally extracts the fangs and keeps them by him. Having thus found the necessary ingredients, he scrapes the wourali vine and bitter root into thin shavings and puts them into a kind of colander made of leaves. This he holds over an earthen pot, and pours water on the shavings: the liquor which comes through has the appearance of coffee. When a sufficient quantity has been procured the shavings are thrown aside....
Page 41 - ... at which he aims. On some occasions, no ordinary stratagem is necessary to be resorted to by the huntsman to prevent others from availing themselves of the advantage of his discoveries ; for, if his steps be traced by those who may be engaged in the same pursuit, which is a very common thing, all his ingenuity must be exerted to beguile them from the true track.
Page 128 - The base of the inner leaves of the grass tree (Xanthorrhce^a arborea) is not to be despised by the hungry. The aborigines beat off the heads of these singular plants by striking them about the top of the trunk with a large stick; they then strip off the outer leaves and cut away the inner ones, leaving about an inch and a half of the white tender portion joining the trunk; this portion they eat raw or roasted ; and it is far from disagreeable in flavour, having a nutty taste, slightly balsamic.
Page 40 - Each gang of slaves has one belonging to it, who is styled the huntsman. He is generally selected from the most intelligent of his fellows, and his chief occupation is to search the woods, or as in this country it is termed, the bush, to find labour for the whole.
Page 177 - ... more), I soon detached it and removed it to our hut. To tell you the truth, had I been alone, and had there been no witnesses, I should I think have been fearful of mentioning the dimensions of this flower, so much does it exceed every flower I have ever seen or heard of; but I had Sir Stamford and Lady Raffles with me, and a Mr.

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