“Amid the great number of curiousphenomena which have presentedthemselves to me in the course of mytravels, I confess there are few thathave so powerfully affected my imag-ination as the aspect of the Cow tree.Whatever relates to milk, whateverregards corn, inspires an interest,which is not merely that of the physi-cal knowledge of things, but is con-nected with another order of ideas andsentiments. We can scarcely con-ceive how the human race could ex-ist without farinaceous substances,and without that nourishing juicewhich the breast of the mother con-tains, and which is appropriated to thelong feebleness of the infant. Theamylaceous matter of corn, the objectof religious veneration among so manynations, ancient and modern, is diffus-ed in the seeds, and deposited in theroots of vegetables; milk, whichserves us as an aliment, appears tous exclusively the produce of animalorganization. Such are the impres-sions we have received in our earliestinfancy; such is also the source ofthat astonishment which seizes us atthe aspect of the tree just described.It is not here the solemn shades offorests, the majestic course of rivers,the mountains wrapped in eternalfrost, that excite our emotion. Afew drops of vegetable juice recall toour minds all the powerfulness andfecundity of nature. On the barrenflank of rock grows a tree with coria-ceous and dry leaves. Its large woodyroots can scarcely penetrate into thestone. For several months of the yearnot a single shower moistens its foliage.Its branches appear dead and dried;but when its trunk is pierced, thereflows from it a sweet and nourishingmilk. It is at the rising of the sunthat this vegetable fountain is mostabundant.—The Blacks and nativesare then seen hastening from all quar-ters, furnished with large bowls toreceive the milk which grows yellow,and thickens at its surface. Someempty their bowls under the tree it-self, others carry the juice home totheir children. We seem to see thefamily of a shepherd, who distributesthe milk to his flock.