branch is broken, a full pint of excellent water.

In

the most desert parts of America, there is a parasitical, or creeping plant, whose leaves are shaped into the form of a pitcher; these collect, and retain the rain, for the use of insects, birds, and beasts; and even men have been benefited by it. The plant is a kind of misseltoe, and is called tillandsia. The abundance of juicy and cooling fruits, which are produced in hot climates, are also evidently among the merciful provisions which God has appointed for their inhabitants.

And is not the banyan-tree, Papa, an article of the same description?

It is, this tree is a species of the fig, of the Polygynia class, having male, female, and both sexes in the same species; it is one of the most beautiful and wonderful productions of the east. This tree is constantly increasing, and seems never to decay. The branches throw out shoots from their tops, that grow till they reach the earth, in which they take root, and form other trees in succession, as long as they find

There is one in the

any soil for their sustenance. island of Herbedda, in the province of Guzerat, the remains of which,-for much has been carried away by high floods,-is two thousand feet in circumference.

The chief trunks of this tree, which amount to three hundred and fifty, are much larger than our elms and oaks; the smaller stems are more than three thou

sand. Seven thousand persons have found ample room to repose beneath its shade, which is impervious to the beams of the vertical sun.

What a tree it must be, Papa! How I should like to walk under it.

In so hot a climate it has, of course, always been a favourite. "The English gentlemen, on their hunting and shooting parties, used to form extensive encampments, and spend weeks together under this delightful pavilion, which is generally filled with green wood-pigeons, doves, peacocks, and a variety of feathered songsters; together with families of monkeys, and bats of a large size. This tree not only affords shelter, but food for all its inhabitants, being covered amidst its bright foliage with small figs of a rich scarlet, on which they all regale with delight!"

Our sublime poet, Milton, has beautifully described this tree, as

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 over arch'd, and echoing walks between ;
There oft, the Indian herdsman, shunning heat,
Shelters in cool, and tends his pasturing herds,
At loop-holes cut thro' thickest shades."

This is a surprising tree; we have not any such in England. But will you mention some more remarkable things?

Why, Edward, they are common around us; if we but think, and examine, we shall find them everywhere. Yes, but I cannot find them so quickly as you do, Papa?

The porpoise you saw, when you sailed down the

D

river, leaping out of the water, was a remarkable object. That fish has an apparatus by which he can take in a quantity of water in an instant, when it wishes to sink; and it can throw it out and fill the cavity with air, when it would rise, or float on the surface of the stream. How wonderful! All the laws of hydrostatics, and more than all the laws with which we are acquainted, must have been known to its Creator.

It is remarkable, that most insects lay their eggs in places where their young may find nourishment as soon as they are hatched. As I have shown you, when the fly pierces the leaf of an oak, and cements its egg on the puncture, a gall-nut rises out of the wound, furnishing the young fly both with food and a secure dwelling-place.

It is remarkable, that birds and beasts of prey are but few in number, whilst the useful animals are innumerable. A hawk seldom lays more than two eggs, but the hen produces a great many.

It is remarkable, that birds do not make their nests in any place, and at random; they evidently study to