The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1878-05-16
VEGETABLE DEVIL.
The Nominating Tree or SIndagnsonr.

Ths Wnh'r"'ihE iirc '"
The following description Of this sin
gular tree, found in the island OF MAZDA
, yascar, was originally published III The
! lat GIRAFFE and WaIther's Magazine o
: C,r.ruhe, together with six notes up0I
, IL. by Dr. Omelius FredlOwski, 10 whom
the letter by Carl Leche, the discoverer
from which the following IL extracted
WAS addressed "The Mkados are a very
primitive race, going entirely naked
taving only faint yestiges of tribal rela'
tions, and no religion beyond that of the
Az ful reverence which they pay to the
sao ed tree. They dwell entirely In
caves followed out OF the limestone
rocks in their hills, and are one Of the
smalle 1t Of races, the men seldom ex
ceedinh ffty-six inches in height. Al
tho bott I'm OF a valley II had no baron
eter, but should not think it more than
400 feet above the sea, and near It's east
ern extrem. ity), we came TO a deep, tarn'
like lake, alb )ut a mile in diameter, the
slVogish WAY ers Of which overlooked
into a tortuou.' reedy canal that went
unwiuingIy inio the recess OF a black
forest, jungle below, palm above. A
nath diyerging tom its southern side
! struck boldly for the heart Of the for
hiddinp and seem. ingly impenctrablc
Gn,..t. Henrick led the way alonp the
hath. / followed closeI, and behind me
a curious rabble Of Mka.'os men, women
and children. Sbddenly all the NATIVES
hegan 10 cry "Tepe! Tcpe !" and Hen,
rick stopping short, said, "LookF Inc
aIuryish, canal-like stream here wound
,%I"wIy by, and in 4 bare spot in its bend
yoo the most singular OF trees. | have
aoIlod il the crinoda, because when its
Iosyes are in action it bears a striking
,ost mblsnce 10 that well known fossil, the
nrinoid HjyFone of St. Cuthbert's beads,
~ i, nav at rest, however. ] will try To
ILo.cribe il to you. If you can imagine q
ineappIe eight feet high, and thick in
y. ,rtion, resting upon its base, ahc
propv. leaves, you will have a good
dcnuded y. Junk Of the tree, which
idea of tho u. the color Of the
however, was nov ~ brown, anc
banana, but n dark, dips From
apparently hard rs iron. IoasI
the apex Of this truncated cone lat -.
two feet in diameter) eight leaves hung
sheer to the ground, like doors swung
back on their hinges. These leaves, which
were joined at the top Of the tree at reg
uIar intervals, we're about eleven or
twelve feet long. and shaped very much
like the American agave, or century
plant. They were two leet through in
their thickest part, and three feet Wild,
tapering to n sharp point that looked
like Il cows horn, very convex on the
outer (but now under) surface, and on
the inner (n0w upper surface slightly
concave. This cOnCaye face was thiCkly
set with very strong, thOrny hooks, like
those upon the head of the teazle. These
leaves, hanging thus limp and ~litelesa,
dead green in color, had in appearance
the massive strength Of the oak fiber. The
apex OF the cone was a round, white con
cave figure, like a smaller plate ret within
Il larger one. This was not n flower, but
Il receptacle, and there exuded into it
a clear treacle liquid, honey.sweet,
| and possessed of violent intoxicating
and sopOriic properties. From under.
meath the rim, go to speak, OF the under
most plate, a series OF long, hairy, green
terdril. stretched ia every direction
toward the horizon. These were seven
or ,ipht feet long each, and tapored from
four inches to a half in diameter, vet
they stretched out stiflly as iron rods.
Above these (from between the under
and upper cup) six white, almost trans.
%parept, palri reared themselye toward
Il -
marvellous incessant motion. yet CON
stantly reaching upward. Thin as reeds
and fIajI AZ ouilIs a%pparently, they were
vet five or six feet tail. and were 10 con
s~tantlv and vigorously in motion, with
such Il sinuous, silent throbbing, throb
bling against the nj, that they made me
shudder in spite of myself with their
suggestion of serpents iayed, vet dancing
on their tails. The description am
giving you now is partly made up from
a sub,eouent CAREFUL inspection OF the
plant.
Nv oboarv,t;,u, -, ,hio aoo,s;op voro
s,djanlr ;rtorrrntod bu Tho n|atiuaa VIVA
had hoo, shr;eLinn oyomnd thn treo in
,ho;r nm yoicea and ch.nt;nn wbat
Uanr;cl1 toId mo ware nrn,itiatory hymns
tatba mreot doriI t,oo Win s,;;I w;IJor
'Ls; o"J ,Lonta thou ,rra"n,ioJ ana
81 ,Ln w"man anJ mtSoJ hor 9TH tho
oa;to W "eot ,hai,, ;%auo,;ns nntii slowIr onJ
pn;,h Joa,airinr Saoa nha oI;mh,dm y, tha
a %aIh "" "Sc,h o ,ne nnd otnodnn ,bo nj,
o or'S' oa NV V ,So "aTni tm;rIinn W." all ahnn,
" U'' IN IN - pa'f,"1 '"TInnS pW
ntr' inA ! 'sh lu'nn u'ia
cf'eu VIC me az; ~ =, ''b"Pn,s' snG u'"nA
" .n1 'asu,n "u muh :" w .nd Guy, .,'i in hn.
s'a"''y ag"lh WIN WIN 'ienNy III hel
,acT' "pn oohS"n?To o"o.o'a ~ "el
li"no' nus sue u.u nov jump 1V"n as
Sme seeiitu W ih..pu W 10 En, ho'
u aIrncious caln,oal 'la' PAU oten 30