Year: 1859

[From Ellis 'sA1adagascar,' book of Travels re-
Gently published by Harper & Brothels.]
The Travellers Tree is altogether one of
the most remarkable that has been discover
| ed in Madagascar and the extent to which
it prevails may be inferred from the native
name, ravinala, by which it was designated,
by Sonnerat, its discoverer. Ravinala is
literally leaf of the forest, as if it was the
leaf by which the forest was characterized.
which is the fact where it abounds, though
in many parts it is not met with at all
The tree rises from the ground with thick
1succulent stem like that of the plantain, or
the larger species of stelitzia, to both of
which it bears a strong resemblance It
sends out from the centre Of the stem long,
broad leaves, like that Of the plantain, only
less fragile, and raising, not around the
stalk but in two lines on opposite sides, SO
that as the leaves increase, and the lower
Il
tally, the trees present the appearance Of a
large open fam When the stem rises ten
or twelve t:ct high, the lower part of the
outer covering becomes hard and dry, like
the bark OF the cocoanut tree. Many of the





from the ground to the lowest leaves. |
frequently counted twenty four leaves on a
single tree, the stalk of each leaf being six
or eight feet long. and the broad leaf itself
four or six feet more


The whole Of these twenty-four bright
green, gigantic leaves, spread out like fan
at the top of trunk thirty feet high, pre-
sented a spectacle as impressive, as it was
to me rare and beautiful and in this part
of the country they were the most cnspicu
Gus objects for miles together and were it
not that the vast bright, green, shining
leaves are slit on each side by the winds,
and so flutter in smaller portions with the
passing breeze, the prevalence of this would
impart degree Of almost inconcevablc
magnifcencc to the vegetation of the coun-
try.


In the fan-like head of the travellers tree
there were generally three or four branches
of seed pods. The parts of fructifcation
seemed to be inclosed in tough firm spathe,
like those of the cocoanut; but the subse-
quent development was more like that of
the fruit of the plantain. When the pods,
or seed vessels of which there were forty or
fifty on each bunch, were ripe they burst o.
pen, and each pod was seen to enclose thir-
ty or more seeds, in shape like a small bean.
but enveloped in fine silky fibre of the
most brilliant blue OR purple color. But
this tree has been most celebrated for con-
tanning, even during the most arid season,
a large quantity of pure. fresh water, sup
plying to the traveller the place of wells in
the desert. Whenever [ enquired of the
natives, they always affirmed that such was
the fact, and that so abundant and pure was
the water, that when the men were at work
near the trees. they did not take the trouble
to 90. to the stream for water, but drew off
and drank the water from the tree. Hav-
ing formerly been somewhat skeptical on
this point, determined to examine some of
the trees; and, during my journey this
morning, we stopped near a clump of the
trees. One of my bearers struck a spear
four or five inches deep in to the thick, firm
end of the stalk of the leaf, about six inches
above the junction of the trunk, and on
drawing it back, stream of pure, clear wa
ter gushed out, about quart of which we
caught in pitcher, and drank it on the
spot. 1t was COOL clear and perfectly
sweet On further examination [ found
that there was no filtration of the water
through any part of the plant, as had been
led to suppose when [ had seen water drawn
by Sir William Hooker from one of the spe-
cimens in palm house at Kew There
was kind of natural cavity, or cistern, at
the base of the stalk of each of the leaves,
above its union with the stem, and the wa