ct on
some parts of the sea-shore between Colombo and Point-de-Galle.]

Where the sand in the lagoons and estuaries is more or less mingled with
the alluvium brought down by the rivers, there are plants of another
class which are equally characteristic. Amongst these the Mangroves[1]
take the first place in respect to their mass of vegetation; then follow
the Belli-patta[2] and Suriya-gaha[3], with their large hibiscus-like
flowers; the Tamarisks[4]; the Acanthus[5], with its beautiful blue
petals and holly-like leaves; the Water Coco-nut[6]; the AEgiceras and
Hernandia[7], with its sonorous fruits; while the dry sands above are
taken possession of by the Acacias, _Salvadora Persica_ (the true
mustard-tree of Scripture[8], which, here attains a height of forty
feet), Ixoras, and the numerous family of Cassias.

[Footnote 1: Two species of _Rhizophora_, two of _Bruguiera_, and one of
_Ceriops_.]

[Footnote 2: Paritimn tilliaceum.]

[Footnote 3: Thespesia populnea.]

[Footnote 4: Tamarix Indica.]

[Footnote 5: Dilivaria ilicifolia.]

[Footnote 6: Nipa fruticans.]

[Footnote 7: Hernandia sonora.]

[Footnote 8: The identification of this tree with the mustard-tree
alluded to by our Saviour is an interesting fact. The Greek term [Greek:
sinapis], which occurs Matt. xiii 31, and elsewhere, is the name given
to _mustard_; for which the Arabic equivalent is _chardul_ or _khardal_,
and the Syriac _khardalo_. The same name is applied at the present day
to a tree which grows freely in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, and
generally throughout Palestine; the seeds of which, have an aromatic
pungency, which enables them to be used instead of the ordinary mustard
(_Sinapis nigra_); besides which, its structure presents all the
essentials to sustain the illustration sought to be established in the
parable, some of which are wanting or dubious in the common plant, It
has a very small seed; it may be sown in a garden: it grows into an
"herb," and eventually "becometh a tree; so that the birds of the air
come and lodge in the branches thereof." With every allowance for the
extremest development attainable by culture, it must be felt that the
dimensions of the domestic _sinapis_ scarcely justify the last
illustration; besides which it is an annual, and cannot possibly be
classed as a "tree." The khardal grows abundantly in Syria: it was found
in Egypt by Sir Gardner Wilkinson; in Arabia by Bove; on the Indus by
Sir Alexander Bur