nother pellet
is treated in the same way. Soon the opium-smoker falls into a trance
full of dreams and beautiful visions. He forgets himself, his cares and
his surroundings, and enjoys perfect bliss. He then sleeps soundly, but
when he awakes the reality seems more gloomy and dreary than ever, and
he suffers from excruciating headache. All he cares for is the opium
pipe. Men who fall a victim to this vice are lost; they can only be
cured when confined in homes. In Persia opium is usually smoked in
secret dens, for there the habit is considered shameful, but in China
both men and women smoke openly.

The sugar-cane is also grown over immense fields in India. The juice
contains 20 per cent of sugar. In Sanscrit, the old language of India,
it is called _sakhara_. The Arabs, who introduced it to the
Mediterranean coasts, called it _sukhar_. And thus it is called, with
slight modifications, in all the languages of Europe and many of those
of Asia.

We must also not forget the countless palms which wave their crowns in
the tepid winds of the monsoons. There are the date palms, the coconut
palms, the sago palm, and a multitude of others. The sago palm, from the
pith of which sago grains are prepared, is a remarkable plant. It
flowers only once and then dies. This occurs at an age of twenty years
at most.

The soil of India supports many kinds of useful trees--sandalwood, which
is employed in the construction of the finer kinds of furniture; ebony,
with its dark wood; the teak-tree, which grows to a height of 130 feet,
and forms immense forests in both the Indian peninsulas and in the Sunda
Islands. It is hard and strong, like oak, and nails do not rust in it.
It is therefore used in shipbuilding, and also frequently in the inside
of modern warships. The sleeping and refreshment carriages of railway
trains are usually built of teak.

Lastly, there is the blue vegetable substance called indigo, which is
obtained from small bushes or plants by a simple process of
fermentation. It is mostly used to dye clothing, and has been known in
Europe since the Indian campaign of Alexander.

WILD ELEPHANTS

The home of the wild elephant is the forests of India, the Malay
Peninsula, Ceylon, Sumatra, and Borneo, while another species is found
in Africa. They live in herds of thirty or forty, and every herd forms a
separate community. The leader of the herd is a full-grown bull with
large, strong tusks, whom all the others obey with t