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In the book of which I have spoken there was a picture given of the Oritava tree. It was but a rude affair a common woodcut but for all that it gave a very good idea of the aspect of the great vegetable; and I well remember every leaf and branch of it so well that, when I afterwards saw the tree itself, I recognised it at once.
Among the small collection of my boy books there had been one that treated of the "Wonders of Nature." It had been my favourite, and I had read it through and through and over and over again a dozen times, I am sure. Among these "wonders" figured a remarkable tree, which was said to grow in the Canary Islands, and was know as the "dragon-tree of Oritava."
I was convinced that the venerable vegetable before us was no palm, but a true dragon-tree; perhaps as old as that of Oritava. I communicated my convictions to Ben, who still persisted in calling the tree a palm. How should I know what sort of a tree it was, since I had never seen one before? I told Ben of the book and the picture but he was still incredulous.
Hence the great traveller infers that it must be one of the oldest trees in the world perhaps as old as the earth itself! Now all this account except the last part of it which of course is only a philosophic conjecture I believe to be true, for I have myself visited the Canaries and looked upon this vegetable wonder, which is still standing near the town of Oritava, in the island of Teneriffe.
No doubt the great care taken of this venerable vegetable will ensure its surviving for another century at least. Now you will be wondering what all this after-knowledge about the dragon-tree of Oritava has to do with Ben Brace, myself, or the trees that had fixed our attention on the plain. I shall tell you then what it has to do with us.
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