and attract numberless columns of
locusts, which destroy the plants and fruits.

[Illustration: CYPRUS.]

The soil, though very fertile, is rarely cultivated, the Greeks being so
oppressed by their Turkish masters that they dare not cultivate the rich
plains which surround them, as the produce would be taken from them; and
their whole object is to collect together during the year as much grain
as is barely sufficient to pay their tax to the Governor, the omission
of which is often punished by torture or even by death.

The carob, or St. John's bread-tree, is plentiful; and the long thick
pods which it produces are exported in considerable quantities to Syria
and Egypt. The succulent pulp which the pod contains is sometimes
employed in those countries instead of sugar and honey, and is often
used in preserving other fruits. The vine grows here perhaps in greater
perfection than in any other part of the world, and the wine of the
island is celebrated all over the Levant.

* * * * *

THE RATTLESNAKE.

[Illustration: Letter T.]

This terrible reptile is found in great abundance on the continent of
America; and if its instinct induced it to make use of the dreadful
means of destruction and self-defence which it possesses, it would
become so great a scourge as to render the parts in which it is found
almost uninhabitable: but, except when violently irritated, or for the
purpose of self-preservation, it seldom employs the fatal power bestowed
upon it. The rattlesnake inserts its poison in the body of its victim by
means of two long sharp-pointed teeth or fangs, which grow one on each
side of the forepart of the upper jaw. The construction of these teeth
is very singular; they are hollow for a portion of their length, and in
each tooth is found a narrow slit communicating with the central hollow;
the root of the fang rests on a kind of bag, containing a certain
quantity of a liquid poison, and when the animal buries his teeth in his
prey, a portion of this fluid is forced through these openings and
lodged at the bottom of the wound. Another peculiarity of these poison
teeth is, that when not in use they turn back, as it were, upon a hinge,
and lie flat in the roof of the animal's mouth.

The name of rattlesnake is given to it on account of the singular
apparatus with which the extremity of its tail is furnished. This
consists of a series of hollow horn-like substances, placed loos