mething like trees!" cried Neb; "but are they good for
anything?"

"Pooh!" replied Pencroft. "Of course there are vegetable giants as
well as human giants, and they are no good, except to show themselves
at fairs!"

"I think that you are mistaken, Pencroft," replied Gideon Spilett,
"and that the wood of the eucalyptus has begun to be very
advantageously employed in cabinet-making."

"And I may add," said Herbert, "that the eucalyptus belongs to a
family which comprises many useful members; the guava-tree, from whose
fruit guava jelly is made; the clove-tree, which produces the spice;
the pomegranate-tree, which bears pomegranates; the Eugeacia
Cauliflora, the fruit of which is used in making a tolerable wine; the
Ugui myrtle, which contains an excellent alcoholic liquor; the
Caryophyllus myrtle, of which the bark forms an esteemed cinnamon; the
Eugenia Pimenta, from whence comes Jamaica pepper; the common myrtle,
from whose buds and berries spice is sometimes made; the Eucalyptus
manifera, which yields a sweet sort of manna; the Guinea Eucalyptus,
the sap of which is transformed into beer by fermentation; in short,
all those trees known under the name of gum-trees or iron-bark trees
in Australia, belong to this family of the myrtaceae, which contains
forty-six genera and thirteen hundred species!"

The lad was allowed to run on, and he delivered his little botanical
lecture with great animation. Cyrus Harding listened smiling, and
Pencroft with an indescribable feeling of pride.

"Very good, Herbert," replied Pencroft, "but I could swear that all
those useful specimens you have just told us about are none of them
giants like these!"

"That is true, Pencroft."

"That supports what I said," returned the sailor, "namely, that these
giants are good for nothing!"

"There you are wrong, Pencroft," said the engineer; "these gigantic
eucalypti, which shelter us, are good for something."

"And what is that?"

"To render the countries which they inhabit healthy. Do you know what
they are called in Australia and New Zealand?"

"No, captain."

"They are called 'fever trees.'"

"Because they give fevers?"

"No, because they prevent them!"

"Good. I must note that," said the reporter.

"Note it then, my dear Spilett; for it appears proved that the
presence of the eucalyptus is enough to neutralise miasmas. This
natural antidote has been tried in certain countries in the middle of
Europe and the north of Africa,