. And in some parts of India these strong, tough roots are made to
serve the purpose of bridges and twisted over some stream or cataract.
The wild fig is often a dangerous parasite, and does not attain
perfection without completing some work of destruction among its
neighbors in the forest. A slender rootlet may sometimes be seen hanging
from the crown of a palm. The seed was carried there by some bird that
had fed upon the fruit of a wild fig, and it rooted itself with
surprising facility. The rootlet, as it descends, envelops the
column-like stem of the palm with a woody network, and at length reaches
the ground. Meanwhile, the true stem of the parasite shoots upward from
the crown of the palm. It sends out numberless rootlets, each of which,
as soon as it reaches the ground, takes root; and between them the palm
is stifled and perishes, leaving the fig in undisturbed possession. The
parasite does not, however, long survive the decline; for, no longer fed
by the juices of the palm, it also, in process of time, begins to
languish and decline.'"

"What a mean thing it is!" exclaimed Malcolm--"as mean as the cuckoo,
that lays its eggs in other birds' nests. And I'm glad it dies when it
has killed the palm tree; it just serves it right. But don't figs ever
grow in this country, Miss Harson?"

"Yes," replied his governess; "they are cultivated in the Southern
States and in California, like many other semi-tropical fruits, and are
principally eaten fresh, but for drying they are not equal to the
imported ones. No doubt the cultivation of figs in California will
become a prosperous trade, for the climate and circumstances there are
much like those of Syria."

[Illustration: DWARF FIG TREE IN A POT.]

CHAPTER XIII.

_QUEER RELATIONS: THE CAOUTCHOUC AND THE MILK TREE_.

"What dark, strange-looking trees!" exclaimed the children while looking
at an illustration of caoutchouc trees in Brazil. "How thick and strong
they are! And what funny tops!--like pointed umbrellas."

"The India-rubber tree is not likely to be mistaken for any other," said
their governess, "and it does not look very dark and gloomy in that
forest, where everything seems to be crowded close and in a tangle,
because South American vegetation grows so thickly and rapidly. This is
the country which supplies the largest quantity of India-rubber. Immense
cargoes are shipped from the town of Para, on the river Amazon, and
obtained from the _Siphonia elas